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The Burger Chef Murders in Indiana Kindle Edition

by Julie Young (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 out of 5 stars 360 ratings
The cold case that put Speedway, Indiana, on the map. “What may be the definitive public accounting of the murder mystery that still resonates today.” —Fox59
 
The evening of November 17, 1978, should have been like any other for the four young crewmembers closing the Burger Chef at 5725 Crawfordsville Road in Speedway, Indiana. After serving customers and locking the doors for the night, the kids began their regular cleanup to ready the restaurant for the following day. But then something went horribly wrong. Just before midnight, someone muscled into the place, robbed the store of $581 and kidnapped the four employees. Over the next two days, investigators searched in vain for the missing crewmembers before their bodies were discovered more than twenty miles away. The killer or killers were never caught. Join Julie Young on an exploration of one of the most baffling cold cases in Indiana history.
 
“Young doesn’t try to solve the murders. Instead, her goal is to make sure no one forgets the victims.” —IndyStar
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  1. Part of series
    True Crime
  2. Print length
    147 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Arcadia Publishing
  5. Publication date
    May 10, 2021
  6. File size
    4.9 MB
  7. Page Flip
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  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Julie Young is an award-winning writer and author who has written several books on Indiana history, including Famous Faces of WTTV-4, Eastside Indianapolis: A Brief History, CYO in Indianapolis and Central Indiana and Historic Irvington. She is also the author of two books for the Idiot's Guide series and the YA novel Fifteen Minutes of Fame. She lives near Indianapolis with her family.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07TMRC9M9
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Arcadia Publishing (May 10, 2021)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 10, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4.9 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 147 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 out of 5 stars 360 ratings

About the author

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Julie Young

Julie Young

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Julie Young is an award-winning author and writer from the Indianapolis area. Not only has her work appeared in a number of local, regional, national and international publications, but she is also the author of six books on local history, a young adult novel, an author of two books for the Complete Idiot's Guide series and a contributor to several anthologies including Rock and Roll Saved My Soul and the upcoming Indiana Bicentennial book for the Indiana Historical Society Press.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
360 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book informative and well-researched, with one customer noting its well-organized presentation. The story quality receives positive feedback, with one customer describing it as a fascinating true crime narrative that reveals significant information about the murders.

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15 customers mention "Information quality"12 positive3 negative

Customers find the book informative and interesting, with one customer noting that the information is well organized.

"I'm a true crime junkie and I really enjoyed this book. It revealed a lot of information about the murders that I've never encountered before...." Read more

"...The author is to be commended for doing such diligent research on her subject. The book also briefly looks at other unsolved Indiana cases...." Read more

"...The information presented was well organized and provided information that I was not previously aware of...." Read more

"...May the victims forever rest in peace. A remarkable and well researched book" Read more

5 customers mention "Story quality"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's story engaging, with one customer noting it reveals a lot of information about the murders, while another describes it as a fascinating true crime narrative.

"...It revealed a lot of information about the murders that I've never encountered before. I also thought it was well-written...." Read more

"The story was interesting enough, and the writing wasn’t atrocious...." Read more

"This book is fantastic telling this story." Read more

"Fascinating true crime!..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Robert M. Rosso Jr.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and Intriguing
    Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I'm a true crime junkie and I really enjoyed this book. It revealed a lot of information about the murders that I've never encountered before. I also thought it was well-written. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get more information on the murders and the ensuing investigation.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Dftldr62
    4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to follow but not easy to read
    Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This was an easy to follow true crime book. It is frustrating to read some of the details and the lack of convictions for this crime. There are so many unanswered questions. My heart goes out to the victims and their families.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Lora905
    3.0 out of 5 stars Just pieced together news articles
    Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    The story was interesting enough, and the writing wasn’t atrocious. But I must have overlooked the part of the description that says this is still unsolved. Also, the bungling, bumbling idiocy that was displayed during investigation is absolutely mind-blowing. Without those errors, I truly believe this case would have been solved.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Paula Corregan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating true crime!
    Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    This book details the unsolved murders of four young employees of a Burger Chef restaurant in November of 1978 in the town of Speedway, Indiana. The author examines who the authorities thought might be responsible for the crimes and why so many leads in the case never came to a successful conclusion with the arrest of the perpetrator or perpetrators. The author is to be commended for doing such diligent research on her subject. The book also briefly looks at other unsolved Indiana cases. I highly recommend this book to other true crime readers.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Tessie
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good Recap of the Events
    Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    I grew up on the west side of Indy and remember this tragic event. The information presented was well organized and provided information that I was not previously aware of. This case was so widely covered when the crimes occurred....but the author presented several theories and facts that were new to me. I feel this book is well worth the price and is a very quick read (couldn't put it down). AND there is a small chance that interest in the story will help to bring about new information that might help solve this cold case.
    11 people found this helpful
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  • Madam Librarian
    4.0 out of 5 stars Darkly Fascinating!
    Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2019
    I wasn't alive when the Burger Chef murders occurred, but over the years I've heard the murders come up in conversation and having grown up by Chicago; I wasn't all that familiar with what actually happened. Julie Young does an excellent job of setting the scene and not attempting to "solve" the crime four decades later; she's not trying to do a disservice to the police and authorities who toiled over the case, she's merely bringing it to life and trying to make the most comprehensive outline of what is actually known about the gruesome murders. Four young adults and teenagers were abducted from their work and later found murdered. No one has ever been tried or convicted for their deaths. It's dark and fascinating and I'm glad I actually know about this infamous Hoosier quadruple homicide. As a Franklin resident who works in New Whiteland; it was also fascinating to learn about all the Johnson County connections that I didn't know existed in this case. A must read for true crime fans!
    3 people found this helpful
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  • James Herington
    5.0 out of 5 stars Still unsolved
    Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This case will always be haunting due to its lack of answers. Four families changed forever by a senseless act, never seeing justice or closure. May the victims forever rest in peace. A remarkable and well researched book
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    1.0 out of 5 stars An Error Ridden Embarassment
    Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    The Burger Chef Murders is such an inherently fascinating case it seems almost impossible to write a poor book about it. Somehow though Julie Young has managed to do it. This slim book is littered with careless errors large and small- misspelled names, two witnesses being treated as if they were a single person, an informer and the person he named being written about as if they were a single person, says a law enforcement officer played pool with a particular person who "all but confessed" when in fact that person maintained he was not involved with the crime (the pool game was with someone else), speaks of "more than two hundred officers" of the Speedway police petitioning for the removal of their boss when in fact the Speedway police only had 27 men at the time, says one suspect "succumbed to a heart attack in 1993 at the age of 34" when in fact he died in 1984 (she confused him with his son) and believe me I could go on but that should suffice.
    She also makes some narrative choices that makes one wonder if she fully understands the story. Here's an example. At one point she discusses a group of suspects, one of whom was doing time on federal firearm charges. A few pages later she tells us about a group of suspects investigated by Ken York, one of whom ended up being arrested by federal authorities for illegal possession of a weapon. Several pages after that she discusses a couple of men who police were interested in and notes they were also interested in someone apparently associated with them who was arrested on an unrelated firearms charge.
    Do you see where I am going with this- because I am not sure Young did. I honestly don't know if she failed to realize she was discussing the same group of suspects three times or if she did know it and merely chose to tell their share of the story in the most confusing way possible.
    It is also worth noting that throughout the book Young's prose strongly echoes the words and phrases of the journalists who originally covered this story without giving them proper attribution. A couple of examples. She mentions a witness who "was across the street from the Crawfordsville Road Burger Chef on November 17, 1978 and purportedly saw the crew members being taken from the restaurant just prior to their deaths." The original article stated the witness "said he was across the street and saw the Burger Chef workers being taken out of the restaurant prior to their deaths."
    A host of the 3C Circle City Crime podcast highlighted another example. reporter named Dan Luzadder wrote a memorable and personal account of meeting Donald Forrester at the "visiting room of the Indiana State Reformatory, guards brought Forrester down, a chain around his waist linked to handcuffs on his wrists. Of the dozens of inmates who had sat across visiting room tables for interviews over the past six years, there was something different about Donald Forrester. It was in the eyes. A look that said more than words could say: A frightening unsettled look. The look of a man who had seen life at its worst, in the "hole" of solitary confinement, in a long bitter term in prison. They were the eyes of a man who has stared hopelessly at unpainted walls in a 5 by 8 cell and known he would know those walls until he died. "It looks like I'm going to be here the rest of my life," he said that day, "until some morning I just can't get out of my bunk anymore. Maybe I can help someone else. I know Jesus Christ now."
    Young's account tracks Luzadder's closely, only changing some of his words for more pedestrian ones. In her version, Luzadder- the single journalist with a unique perspective- somehow becomes "reporters." Other than that, much is familiar. "The first time journalists came face to face with Forrester was in a stark meeting room at the Indiana State Reformatory. When guards brought Forrester in, he was shackled by a chain around his waist. Reporters had seen convicts before but no one quite like Forrester. His eyes had the haunted look of someone who spent too much time in solitary confinement and was resigned to his fate. He knew that he would spend the rest of his life behind bars and said he found it hard to get out of bed on some days. He explained that he'd found religion while in prison and was committed to helping others even if he couldn't help himself."
    The victims of the Burger Chef murders- and those who loved them- deserved a far more thoughtful effort than this.
    70 people found this helpful
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