Michigan Author Uncovers Famous Cousin's Murder In Latest Book

In 1981, Buddy Moorehouse was a junior at the University of Michigan and worked at the Michigan daily student newspaper as part of their sports staff, when a member of his family was murdered.

Moorehouse's mothers cousin, Jenny Roeder, had been shot and killed in Los Angeles.

Roeder, better known as Jenny Maxwell, was a former actress that co-starred in the 1961 Elvis Presley movie, "Blue Hawaii."

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At the time, there was a rumor that Jenny's death may have had something to do with the mob. So, Moorehouse used his job to his advantage and contacted the Los Angeles Times to see if he could get more information on his cousins passing.

He told the Detroit Free Press that, that's when he learned Jennifer Roeder, 39, and her husband, Tip, 60, were killed in “an apparent robbery attempt as they entered their apartment lobby near the Beverly Hills-Los Angeles boundary.”

Murder of an Elvis Girl: Solving the Jenny Maxwell Case

Forty years later, Moorehouse has set out to discover the truth of what happened to his late relative with the book 'Murder of an Elvis Girl: Solving the Jenny Maxwell Case.'

The book covers the life of the talented young woman and uncovers the police investigation the night of the robbery. Apparently, the police have a different theory on what really happened that night.

Moorehouse spent more than 25 years in journalism and currently blogs for the Livingston Post and works for the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, a charter school advocacy group, and teaches at Hillsdale College.

You can read the full story on the Detroit Free Press' website.

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