John D. Voelker and Anatomy of a Murder: Law, Doubt, and Justice in Michigan

In 1952, a saloon killing in a small Upper Peninsula town became one of the most important—and controversial—criminal trials in Michigan history.

The lawyer who defended the accused was John D. Voelker: former county prosecutor, defense attorney, future Michigan Supreme Court justice, and a gifted writer who would later publish the landmark legal novel Anatomy of a Murder under the pen name Robert Traver.

In this episode of Flint Justice, Arthur Busch examines:

• the real Big Bay homicide that inspired the book,
• how Voelker transformed a trial transcript into one of the most realistic courtroom novels ever written, and
• what Anatomy of a Murder still teaches us about prosecutors, defense lawyers, juries, and reasonable doubt.

This is not a story about tidy verdicts or cinematic courtroom speeches.
It’s about ambiguity, discretion, community judgment, and the uncomfortable truth that justice is often shaped by what can be proven—not what actually happened.

For lawyers, judges, and communities like Flint and Genesee County, Anatomy of a Murder remains a mirror held up to the justice system itself.

Photography by Jim Hansen, LOOK Magazine Photograph Collection, Library of Congress

👉Subscribe to The Mitten Channel

Join us for the full experience. Subscribe to The Mitten Channel on Substack to receive our latest narrative essays, audio stories, and deep-dive reporting directly in your inbox.

Explore Our Series:

• Radio Free Flint: Narrative storytelling and community perspectives on industrial resilience.
• The Mitten Works: Essential history and analysis of labor and economic policy.
• Flint Justice: Critical insights into the legal and institutional challenges facing our state.
  
  

Visit our Mitten Channel website for our complete library of podcasts, videos, and articles.

The Mitten Channel is a production of Radio Free Flint Media, LLC. © 2026 All Rights Reserved.