Murder and Mystery on Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island is perched aesthetically in the Straits of Mackinac. The island is unique, historic, and timeless. There is a sense when stepping from the dock into the town that a switch has been flipped, and you are plunged back in time to the 19th century. Cars were outlawed in 1898. The ferries drop visitors within steps of the main street but be careful where you step because wagons and carriages take the place of cars, and they are pulled by draft horses. There are horses to rent for a ride around the island, or bicycles if you prefer. The town is arranged for the tourist trade with hotels, gift shops, restaurants, bars, and the famous Mackinac Island Fudge. It’s such a beautiful setting that the movie Somewhere in Time was filmed there, and that’s what you feel when you step off the ferry and enter the town — you feel as though you have been transported in time to a simpler, peaceful era. Thoughts of violence or murder are the farthest thing from anyone’s mind, but murder did happen there on June 24, 1960.
Frances Lacey was excited about her weekend trip to the Island, “It will be my first vacation since my husband died three years ago,” she said. Kay Sutter, Frances’ daughter, rode with her mother from Dearborn, Michigan, to Mackinaw City, where they boarded a ferry to the Island. As the ferry departed the dock, the Mackinaw Bridge filled the horizon on the port side of…
