", "Autopsy Shows EMU Coed was Stabbed Many Times", "Ypsilanti Man Arraigned, Accused of Co-Ed Murder", "Citizens Asked to Aid Murder-Suspect Hunt", "Collins' Trial Will Begin on Tuesday: Faces Charge of Murder in Slaying of Co-Ed", "Man Convicted in 1979 Slaying of University of Michigan Student", "Fourth in Area: Girl Found Murdered Near North Campus", "Latest Slaying in Ann Arbor Area Linked to Dope, Policewoman Says", "Path of Murder Victim Traced to Restaurant: Girl Found Slain Near Ann Arbor May Have Bought Food For Killer", "Police Seek Clues to Fourth Girl Murdered", "Murder Victim Had Electric Cord Wrapped Around Neck", "Co-Eds in Michigan Carry Weapons in Wake of Series of Five Slayings", "The LeForge Barn Fire: Murder Site of Dawn Basom, John Norman Collins' Youngest Victim", "Still No Suspect: Latest Victim Identified as 'U' Coed", "Who Killed These Girls? Neighbors speechless after triple homicide [49], Basom had last been seen alive at 7:30p.m. the previous evening, walking home from a friend's house located barely a mile from her own home. [71] As had been the case with previous victims, her killer had placed a section of cloth in her throat to muffle her screams throughout her torture. To expand on their allegations that certain defense witnesses had been subjected to police harassment, and that eyewitness accounts had been flawed, defense attorney Joseph Louisell subjected Sheriff Harvey to a 45-minute cross-examination as to his contact with the two eyewitnesses prior to completion of this composite drawing. Detective: Nursing home killers suffocated up to a dozen patients Although investigators had informally exchanged information with agencies from other jurisdictions on an irregular basis since the previous summer, no coordination to combine efforts and resources had ensued until the discovery of the third victim definitely linked to the series. Samples recovered from both locations would prove to be a precise match. The following day, Washtenaw County Sheriff Douglas Harvey testified as to the discovery of Beineman's body, her subsequent autopsy, and his obtaining an updated composite drawing of the suspect with whom Beineman had last been seen alive from Mrs. Joan Goshe and her assistant, Patricia Spaulding. He was then sentenced to serve a term of life imprisonment with hard labor, in solitary confinement, at Southern Michigan Prison. Joan Schell (20): June 30, 1968 3. WebFor example, some of the most infamous Michigan murders that remain unsolved are the Oakland County Child Killer case, where four children were murdered from 1976-1977; Maralynn Skelton (16): March 24, 1969 4. This individual had asked for permission to take a photograph of the body as it lay in the coffin as a keepsake for her parents. Four of these witnesses were employees of a motorcycle sales firm which Collins had visited on the afternoon of Beineman's disappearance. [163], When Kalom's body was found, a distinctive boot print on her skirt was found to be a perfect match to a boot Collins had owned, and although Collins had evidently cleaned his car in an effort to destroy evidence prior to his arrest, investigators would find bloodstains in this vehicle and upon a raincoat he owned which were determined to match Kalom's blood type. [55][63], By the spring of 1969, public outcry regarding the murders committed by the individual dubbed by the press as the Michigan Murderer and the Co-Ed Killer was increasing, particularly among the student population of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. [137] On this date, Collins was formally sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. [165] Moreover, a sweater found in Collins' closet was found to contain 22 pubic hairs which had not originated from Collins or any of the seven Michigan victims. WebA look at five Michigan serial killers and their crimes Aileen Wuornos. WebHe raped and killed the two, then put their bodies in his car. [86] When questioned as to the source of these clippings, Leik (who had not been informed of the discovery of the hair clippings found upon Beineman's panties) informed investigators that his wife regularly cut their children's hair in this basement, and that she had done so shortly before the family had embarked upon their vacation. WebHis victims were young women, primarily college students in the Ann Arbor area, whom Collins beat, strangled, stabbed, and sometimes mutilated to death. Davis had reported this incident to police, and later handed them the knife Collins had allegedly asked him to hide. [66] Having led investigators to the precise location where each of the victims' bodies had been discovered, Hurkos also revealed details of the murders to investigators which had not been released to the press. [141], On August 13, both prosecution and defense attorneys delivered their closing arguments to the jury (these arguments concluded the following day). In November 1969, Andrew Manuel would plead guilty to charges of, The death sentence was not an option for the prosecution to seek as Michigan had, DNA belonging to a convicted killer named John Ruelas4 years old at the time of Mixer's murderwas also found upon the victim's clothing. [20], Despite tracing and eliminating more than 150 registered owners of red-and-black vehicles in the state of Michigan, and establishing the alibis of numerous individuals whose physical features bore a likeness to the composite drawing of the driver the police had obtained from Kolbe, all investigative lines of inquiry into the murder of Joan Schell failed to bear fruit. Collins' attorneys also alleged these alibi witnesses had been subjected to police harassment, that the tests conducted upon the hair samples found upon Beineman's panties were unreliable, and that Collins' uncle, Sgt. Although neither eyewitness was certain, both believed this student to be John Norman Collins: a student at Eastern Michigan University majoring in elementary education,[20] who lived directly across the street from Schell at 619 Emmet,[23] and whose physical features bore a likeness to the composite drawing police had generated of the driver of the vehicle Schell had entered. Had this violation of the county prosecutor's order not taken place, Collins may not have realized how seriously he was considered a suspect at that stage, and thus may not have disposed of the physical evidence which would have assisted in linking him to other killings linked to the Michigan Murders.[88]. The testimony of Joan Goshe was further supported by Patricia Spaulding, who testified as to having observed Collins for between three and four minutes as he had waited for Beineman to return to his motorcycle. murder victims Later that day, having received initial laboratory reports indicating the hair samples recovered from Beineman's panties matched those discovered in Leik's basement, and that the bloodstains recovered from this location were of the same type as hers,[99] Collins was arrested and his apartment and vehicles thoroughly searched. [88], Police had already established that Collins was a known motorcycle enthusiast[89] who owned several motorcycles, including a blue Triumph Bonneville. Each testified on August 6. A look at five of Michigan's serial killers and their crimes [48], Investigators found no definite evidence Basom had been subjected to a sexual assault prior to her murder. He drove to a secluded area and dug up two shallow graves, but before burying them, Williams said he had sex with their bodies. LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) On Monday, the 30th circuit court in Lansing heard from victims and inmates as they tried to determine new sentences for three murderers. When confronted with this finding, Collins reportedly denied any knowledge of the existence of this item and insisted it had never been in his room; he had apparently neglected to dispose of this item as he had the personal possessions of other victims two days prior to his arrest. Furthermore, Goshe had identified a photograph shown to her of Collins as being the man she had seen with Beineman. [91] Some acquaintances noted Collins' politeness around women, while others described him as lascivious and bad-tempered. WebSpicher, a 28-year-old white police officer with four years on the force, was working the graveyard shift with his partner, Patrolman Robert Marshall, also a white man, when he One of the personal items missing from Fleszar's body was an Expo 67 Canadian silver dollar she is known to have worn around her neck; this item was discovered in Collins' dresser when police conducted a search of his room. [106] Collins had later returned to Michigan alone in his vehicle; Manuel would later be located in Arizona following Collins' arrest. [34] However, the dramatic increase in savagery exhibited against the victim and the fact that Skelton was a known drug user, dealer and occasional police informant[38] as opposed to a university student[24] led some junior investigators to speculate her murder may have been drug-related. [3] Although Schell had been dead for several days, her entire lower body was in a remarkably preserved condition, whereas her head, shoulders and breasts were in an advanced state of decomposition, leading the pathologist to conclude her body had been stored in a naturally cool environment, but with the upper third of her body exposed to natural heat. Howell Donaldson was 24 when he gunned down four people in 2017 in the Seminole Heights section of Tampa. Devon Hoover was found wrapped in sheet after domestic incident In rebuttal to the testimony of Dr. Golub, the defense recalled Dr. Walter Holz on August 12 to testify as to the samples he had himself taken to Dr. Golub for identification; Dr. Holz affirmed that he had taken twenty magnified photographic slides of samples retrieved from Beineman's panties to Dr. Golub's laboratory for analysis, and that they had contained numerous man-made fibrous materials. Despite the advanced state of decomposition, the pathologist was also able to locate multiple lineal abrasions upon the victim's chest and torso,[10] indicating that Fleszar had been extensively beaten before her death. As he had explained this to Davis, Collins had been carrying a red handbag, which he claimed Schell had left in his car. [60], By July 1969, as a result of the coordinated investigation into the killings, more than 1,000 convicted sex offenders had been investigated and eliminated as suspects; over 800 tips from informants had been actively investigated; and several thousand individuals routinely interviewed. David Leik. Perkons testified as to his belief that the hair samples retrieved from Beineman's panties were of a "different origin" than the hair samples retrieved from the Leiks' basement,[140] whereas Golub stated that because he had found only one single fiber upon the victim's panties, the likelihood of her undergarments accumulating these hairs from a basement was extremely remote. The driver had been aged around 20 and clean-cut with short, dark, side-parted hair. Devon Hoover's body was found wrapped in a sheet in the attic on April 23. Michigan Murders - 1 proven victims 7 potential victims Man charged with murdering Mich. teen April Millsap - CBS News The receptionist could not offer any clear description of the man beyond that he was a handsome young white male with dark hair, that he had driven a blue-grey Chevrolet, and that he had not been carrying a camera. [56] She had also been raped, although the pathologist was unable to determine whether this act had occurred before or after death. [66][101], On August 1, 1969, John Norman Collins was formally arraigned for the murder of Karen Sue Beineman. [42], Little physical evidence existed beyond eyewitness descriptions and forensic reports. Kelly Cochran, 34, was sentenced to 65 years in jail last month after confessing to the murder of her husband, Jason Cochran, reported the IndyStar. Over 50 years later, the case remains cold. Neighbors also say they went to high school with one of the victims. Manuel was extensively questioned as to his potential involvement in both Phillips' murder and those committed in Michigan which investigators had linked to Collins, and agreed to submit to a polygraph test. He was known to engage in sexual violence, including one instance in which he had raped a woman who had resisted his advances. Through interviewing a recent girlfriend of Collins, investigators also learned that she had lived in an apartment complex directly across the road from the home of Dawn Basom, and that, throughout their courtship, Collins had been a regular visitor to her apartment. [132] (The prosecution had initially intended to question Davis in detail as to each of the contents of this laundry box upon the grounds that the contents Davis had previously described to investigators may include Beineman's missing cut-off blue jeans; however, Collins' attorneys successfully objected to this motion upon the grounds that Collins was solely on trial for the murder of Karen Sue Beineman, and this testimony could suggest a link to the six other victims of the Michigan Murders then linked to the same perpetrator. [24] Blood spatterings and churned soil close to the crime scene indicated she had been beaten close to where her body was discovered, and that she may have attempted to escape her attacker. The discovery of several dried bloodstains and two buttons missing from the victim's raincoat at a Northfield Township commercial gravel pit on June 10 indicated the victim had been murdered at this location. Barlow testified as to the fact that although Beineman had been deceased for almost 72 hours, her body had only lain in the location where she was found for 24 hours before discovery.[74]. Each ruling stated no evidence existed to suggest extensive publicity had interfered with pretrial or trial proceedings, and that police had not broken any protocol in showing two eyewitnesses photographs of Collins prior to his arrest and their being asked to identify him in a police lineup. At the request of Michigan authorities, Phillips' body was exhumed in Oregon in order that pubic hair samples could be obtained from her for comparison with those found upon Collins' sweater: The pubic hairs upon Collins' sweater proved to be a precise match to those obtained from Phillips' body, and investigators believe they may have transferred from her body to Collins' sweater as she was carried to the location in which her body was discarded. [84] He held a part-time job as an inspector at a firm which manufactured drum brakes,[66] and was currently majoring in elementary education at Eastern Michigan University. In regards to the seventh, the 7-year-old, Tom Gaffney was found guilty of second-degree murder. The victim had received multiple slash and stab wounds to the body (including two stab wounds which had pierced her heart),[55] and a gunshot wound to the forehead before her neck had been cut through to the spine. [44], At 6:30a.m. on April 16, the body of a 13-year-old schoolgirl named Dawn Louise Basom was found beside a desolate road in Ypsilanti. Beineman's body was replaced with that of a tailor's mannequin, and the gully surrounding this mannequin monitored by undercover officers. [9] Her nude body was found by two 15-year-old boys on an abandoned farm at Superior Township on August 7, and was formally identified via dental records the following day. Defense attorneys Neil Fink and Joseph Louisell, in their opening statement, labeled the eyewitnesses' identification of both Collins and his motorcycle as flawed and unreliable, and stated their intentions to introduce several witnesses who would provide an alibi for their client in the early afternoon hours the prosecution contended Karen Sue Beineman had been abducted and murdered. Moreover, although the prosecution at Collins' trial had been unable to question Arnold Davis in detail as to the contents of the laundry box he had observed his roommate hurriedly remove from their apartment and towards his car two days prior to his arrest, one of the items he had seen within this laundry box had been a distinctive purple leather shoe, which may have belonged to Kalom.[58]. Web0:00. Interrogation tapes reveal connections between Jeffrey Willis and [47], One week after the murder of Dawn Basom, a detective conducting a routine examination of this farmhouse basement discovered a scrap of cloth from Basom's blouse, plus an earring later determined to belong to Maralynn Skelton. Investigators had established that each victim had been menstruating at the time of her death, and had theorized this may be a factor in the sexual violence exhibited upon the victims. decades later, Kalamazoo County double homicide back Interrogation tapes reveal connections between Jeffrey Willis and Devon Hoover was found wrapped in sheet after domestic incident Devon Hoover was found wrapped in sheet after domestic incident Michigan [168] Collins had protested his innocence on this occasion, and insisted the eyewitnesses' identifications of him had been erroneous, although he refused to return to the police station to take a polygraph test. [82], The description of the young man with whom Beineman had last been seen alive was heard by a patrolman named Larry Mathewson, who believed the person described by Diana Goshe and others may be John Norman Collins: a former Theta Chi fraternity brother[85] of his who had previously been interviewed but eliminated from police inquiries,[86] and who he had himself seen riding his motorcycle around the Eastern Michigan University campus on the afternoon of July 23. Several motions by the defense counsel throughout the jury selection process that the trial should be moved to a jurisdiction outside of Washtenaw County were rejected by Judge John Conlin, who ruled on June 29 that the 14 members of the jury selected from Ann Arbor by this date and considered satisfactory by both counsels would serve as jurors throughout the trial. [147] In response, Collins rose from his chair and made the following speech:[148]. The first witness to testify was the head of the Michigan Health Department's Crime Detective Laboratory, Walter Holz, who testified as to the human hair clippings found inside Karen Sue Beineman's panties being an exact match to those recovered from the basement of Sgt. [109] She had been strangled to death and, as with several Michigan victims linked to Collins, one earring was missing. [161] He had further informed his roommate he had agreed to drive Schell from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti the following day. [43] These factors led police to publicly conclude the same perpetrator was responsible for at least three of the murders thus far committed. WebBond was raised Friday for a Farwell woman accused of killing four people because investigators found a list of potential other victims. [66], Despite recovering numerous stolen items from his apartment and being informed by Arnold Davis that Collins had been in the habit of committing burglaries with a former roommate of theirs named Andrew Manuel,[100] no incriminating evidence linking Collins to Beineman or any victim of the Michigan Murders was discovered, although officers were informed by Arnold Davis on this date of the incident two days earlier in which he (Davis) had observed Collins carrying a laundry box containing women's clothing and jewelry from his apartment and towards his car. Two days after the remains had been identified as those of Mary Fleszar, a young man claiming to be a friend of the Fleszar family arrived at the funeral home holding Fleszar's body prior to her scheduled burial. Leslie Allen Williams Serial killer Don Miller, who admitted to killing 4 women, denied Although Collins emphatically protested his innocence and insisted the eyewitnesses' identification of him had been an error, he refused to return to the police station to take a polygraph test. I never took her life. After hearing six hours of testimony from nine prosecution witnesses, Judge Edward Deake ruled that probable cause had been established, and Collins was formally ordered to stand trial for Beineman's murder.[73]. Evaluation of individual will and moral restraints within society, written by Collins while enrolled at Eastern Michigan University. The same day, the head of the state police crime laboratory, Sgt. Prosecutor William F. Delhey agreed to a proviso that the test be conducted off the record and its results remain confidential. In the case of Joan Elspeth Schell, two separate witness accounts had placed the victim both entering a car with three men on the night of her disappearance, and walking alone in the company of a man believed to be John Collins later that evening. [26] The pathologist also stated that Mixer had not been sexually assaulted, that death had occurred at approximately 3a.m. on March 21, and that she had not been killed at the location where her body had been discovered. [46], The orange mohair sweater belonging to Basom was found in a deserted farmhouse just 100 yards from the desolate road on which her body had been placed after her murder. [121] Mrs. Collins reportedly remortgaged her home to secure their services. One of the men in the car Schell had entered was Collins' roommate, Arnold Davis, who later informed police the girl had indeed entered the car he had been driving, but that Collins had insisted he give Schell the lift she was seeking to Ann Arbor in his own car. [152], Between 1972 and 1976, Collins appealed his murder conviction on four further occasions; citing contentions that the Michigan Murders had received extensive media publicity in Washtenaw County, and that five separate motions for change of venue had been submitted by the defense counsel (two of which had been filed throughout the actual jury selection process) upon the grounds of pretrial publicity minimizing any chance of obtaining an unbiased jury in Washtenaw County. Moreover, a psychologist retained by the defense had testified as such on April 20, 1970. All six murders were committed in the span of 1.5 hours between the times of 5:00 til just before 6:30 pm. Roxie Ann Phillips (17): June 30, 1969 (California) 7. [70], Three days after the disappearance of Beineman, her nude body was discovered face-down in a wooded gully alongside the Huron River parkway. In addition, the "outstanding similarities" between the wounds inflicted upon her body and those inflicted upon Fleszar the previous year led investigators to establish a definite connection between both murders, and four detectives were assigned to work full-time on both cases. Arnold Davis also informed police Collins had been in the company of victim Alice Kalom on the evening of her disappearance. Her murderer had likely driven to the location to dispose of her body, before making rudimentary efforts to conceal the body with clumps of grass. A Florida serial killer admitted to four murders and will spend the rest of his life in prison, officials said Monday. The pair would commit several murders of young women over the next few months. Uncovered: Unsolved Michigan Murders Police investigating break-in at home of slain Detroit Albrecht had provided Monterey County investigators with an identikit which, in addition to her descriptions of the suspect's possessions, circumstances and status, bore a striking resemblance to John Norman Collins. The perpetrator, John Norman Chapman (then known as John Norman Collins) was arrested one week after the final murder. -- A man has been charged with murder in the death of a 14-year-old girl who was killed while walking her dog on a popular trial in Macomb County, Michigan. The first known victim linked to the Michigan Murderer was a 19-year-old Eastern Michigan University accounting student named Mary Terese Fleszar,[8] who was last seen alive on the evening of July 9, 1967, by a neighbor walking towards her Ypsilanti apartment. Alice Kalom (21): June 8, 1969 6. Beineman, an 18 year-old Eastern Michigan co-ed from Grand Rapids, was found dead along a road east of Ann Arbor. [121][122], In January 1970, Neil Fink and Joseph Louisell, partners at one of Detroit's highest-priced law firms, agreed to take over Collins' defense.

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