Freaky Flint History with Joe Schipani: Skull Crushing February 14th, 1922


Flint is well known for its modern violent crimes but Flint's history is filled with little known stories that read stranger than fiction. Gruesome murders, weird accidents, and violent deaths. Join us every Thursday as Joe Schipani details some of the odd but true deaths he found in Flint's archives.


Skull Crushing February 14th, 1922

Louis Salamon was an employee for Buick Motors. He and his wife were trying to save up some extra cash to purchase a home of their own. The Salamon’s were renting a large apartment on Industrial Avenue. To earn extra cash they decided to rent out their spare room to Mike Dobrowski, a coworker at Buick Motors. After about six months, rumors of an affair between Mrs. Salamon and the boarder started to arise. Louis confronted his wife about the affair and she confessed that something did happen… once. Louis became very upset and confronted Mike Dobrowski at work. He told Mike that he needed to move out immediately.

Shortly after Mike moved out, strange things started to happen. One day Louis found two tires on his car slashed. The Friday before Valentine’s Day someone threw a brick through his bedroom window. The police report stated that Louis said he saw Mike running away from the building both times.

The feud escalated Monday at work. By Tuesday morning people at the factory were claiming that Louis was jealous of Mike.

Tuesday after work, Louis went to the grocery store on Industrial Avenue around 6 PM. He needed to settle his bill and pick up a couple items. After that Louis went home to unwind for the day with his wife. Shortly after, the police received a call that Louis had been found dead at the bottom of the stairs of the apartment.

When the police showed up the body had been moved upstairs into the apartment by a doctor that lived next door. The doctor reported that Louis had died in the transportation and Mrs. Salamon had removed all the personal belongings including his wedding ring, pocket watch, and thirty nine dollars in cash.

At first the death looked like an accident, that Louis had simply lost his balance while carrying groceries to the apartment and fallen down the stairs.

But the autopsy revealed a different story. The coroner also stated that the location and angle of the fracture would almost be impossible to achieve from a fall. The coroner also concluded that the object used was a heavy padded object.


Mike Dobrowski was detained and questioned for several days and finally released. The police never recovered the murder weapon and never had enough evidence to convict Mike for the murder.   

~ Joe Schipani is the Executive Director of the Flint Public Art Project and the FFAR Project Assistant at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.  Find him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HauntedFlint/ 

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