On December 30, 1978, William Gulak, a 50-year-old conductor, was fatally shot inside a railroad depot in Jackson, Michigan. Two colleagues were with him: 42-year-old flagman Robert Lee Blake and 32-year-old fireman Charles Lee Burton. A man identified as Rudy Bladel entered the depot and opened fire, shooting Blake first, then Gulak at a table, and finally killing Burton as he was leaving.

Investigators later found parts of the shotgun Bladel had disassembled and hidden at Cascade Falls. Ballistics linked the recovered pieces to the depot shootings, and the weapon’s serial number was traced to Bladel. He was arrested March 22, 1979, initially confessed and later recanted, but was convicted on three counts of first-degree murder and given life sentences.

Does anyone have memories of the Jackson depot or knew William Gulak and his coworkers?