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John Eric Armstrong and Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins: How do they compare?

Armstrong in his most
recent prison photo.Both hunted prostitutes on the gritty streets of the Motor City. Both killed in the 1990s -- one on the earlier side and one on the later side. Both strangled -- almost always manually, though sometimes with a ligature. But other than that, how do convicted serial killers Benjamin Atkins and John Eric Armstrong, the two subjects (so far!) of the Murders in the Motor City book series, compare?

Beyond the obvious difference in ethnicity, these two serials are of the same generation -- one born in 1968 and the other 1973. One died in prison and the other is still with us. 

But where their cases diverge most strikingly is in their childhoods. Atkins' upbringing was a sad jumble of misfortune: a heroin-addicted prostitute mom who was largely absent, no father, a string of foster homes and a rather-harrowing stay at an inner-city home for boys, school truancy and some petty crimes as a juvie, alleged sexual abuse, early drug usage, and even his own "hustling" -- working prostitution at an early age. Add to that the confusion and guilt over his own sexuality: Atkins was in practice bisexual, but as far as his true sexuality -- whether or not it was homosexuality (he did rape the women he killed), the jury is still out. Only he really knew. Or perhaps he really didn't, according to the varying reports of law enforcement and psychiatric professionals who spoke with him after his arrest. Another interesting aspect of the Atkins case: After his arrest, he claimed to hear voices, or to have sort of alternate personalities, one of which -- the dominant one, Tony -- goaded him on to commit his crimes.

Benjamin Atkins, from
Detroit Police files.None of those things were true for Armstrong's childhood. On paper, it was a normal one. There may have been some things going on there that we just can't confirm, according to the comments of a couple interviewees that could not actually be used in "The 'Baby Doll' Serial Killer" book. He had a biological father who left the family, but he has had a stepfather for almost all of his life that he calls Dad. His demeanor, his behavior -- all normal, according to those who knew him growing up. Maybe a little shy, but normal. He never got into trouble. And he spent most of the 1990s in the U.S. Navy and never raised any eyebrows there. He settled in Michigan in 1999 and worked normal jobs, a family man with a wife and toddler son and another child on the way at the time of his arrest. So what went wrong? While we can point to the awful circumstances of Atkins' childhood and nod our heads, in Armstrong's life, besides the unfortunate death of his baby brother in the crib when little Eric was only 5, there's not really any visible trauma to blame for his path to taking human life. 

Both of these serials raise interesting points in the eternal question of nature vs. nurture when it comes to the motivations of a killer. For one, it almost seems cut and dried. For the other, not at all. So where does the truth lie? You can tell me what you think.

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See more photos from the Armstrong case at the gallery on the WildBlue Press website.
(And yes, that photo on the "Crack City" book's cover is actually a photo of Atkins; see this blog post on the confusion over his photos.)

#RememberThem: Patricia (Pat)

“Ask her anything, about money, about stocks, anything, and she would tell you anything. She was very smart. Even though she got on drugs, she used to research all kinds of stuff. And she used to tell me, ‘Little brother, if you don’t know, research it.’"

That's how Derrick remembered his big sister Pat when I spoke to him. She was a positive presence in his life when he was growing up, a sister he truly looked up to. She spent time with him. She took him places. She mentored him. Losing her all those years ago is a pain that he still feels.

Pat (on the right above) was the fifth to be born out of eight kids to Leroy and Nezzie in southwest Detroit, and her upbringing was a happy one. Several of her siblings went on to be successful in the Detroit area, including Derrick, who enjoyed a great career in law enforcement. The last time Pat's family heard from her was around Thanksgiving 1991.
Pat is likely the first person Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins killed. That's how he remembered it -- that she was the first, and that it happened in Detroit. (He killed three women in Detroit, but he killed many more -- eight -- in its enclave of Highland Park.) 
Atkins left Pat in an abandoned house, likely in late November 1991, then, the following month, a demolition crew came through to check the house. They didn't find her -- she was hidden in a closet. They then began to raze the house. It was not until early January 1992, when they were clearing the rubble, that they found her. She was lying near a fence in this small inner-city lot on Kenilworth Street, near the historic Woodward Ave where Atkins did his hunting.





This post is part of a series on this blog that I am calling #RememberThem, a chance to honor the women who encountered the two Detroit serial killers I have researched, John Eric Armstrong and Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins. In this continuing series, with installments dropping every week or so, we first learn more about the women Armstrong was known to have killed in Detroit, plus two of his survivors, then we turn to the women who encountered Atkins. Click on the "Honoring the Victims" label on the left to see all of the parts in the series.

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Above photos obtained by FOIA from Detroit Police and specifically for use in The Crack City Strangler: The Homicides of Serial Killer Benjamin Atkins; any other use prohibited without permission.

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Murders in the Motor City Series

(And yes, that photo on the book's cover is actually a photo of Atkins; see this blog post on the confusion over his photos.)

Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins: Did he have any markers?

As I blogged about in an earlier post, people often talk about the Macdonald triad when it comes to serial killers, the three markers it's believed serials show as children: bed-wetting, animal cruelty, setting fires. So how does convicted serial killer Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins stack up to that? Did he show any of those markers when he was growing up?

Whereas in the case of fellow Detroit serial John Eric Armstrong none of those three markers show up anywhere in the files or interviews, something does show up in the childhood of little Benjamin. As kids, he and his brother were shuttled from foster home to foster home, skipping school, breaking into buildings at times, and otherwise getting into trouble. But also, for Ben ... setting fires. One of his foster parents noted it to authorities, and it was documented in his files. The other two in the triad are possibilities for him, though probably not so much on the animal cruelty -- there's no evidence of him or his brother having pets or access to pets.

I mentioned in my earlier post on Armstrong that he attempted suicide three known times in his life, before his incarceration in Michigan. Well, Atkins attempted suicide, as well, and I have to wonder if that is another marker for serials. Atkins' known attempt was while being held in the Wayne County jail between his August 1992 arrest and early 1994 trial. That is not a big surprise -- being jailed can be a motivator for that kind of thing, after all. He tried to hang himself but was found before he was successful. He claimed that the "voice," or alternate personality, he called Tony told him to kill himself.

Some say that childhood abuse is a strong marker for a future serial, but as I mentioned in the earlier post, it's probably more about trauma than abuse, and trauma can take many forms. Here is where Benjamin Atkins has very strong markers -- his childhood was full of trauma. A heroin-addicted mom working as a prostitute, taking Ben and his brother along as she worked tricks. That same mom relinquishing her children, who then bounced through foster homes and into an inner-city home for boys that was reportedly straight out of the movie "Sleepers." Alleged abuse by a care worker at that facility. A deep desire to be reunited with his mom, as he told social workers. A feeling of loss and abandonment. Then, alleged abuse by one of his mom's boyfriends, hustling on the street at a young age. Turning tricks, himself, for drugs or cash. Becoming addicted to crack. And on and on. A sad, sad life of trauma and abuse, whatever forms they took.

When it comes down to the million-dollar question of why this serial came to take human life, whereas in the life of Armstrong there is no one answer, in the case of Benjamin Atkins, there appear to be many.

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For a deep-dive of the Atkins case, see "The Crack City Strangler: The Homicides of Serial Killer Benjamin Atkins."

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Murders in the Motor City Series

(And yes, that photo on the book's cover is actually a photo of Atkins; see this blog post on the confusion over his photos.)

#RememberThem: Darlene, survivor

Darlene lived to see her kids grow up. Lived to see her grandchildren, and to enjoy her life. And when she finally passed, it was in the comforting arms of a son who loved her very much.

But it almost didn't turn out that way.

Darlene knew this guy named Tony, from the different times when she was hanging out on the street. She would see him here and there. They went to some of the same places. The same crack houses and whatever. He was just a guy she met a few years earlier, and she knew his sister, too. 

But one day when Darlene and Tony decided to smoke a little crack together, things went sideways.  They were over by the abandoned Monterey Motel in Highland Park, Michigan, near the Howard Johnson's restaurant that used to be there. And it was only due to Darlene's tenacity and the appearance of another guy she knew from the street, that she was saved in this violent encounter.

For years, Darlene was thought to be the first person Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins assaulted. But another came forward, decades later, and we'll talk about her story in another post. Darlene was the soul survivor of this serial killer when it came time to try him, and her powerful testimony was instrumental in ending his reign of terror on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, both at the trial and in apprehending him in the first place.

Darlene didn't have to testify. And she didn't have to come forward to tell her story. Lots of women living at risk on the streets don't tell their stories, when they're assaulted. Because it happens a lot more often than you think. But because of Darlene's bravery, lives were saved.

Darlene was a smart gal, in many ways. She and her husband had at one time been business owners in the Highland Park community where they lived. She was a problem-solver, her son Rashad told me. And she was valuable. So that's why I honor her in this #RememberThem series.

Two images courtesy of Darlene's son Rashad; see note below.

This post is part of a series on this blog that I am calling #RememberThem, a chance to honor the women who encountered the two Detroit serial killers I have researched, John Eric Armstrong and Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins. In this continuing series, with installments dropping every week or so, we first learn more about the women Armstrong was known to have killed in Detroit, plus two of his survivors, then we turn to the women who encountered Atkins. Click on the "Honoring the Victims" label on the left to see all of the parts in the series. Also see the #RememberThem series on YouTube.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Above photos are copyrighted and specifically for use in The Crack City Strangler: The Homicides of Serial Killer Benjamin Atkins; any other use prohibited without permission.

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Murders in the Motor City Series

Come meet me at the Battle Creek Regional History Museum in September!

Last week I mentioned on this blog that I'll be at the Timothy C. Hauenstein Reynolds Township Library in Howard City, Michigan, in September. Well, just a few days after that, I'll be in Battle Creek at a special author event, so I want to invite you to that, as well! If you're near Battle Creek or can be on that Saturday, come on out and say hello!

Michigan History Author SymposiumSaturday, September 27, 20251-4 p.m.Battle Creek Regional History Museum307 W Jackson StBattle Creek, MI

I will be taking part of this multi-author event, is an afternoon of storytelling, books signings and much more! I'll be joined by my collaborator for the book "The Baby Doll Serial Killer: The John Eric Armstrong Homicides," Dr. Gerald Cliff, a retired Detroit cop who worked the Armstrong case back then as part of DPD's Violent Crime Task Force. I will also be bringing "The Crack City Strangler: The Homicides of Serial Killer Benjamin Atkins" with me, so you can get a signed copy of either book. 

The event is organized by Michigan author Michael Delaware, and I'm really looking forward to it! Keep your eye on the museum's Instagram and website calendar as the event gets closer.

Killer Comparisons: Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins and Anthony Sowell

Benjamin Atkins, from
Detroit Police files.Both were men of color, hunting women of color who were living at risk on the street. For both, the M.O. was strangulation. In both cases, drugs (crack) were prominent. Both killers left behind survivors who later publicly told their stories. Both seemed to have been desensitized to violence at an early age from a troubled home life. But do the similarities end there? 

Whereas Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins hunted women on Detroit's historic Woodward Ave from 1990 to 1992, Anthony Sowell picked up women from the streets of Cleveland in later years, the early 2000s, though he had started his rap sheet back in 1989 with a charge of rape, for which he served a full 15-year sentence. Sowell served in the military; Atkins did not. Whereas Atkins was homeless, sleeping in abandoned buildings like the once-respected Monterey Motel, where he left three of his victims, Sowell had a house, his family home. Whereas Atkins left his victims not only at the motel but in whatever abandoned building was convenient, Sowell took his victims home and left them there, sometimes burying them in mounds of dirt inside the house. His home was dubbed the "House of Horrors."

Anthony Sowell's mugshot from
the Ohio Department of Corrections. 

But let's delve beneath the surface. Sowell was said to have a domineering and abusive mother. Since he targeted black females, you could make the case that he was killing his mother over and over again, as has been said of Atkins by several people working the case. In the case of Sowell, his mother was allegedly physically violent against him. For Atkins, it was more a matter of neglect -- she was addicted to heroin and turning tricks, and her two young sons were placed in foster care at an early age, though little Ben longed to be reunited with her.

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For more on the Anthony Sowell case, see the 2024 "Very Scary People" episode, hosted by Donnie Wahlburg. For a deep-dive of the Atkins case, see "The Crack City Strangler: The Homides of Serial Killer Benjamin Atkins."

BRBates.comwbp.bz/CrackCityStranglerMurders in the Motor City Series
(And yes, that photo on the book's cover is actually a photo of Atkins; see this blog post on the confusion over his photos.)

Come meet me in Howard City, Michigan, in September

The weather is just getting warmer -- we're only just now getting into this wonderful summer thing -- so who wants to think about fall? Well, libraries plan their fall programming pretty early, and I'm happy to have booked a library talk for September. 
The Timothy C. Hauenstein Reynolds Township Library in Howard City, Michigan, is the place, and Wednesday, September 24, 2025 is the date. If you're in the area, or can be, come on out and meet not only me but my collaborator for "The 'Baby Doll' Serial Killer" book, Dr. Gerald Cliff, the retired Detroit cop who worked the John Eric Armstrong case back then. Gerry and I will discuss the book and the case, and you'll have an opportunity to get a signed copy of not only that book, but also the second book in the Murders in the Motor City series, "The Crack City Strangler."

Wednesday, September 24, 2025 6 p.m. Timothy C. Hauenstein Reynolds Township Library 117 W. Williams St. Howard City, MI 49329

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#RememberThem: Linette

You might not have heard of Linette, a lesser-known victim of convicted serial killer John Eric Armstrong. She lived in the Norfolk, Virginia, area in the late 1990s. She was a daughter, sister and mom. She was very precious to the sister I spoke with for my research on the case. Her murder also broke the heart of her devoted father. 

Linette.
Image courtesy of the family; see note below.

Linette is one of the "other" confessions Armstrong made when he was arrested in Detroit in April 2000. When his words started flowing freely, he told Detroit police he actually had killed a lot of other people elsewhere around the country and world while traveling with the Navy aboard the USS Nimitz through the 1990s. Of those 10 confessions this killer made to other murders outside of Detroit, Linette's is the only one that police have been able to pair with an actual crime. Armstrong described encountering a female in Norfolk, strangling her, pushing her outside of the brand-new Jeep he had just bought that year, 1998, then backing up in this dark parking lot, then realizing he had backed over something with his Jeep. Unfortunately, he did not throw Linette far enough away from the Jeep, and her body showed the results of that horrifying fact when later examined by the coroner. The other details of Linette's case fit what Armstrong confessed. Whereas authorities in places like Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand really didn't bother to do diligent searches of missing or murdered females to match with Armstrong's confessions, Norfolk police had successfully found his Virginia case.

But even though police were sure that Armstrong was the killer behind this unsolved crime of a couple years earlier (she was likely the last person he killed before moving to Michigan in 1999), and even though the NCIS in its own investigation listed Linette along with the five women in Detroit as Armstrong's known victims, Linette's family would get no real satisfaction. They had the knowledge that law enforcement figured her killer was Armstrong -- they had a name -- but he was never brought up on charges. When it came right down to it, Virginia knew that Michigan had him for multiple life sentences, so it probably didn't make sense to go through the process and expense of shipping him there and bringing him to trial. There was no hope for him ever to be free again, after all.

Does that help Linette's family? In a way, based on my conversations with her sister and daughter. But the pain never really goes away, no matter how much time passes, that is clear. 

Linette and her daughter.
Image courtesy of the family; see note below.


“I put her to the side and I had to back out and thatis how I hit her,” Armstrong said in his Virginiaconfession. The police sketch shows the bloodstainson the parking lot where Linette’s body wasfound, with the rectangle representing the building.Hair, a bra, a barrette and a white button also werepart of the physical evidence processed from thescene.
Image: Detroit Police files / Norfolk Police files; see note below

This post is part of a series on this blog that I am calling #RememberThem, a chance to honor the women who encountered the two Detroit serial killers I have researched, John Eric Armstrong and Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins. In this continuing series, with installments dropping every week or so, we'll first learn more about the women Armstrong was known to have killed in Detroit, plus two of his survivors, then we'll turn to the women killed by Atkins. Click on the "Honoring the Victims" label on the left to see all of the parts in the series.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Above photos are copyrighted and specifically for use in "The 'Baby Doll' Serial Killer"; any other use prohibited without permission.
See more photos from the case at the gallery on the WildBlue Press website.

Atkins: A "life of horrors" from the foster system to the street and HIV

Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins died in 1997 with HIV / AIDS. Back when he was immersed in his crimes, targeting women on Woodward Avenue in Detroit and Highland Park, Michigan, AIDS was a big thing, in the news a lot. It was a lot like COVID was in 2020 -- much-discussed, much-feared. So how did the HIV angle factor into the case of Atkins? Was it a factor? That's one of the things I discuss with private investigator Ed Opperman in a new episode of his Opperman Report podcast. We also explore Atkins' troubled upbringing and some of the things that led him to a life at risk on the streets. The foster system is another aspect -- why is there the cliche of the bad foster home? And by the way, where did that moniker "the Crack City Strangler" come from?

#RememberThem: Zelda, survivor

You might have never heard of Zelda. She never wanted to tell her story. And she didn't tell it for many years.

She's not fond of that time of her life, but she has clearly come to terms with it. She has evolved far beyond it. These days, she is a child of God, and she is a soldier and warrior for Him. She has walked the path of addiction and other demons and come out triumphant.

As in the account of fellow survivor Natasha, Armstrong wielded a knife to threaten and subdue Zelda, when she encountered him in December 1999, four months after he tried to kill Natasha and in the same month that he succeeded in killing another woman on the streets of Detroit. The knife was just an intimidation tool, though -- Armstrong was a strangler. Manually, for the most part. He picked up Zelda in his Jeep, drove around the block a bit, they tussled when she realized this was a bad situation, she got cut up, and by the grace of God she was able to get out of the car. And she kept her silence, even from those closest to her, for years. Why bother going to the police? They usually don't take you seriously, she figured. They see you as the bad one rather than the guy who supposedly tried to kill you.

I'm thankful that Zelda was willing to tell her story for the first time publicly in "The ‘Baby Doll’ Serial Killer." Because, just like with the story of Natasha, it's the story of survival. And being spared for a purpose.

John Eric Armstrong picked up Zelda at this location in the area of Detroit known as Mexicantown.
Image by the author; see note below.This post is part of a series on this blog that I am calling #RememberThem, a chance to honor the women who encountered the two Detroit serial killers I have researched, John Eric Armstrong and Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins. In this continuing series, with installments dropping every week or so, we'll first learn more about the women Armstrong was known to have killed in Detroit, then two of his survivors, then we'll turn to the women killed by Atkins. Click on the "Honoring the Victims" label on the left to see all of the parts in the series.

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BRBates.comwbp.bz/BabyDoll
Above photo is copyrighted and specifically for use in "The 'Baby Doll' Serial Killer"; any other use prohibited without permission.
See more photos from the case at the gallery on the WildBlue Press website.