Thu 9/21 @ 7PM
Former Scene reporter James Renner has a long-time fascination with true crime, especially crimes against women. It goes back to when he was young and watched the new stories on TV about ten-year-old Amy Mihaljevic who was kidnapped from a Bay Village shopping center in 1989 and found murdered in a field in Ashland County a few months later. The case is still unsolved. In his first book in 2006, Amy: My Search for Her Killer, Renner explored potential suspects.
He’s continued his interest in that case and added others to his list, his interest leading to his founding a nonprofit called The Porchlight Project, which offers genetic genealogy for cold cases in Ohio, a true crime podcast and works of fiction.
Among the cases he’s explored is the 1990 murder of Lisa Pruitt in Shaker Heights, the topic of his new book Little, Crazy Children. Pruitt was stabbed while walking to her boyfriend’s house at night. People who knew Lisa zeroed in a suspect, an oddball type who was arrested without evidence and eventually acquitted. Renner takes a fresh look at the case, based on police and court files, interviews and new evidence, to propose a different suspect.
Renner will be at the Music Box Supper Club to talk about his book and the research behind it as part of the Cleveland History Center’s Cleveland Stories series. Doors open at 5pm, program starts at 7. It’s free, but table reservations are required for dinner.