DETROIT (AP) — Who killed Donald Goines?
Producers of a documentary on the life of the prisoner-turned urban fiction writer of novels about the violence, drugs and prostitution that he surrounded himself with in Detroit are hoping the answer hasn't been lost to time — or the streets.
It's been more than 50 years since Goines and his common-law wife, Shirley Sailor, were found shot to death on Oct. 21, 1974, in their flat in Highland Park, a small enclave of Detroit. Each had been shot five times. Their two young children were home at the time of the killings.
No arrests were made and rumors swelled. Some speculated the killings had something to do with 37-year-old Goines' heroin addiction. Others nodded to the theory that the fictional subjects of his novels appeared a bit too much like the real-life hustlers, pimps, drug dealers and stickup men who prowled the city's streets.
“There have been at least a half-dozen, quite possibly a dozen, elements of speculation as to how Mr. Goines and the mother of his children were murdered,” said Bill Proctor, a private investigator hired to find the killer or killers. “But no one has come forward with enough information to charge the persons responsible.”
Proctor said a $5,000 reward being offered by the producers of the documentary might help “shake the trees” and find “someone who might still be alive or have an understanding” of the facts of the case.
Goines wrote 16 books over a short span of several years. His raw, stark and undiluted writings are filled with the urban street life imagery of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
“Dopefiend,” was published in 1971. Fifteen more including “Street Players,” “Daddy Cool” and “Kenyatta's Last Hit,” would follow over the next three years. The titles and the content resonated with many Black readers, especially in Detroit where Goines' books often held prominence on living room coffee tables and bookshelves.
“When I read his books, I can visualize — I can picture what he’s writing about,” said his daughter, Donna Sailor. “He was so descriptive about what he wrote. That’s kind of like how it was back then.”
Donna Sailor was 2 when her parents were killed. She doesn’t remember anything about the shooting or her parents.
“We would see friends of the family that knew my dad and my mom,” Sailor, 52, told The Associated Press Thursday. “They would say she was a sweetheart, and she was funny and had a great smile.”
Less information about Goines was volunteered, though, she added.
“No one ever went into great detail about him. They would say he was a nice guy,” said Sailor.
The urban lit genre dates back at least to 1967, and the release of the memoir “Pimp,” written by Robert Maupin, who also was in jail when he began writing under the name Iceberg Slim. Maupin built a large word-of-mouth following and one of his readers was Goines. Generations later, hip-hop stars like Tupac Shakur were also inspired by the books and have referenced Goines and Iceberg Slim in their recordings. Shakur even once declared: “Machiavelli was my tutor, Donald Goines my father figure.”
Goines' parents owned a clothes-cleaning and other businesses in Detroit and were part of the city's Black middle class. He enlisted in the Air Force and spent time in Korea and Japan during the Korean War. It was there Goines became addicted to heroin, according to various reports on his life.
After his time in the military, Goines returned to Detroit in the mid-1950s. He drifted into the city's criminal underbelly, finding himself jailed for various crimes.
Holloway House published Goines' novels from 1971 to 2008, according to current publisher Kensington.
Under Kensington, Goines books have sold about 500,000 copies in print, alone. He consistently is one of Kensington's top reordered authors and his books have been “selling at a stronger pace” since it launched a reissue program in 2020, according to the company.
Robert (Tape) Bailey and Craig Gore are the driving forces behind the documentary which is expected to be released by the end of the year. Both read Goines’ books while incarcerated, separately.
Bailey, 49, was born in Detroit and now lives in Los Angeles. He spent time in federal prison as a young man for possession with intent to deliver drugs in Ohio.
Goines wrote in detail about things he had witnessed, Bailey said.
Gore, 51, of Los Angeles, stumbled onto Goines while serving time for burglary and theft. He says that through the $5,000 reward, they hope to bring more accuracy to the documentary.
“We might find nothing. We might solve the murder,” he said.
Donna Sailor poses next to poster of upcoming documentary about the life of her father and urban literature writer Donald Goines on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 in Detroit. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
Donna Sailor poses next to poster of upcoming documentary about the life of her father and urban literature writer Donald Goines on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 in Detroit. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.
Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.
U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.
"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”
Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.
Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.
“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”
Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.
U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.
Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.
Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.
Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.
"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.
The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.
The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.
“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.
“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”
The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
