John Eric Armstrong: The cops who worked the case

They came from different jurisdictions, working on the same case without knowing it, as John Eric Armstrong rampaged through Detroit and its western suburbs in 1999 and 2000. The case of this convicted serial killer crossed three jurisdictions, actually -- Detroit, Dearborn and Dearborn Heights. And while Dearborn Heights definitely had Armstrong on its radar after the January 2000 discovery of Wendy Jordan in the Rouge River, tailing him relentlessly and just waiting for the opportunity to bring him in, Detroit would be hunting an unknown killer in the spring. But not for very long. After the discovery of three women in varying states of decomposition at the railroad tracks at Military and John Kronk streets in southwest Detroit, it was only about a day and a half before these seasoned cops had their man. Then the departments worked together to build a case that would stick, sending Armstrong to prison for multiple life sentences. This blog post honors the men in blue who did that diligent work to catch a killer hunting on Michigan Ave ...

Dr. Gerald Cliff, who has enjoyed a very long and distinguished career in law enforcement, was in his earlier days with Detroit Police in the above photo. He started out as a patrol cop and worked his way up in the ranks for years. I am thankful to have met him and collaborated with him on "The 'Baby Doll' Serial Killer" book. He worked the Armstrong case as the leader of DPD's Violent Crime Task Force. You can hear Dr. Cliff talking about the formation of this special interagency task force in this YouTube playlist from a recent author event we did in Howard City, Michigan. Cliff is not only a keen cop but also an intellectual, and his career has taken him to quite a few great job roles.

Everett Monroe was also part of the Violent Crime Task Force, and he's one of the DPD officers who questioned Armstrong after his arrest. He served quite a few years in Detroit, then later was police chief for a city in Georgia. He has the unique perspective of having worked the cases of two high-profile Detroit serial killers -- Armstrong and fellow convicted serial Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins. Monroe responded to one of the crime scenes in the Atkins case and remembered that case well when I was researching "The Crack City Strangler." I am blessed that Monroe was willing to lend his expertise to both of my books.

Donald Johnson was just a young guy at the time of the Armstrong case, a rookie with Detroit Police. His age was one reason he was sent into the room with Armstrong when the questioning began; his senior officers felt he would have a rapport with Armstrong, who was also in his 20s. Indeed, he did. The two established a sort of friendship bond that continued after the questioning. Johnson was able to get Armstrong to open up about all kinds of things. Don has been interviewed for TV documentaries about the case.

While Johnson was the rookie, James Hines was the veteran, an experienced detective with the Wayne County Sheriff's Department who paired up with Johnson for the initial questioning of Armstrong. It was a challenge to crack this suspected serial. A couple assault survivors had described Armstrong, and a couple patrol cops had picked up him on Michigan Ave. But how to know for sure that they had their man? If they had actually apprehended the one who killed the three women at the railroad tracks? That's where Johnson and Hines came in, and Hines, as the veteran of the two, was the one who pulled a major move: He shook down Armstrong with the mention of DNA evidence. Armstrong knew he was cornered. He gave up the goods and started confessing.

Months before Armstrong came on police radar in Detroit, he was being tailed in Dearborn Heights. He had posed as a good Samaritan "finding" a body in the Rouge River. Dearborn Heights Police, including Donald Riley, above, were highly suspicious. Was this guy really telling the truth? Did he just happen upon Wendy's body while looking over the bridge? Riley and the others at DHPD didn't think so. They got warrants. They searched Armstrong's Jeep, they talked to his neighbors, they stole the trash at his curb. They stayed on him as they waited for DNA results to come back, and those results arrived just as Detroit got Armstrong in custody, it turned out. Riley was instrumental in questioning and investigating Armstrong. He has spoken about the case on TV docs.

Gregory Geider was an experienced cop, an agent with the Department of Justice's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and a member of the Violent Crime Task Force at the time of the Armstrong case. He was also one who helped question Armstrong and helped monitor him in custody. “To me, the VCTF was the epitome of Detroit police work," Geider told me for the book. "VCTF was divided into long-term and short-term squads. Generally speaking, long-term focused on historical conspiracy cases. For the most part, I was working Chaldean organized crime with my FBI partner, Tony Hartman. I always felt that VCTF was the triage unit of Detroit law enforcement. Whatever the crisis of the week was, kidnappings, police officers being shot, assorted homicides or assaults, VCTF would be requested to respond. Long-term would often be called in to augment the response to any given situation.”

Del Christian was another member of the Violent Crime Task Force, drawn from the Michigan State Police, and he was instrumental in the decision to send Johnson and Hines in to do the initial questioning. He joked, years later, that when he passed by the door of the interrogation room, listening in a bit and hearing the men talk about breakfast cereal and whatnot, he knew he had made the right decision. Like some of his colleagues, Del has been interviewed in TV episodes about the Armstrong case.

But this is not all, by any means. So many great men and women worked the case. Bradford Bullock and Rodney Durham were the two Detroit patrol officers who arrested Armstrong that night in April 2000, following up on a tip from an assault survivor and doing great police work as relative rookies. There was also Mike Petri, James Serwatowski, Robert Stephens and Gary Tomkiewicz in Dearborn Heights, men who had Armstrong pegged from the beginning, who were about to arrest him if Detroit hadn't. There was Dennis ("Doc") Richardson, Dave Babcock, Frank Horan, Steven Yakimovich, Eugene Fitzhugh, Arlie Lovier and David Wasmund in Detroit. And there were many others who helped in whatever way, small or large, to bring in this killer. Because of them, Armstrong continues to serve out his multiple life sentences in Jackson, Michigan, with no possibility of parole.

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Above photos are copyrighted and for use specifically in "The 'Baby Doll' Serial Killer," any other use prohibited without permission.

See more photos from the Armstrong case at the gallery on the WildBlue Press website.