The Murder of Laura Dickinson

In December 2006, 22-year-old Laura Dickinson was raped and murdered in her own dorm room at Eastern Michigan University. What was already a devastating tragedy was made even worse by the way EMU handled it. EMU failed to disclose Laura’s death as a murder, and hid all the details of the event from Laura’s parents as well as the EMU community.

Laura was found in her dorm room after residents on her floor had complained about an oder. The custodian found Laura bare waist down with a pillow covering her face. Her parents had been looking for her for four days and even contacted the school but no one cared to search. The official statement EMU released after Laura's body was found was that she had died from "natural causes," and that is what they led her family to believe. But the interesting thing was Laura was a healthy 22-year-old girl that happened to have a freak accident.

Ten weeks later, Orange Taylor III, also a EMU student was arrested for the rape and murder of Laura Dickinson (he was also convicted). This news shocked everyone because no one knew there was an investigation going on or that she died from other reason than "natural causes." EMU had swept this case and information under the rug so no one knew what was going on and the board refused to comment on the situation. Laura's parents were outraged when they learned the truth of how their daughter died and her father stated: “The school lied to us. They let us bury her thinking that a healthy 22-year-old girl died by some freak accident."

Under federal law it states the school has to inform students of all crimes that occur on or near campus that post a potential threat to public safety. In 1990 this law was passed because of a similar case with Jeanne Clery thus this law being called the Clery Act. EMU was clearly under violation, not only was it immoral for not informing their staff and student body but also illegal.

EMU never did say why they kept quiet about the situation, but many believe it was in effort to keep the universities reputation. The school officials indeed put their students and faculty in danger through the duration of this even and could have been handled much better if they would have told the truth.

Murders and rapes happen on college campuses more than we would like to think. So it is very important that student and parents become well aware of the college they’re attending before making their final decision.

Go to the solutions tab to learn the outcome of this case and some safety features the University of Kentucky in particular has to offer.