Who Murdered the Motor City's Radio Corruption Fighter Jerry Buckley?

The article examines the unresolved question of who murdered Jerry Buckley, a Detroit radio broadcaster portrayed as a “corruption fighter,” on July 23, 1930. It describes how, by 1930, radio sets were in roughly 40% of American homes, and Buckley—host of WMBC—was a major star known as “the mouthpiece of the people,” calling listeners “The Common Herd.” It says Buckley had many enemies, including local mob figures and then–Detroit Mayor Charles Bowles, whose early career included Ku Klux Klan support and reported links to organized crime. Investigators pointed to mobsters, but they were tried and acquitted. The piece adds that Buckley previously worked as a private investigator for Ford in the early 1920s, possibly interacting with Harry Bennett, leader of Ford’s “Service Department,” described as a private enforcement force used against labor unions. The case remains unsolved.