Page 8-Wednesday, June 14, 1978-The Michigan Daily
Delaware prof's class is murder-literally
NEWARK, Del. (AP) - John Kelly's KELLY CONCEDES there is an "It's got every type of murder con- of student interest.
classes at the University of Delaware element of sensationalism in taking his ceivable. Regicide, the killing of a king;
are not just tough. They're murder. undergraduate course, "A Study of mass murder, contract murder. What "THEY'RE confronted with so much
Kelly is an associate professor in the Murder," but he says he still considers Shakespeare said about murder is far balone," he says. "I think Oswald did it
school's division of criminal justice. the subject a serious one, more illuminating than any social - alone. Anyone without evidence who
He's a student of murder and a lecturer "We used a sensational topic like study ... It is a textbook on murder." says here was a conspiracy is a liar. I'd
and writer on thesubject. murder to draw students in," Kelly change my point of view, but only on
says. "But the real topic is how to think, AND THERE were field trips, ike a evidence. That's how you prove
FOR THE past 25 years, Kelly has investigate and how not to be fooled by visit to the Wilmington morgue. The something - with evidence."
been investigating murders, sen- newspapers, novels and plays." main theme of Kelly's course, though, Kelley is also writing a book on the
sational and commonplace. In addition to two exams and a 10- was that murders are solved not by history of assassination, from Philip of
Kelly spent 18 years solving killings page paper, Kelly had his 65 students hard facts from which conclusions can Macedon in 336 B.C., to President Ken-
and other crimes for the New York City read 10 books about murder, including be drawn. nedy.
Police Department, spent two years as "Macbeth," Truman Capote's "In Cold For example, he says the known facts "Murder is always the most serious
a criminologist for the United Nations Blood," and Vincent Bugliosi's "Helter make him a strong supporter of the of crimes," Kelly says. "It's terrible.
and then studied foreign police. IT'S THE literature that gives the Warren Commission's conclusion that But murdering a political force, this is
"Murder is constantly new because most significant insight into a murder's Lee Harvey Oswald killed President really important."
human beings are constantly doing mind, Kelly says. John F. Kennedy. He calls such murders ,acrocide -
strange things," he says. " 'Macbeth' is the greatest murder Kelly spent three weeks in his course "murder most momentous" as he
story there is," he says. on the Kennedy assassination because defines the word he coined.
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