Town file
Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan
Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan (Wayne County, Michigan) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 703, "Puppet Master Killer" (28 May 2026). Joan Ingelbrecht, known as Jane, was born in 1955 in Mount Clemens, Michigan, one of four sisters.
- Town
- Grosse Pointe Park
- County
- Wayne County
- State
- Michigan
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 703
- Approximate location
- 42.374, -82.923
Episode 703 / 28 May 2026 / 188 min / full
Puppet Master Killer
"This is Gross Point Park, Michigan ... this is in Wayne County, just like Detroit" about 0:05:29
The case: Murder of Jane Bashara (January 24, 2012). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2026
- Population
- 11,529
- Median age
- 42.2
- Median household income
- $123,859
- Median home value
- $438,500
- Two-bedroom rent
- $1,450
- Cost of living
- 92
- Religious
- 42%
- Property crime
- ▼ just under the national average
- Violent crime
- ▼ about half the national average
History, in brief
- Before it was a city it was incorporated as the Village of Fairview, a chunk of Grosse Pointe township, from 1850 to 1900. about 0:06:21
- The woods were cleared and Detroit businessmen bought up all the waterfront. about 0:06:37
- Grosse Pointe was Detroit's summer resort, like the Hamptons for Detroit people, with giant summer houses. about 0:06:46
The reviews read out
5 stars
"Best city to raise a family: excellent public schools, two waterfront parks, pools, a splash pad and private movie theatres, with beautiful homes and public services second to none."about 0:06:59
3 stars
"A nice place to raise a family but lacking in things to do; better than the other Grosse Pointe communities for diversity but still with the same bourgeois feel and pressure."about 0:07:39
3 stars
"The weather is okay, pretty average."about 0:07:55
2 stars
"Not a very safe or friendly community."about 0:08:20
"Aesthetic place with nice neighbourhoods, great schools, large trees and good places to walk, but it borders Detroit, which the reviewer calls the ghetto nucleus; the suburbs are segregated, fences block streets that were once open, and fear of Detroit keeps good retail and restaurants out, forcing residents to drive 20 or 30 miles to Troy or Rochester; it is also expensive."about 0:08:28
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Brownstown Township, Michigan24 miles
- Canton Township, Michigan29 miles
- Webster Township, Michigan47 miles
- Washington Township, Michigan70 miles
- Morrice, Michigan72 miles
- Jackson, Michigan76 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.