About this Blog

This began in the summer of 2014 when an old friend, retired FBI agent Gregg Schwarz, contacted me looking for help locating a video copy of an award-winning series of reports I did in 1989 for WXYZ-TV Channel 7, Detroit called Who Killed Damion Lucas?

That series was about the murder of a young boy in Detroit, the innocent victim of a drive-by shooting by drug thugs who were trying to send a message to the boy’s uncle. The shooters worked for a major drug dealer with political connections. There was a cover-up murder investigation with the help of officers in the Detroit Police Department. To this day the murder has never been “solved” even though many people know the truth, including who did it and why.

The FBI in Detroit was intensely interested in the case because one of their best informants knew what happened. That informant was Richard Wershe, Jr., later known as “White Boy Rick.” Wershe helped the FBI and Justice Department win many prosecutions, including against some politically-connected corrupt cops.

Retired agent Schwarz was in search of the tape as part of a long-standing personal crusade on his part to get Richard Wershe, Jr. out of prison. Wershe is doing a life sentence for a 1989 drug conviction. Schwarz firmly believes it is an injustice by the justice system. 

As Schwarz told me the story, I became hooked. I hadn’t covered the Wershe case. That was handled by fellow reporter Chris Hansen. I was working on investigative series projects. My reports on the little boy’s murder touched on the story of Richard Wershe, Jr. in ways I’m just discovering now.

Wershe’s story up to the point of his drug conviction has been told many times in the media. Even Hollywood is interested in Wershe’s story—as they know it. What hasn’t been told is the amazing and chilling tale of what appears to be a conspiracy by some well-known and powerful figures in Detroit and Michigan politics to keep Wershe in prison at all costs. It appears to be a vendetta for informing on police corruption in a way that has impacted local politics. This blog is going to explore that.

Many if not most of the key events in the Wershe story happened over a quarter of century ago, and longer. Memories fade. People who want to help simply can’t remember all the details.

As a result I decided to build this blog on what’s in the official law enforcement files from that era, to the extent possible. If I must choose between what an FBI or DEA agent or a retired Detroit police officer remembers today versus what he/she wrote in a report 25 or 30 years ago as events were happening, I’ll opt for what’s in the file.

I will include interviews in future blogs but the backbone of what I report will be based on historic files and reports largely obtained through the Michigan and Federal Freedom of Information Acts, or FOIA. It’s a very slow and tedious bureaucratic process but some of the official reports are astonishing.

It is fair to say all of us, including Richard Wershe, Jr.—White Boy Rick—himself, don’t know what’s in those files. I am doing my best to find out and when I do I will share that information on this blog.