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From the Keyboard of B.R. Bates ...

A glance behind the scenes of my true-crime writing projects on convicted Detroit serial killers John Eric Armstrong and Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins, including a tidbit or two you might not find in the books. See more at BRBates.com, and thanks for stopping by.

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Talking "Crack City Strangler" on the Crawlspace podcast

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Join Covenant House Michigan for 'A Night of Detroit Stars' next month

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#RememberThem: Rose

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Clearing up the confusion about the photos of Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins

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#RememberThem: Wendy

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Exploring Benjamin Atkins' troubled upbringing on Santana True Crime

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Now available: The audio version of "The Crack City Strangler"

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Just dropped on Apple Podcasts: The story of John Eric Armstrong on Santana True Crime

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A tale of two boys: One became a serial killer

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Meet the author of "The Crack City Strangler" ...

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Killer Comparisons: Benjamin (“Tony”) Atkins and Douglas (Donna) Perry

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Dropping today: A Study in Crime podcast episode on the Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins case

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John Eric Armstrong: Did his family know?

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A life of trauma: Discussing the Atkins case on True Crime Uncensored

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Nature vs. nurture on Benjamin Atkins -- and what about his brother? We chat about that and more on Mysterious Circumstances

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Copyright BRBglobal, LLC, 2025

B.R. Bates: I'm a longtime author and journalist, and I've been a writer all my life -- since I was a little girl, actually. A lot of what I have written has been in the pop-culture world. I'm a big TV junkie! In more recent years I have been a big follower of true crime, and after being introduced by a mutual friend to a retired Detroit cop named Gerald Cliff, I decided to embark on a true-crime book project. I really enjoyed the research. I feel like it returned me to my journalism roots (I have a degree in journalism and spent 10 years in the daily newspaper biz) and got me away from the fun "fluff" I had been doing (well, OK, I still do some of the fluff). These two serial killer cases have been fascinating and challenging, and I hope you will enjoy the fruits of my labor. I am a Michigan native who has spent a lot of time in my beloved Detroit, but I also lived in Atlanta for five years and Washington, D.C., for four years. I still manage federal government websites part-time while working on my writing projects. Above all else, I aim to enjoy life, as my favorite preacher, Joyce Meyer, advises! You can learn more at BRBates.com.

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Labels

Benjamin Atkins24
Honoring the Victims8
interviews26
John Eric Armstrong29
Killer Comparisons3
Murders in the Motor City22
serial killers33
true crime7
victim stories4

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Photo at right:

Detroit's Michigan Ave, by the author.