[132] Mrs. Leik also testified to having cut her children's hair in her basement two days prior to embarking on a vacation with her family, and that when they had returned home, she had noticed that several items from her basement had been moved, that she had discovered a wet, soiled cloth containing hair aside a laundry tub, and that other itemsincluding a nearly-full bottle of ammoniawere missing.[76]. [145], On August 19, 1970, John Norman Collins was unanimously found guilty of the first-degree murder of Karen Sue Beineman. "[93] before angrily walking out of her apartment. [118] At this hearing, Collins' court-appointed attorney, Richard Ryan, challenged the validity of the physical evidence and the credibility of the circumstantial evidence before formally requesting the case against his client be dismissed and the evidence seized from his rooming house and vehicle suppressed upon the grounds Collins had not consented to a police search of his property. [41] By early April, each of these law enforcement agencies had collectively assigned 20 investigators to work exclusively upon the four homicides. Roxie Ann Phillips (17): June 30, 1969 (California), 7. Details: On November 21, 1985, childhood friends David Tyll and Brian Ognjan left their homes to go hunting near David's family cabin in White Cloud, Michigan. David Leik, had refused to divulge the blood type(s) of his family to defense attorneys. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for this final murder attributed to the Michigan Murderer on August 19, 1970,[4] and is currently incarcerated at G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility. Initially, police took him at his word, and did not seek to verify his alibi. [89] At a press conference relating to the arrest and charge of Collins in relation to the last of the Michigan Murders held on this date, Police Superintendent Frederick Davids revealed that Collins had been a suspect in the Beineman case from the very day she had disappeared, and that these suspicions had heightened following their forensic examination of David Leik's basement; furthermore, surveillance of Collins had been initiated on July 26, following the submission of a report compiled by Patrolman Larry Mathewson detailing the positive eyewitness identification he had obtained, and he had been formally arrested upon an open charge on the evening prior to his arraignment. She was reported missing by her roommate, Sherri Green, when she failed to return to her dormitory after curfew. 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. [109] Upon questioning Manuel's grandfather, investigators were informed that his grandson and one John Collins had temporarily resided in the trailerwhich they had hired from an Ypsilanti rental firmbetween June and July, before both men had abandoned the trailer and (he believed) returned to Michigan. Found this documentary because I found out she is my cousin. Meet the guy, have sex, go back home. In Kim Barker's memory, the city of Laramie, Wyo. She also recalled having observed a young man with short, side-parted dark hair, wearing a horizontal striped sweater, waiting on a blue motorcycle outside the shop as Beineman made her purchase. . I never took her life. It's just a little clearing in the forest in Onaway, Michigan, a few miles from the Canadian border, population slightly over 800. [104] Reviewing information regarding the murder of Roxie Ann Phillips, investigators discovered that immediately prior to her disappearance, Phillips had informed a close friend that she had become acquainted with an Eastern Michigan University student named John, who drove a silver-grey Oldsmobile Cutlass and who was temporarily residing with a friend in a camper-trailer. Furthermore, Goshe had identified a photograph shown to her of Collins as being the man she had seen with Beineman. He was sentenced to life without parole in 2006. [153], In each appeal instance, Collins' conviction was upheld, with successive appellate judges of the Supreme Court announcing in October 1974, their refusal to review his conviction[154] and the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit announcing their own satisfaction with the earlier findings of the district court. When informed his request was impossible,[3] the young man had replied: "You mean you can't fix her up enough so I could just get one picture of her? 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. [152], At his 1972 appeal hearing, Collins' lawyers did succeed in securing the partial striking of the testimony of Dr. Vincent P. Guinn, the final prosecution witness at his trial, who had testified as to the odds of erroneous matching of the hairs found upon Karen Beineman's panties to those in the Leik family basement being "more than a million-to-one. All the victims of the Michigan Murderer were young women between the ages of 13 and 21 who were abducted, raped, beaten and murderedtypically by stabbing or strangulation with their bodies occasionally mutilated after death before being discarded within a 15-mile radius of Washtenaw County. 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. 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. Each motion filed had been reserved or, in the final instance, denied. Menu. He's I think he's putting him in the trunk," the concerned caller said of the apparent kidnapping. Nonetheless, the three appellate judges at this appeal hearing concluded thus: "In our view, improperly admitted testimony that is merely corroborative of properly admitted evidence is not the basis for holding the error reversible. The seven women he killed between 1967 and 1969, most in and around Ypsilanti, became known as "the Michigan Murders." Some people call him Michigan's Ted. [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. As the Ruelas and Mixer cases had been processed in the same, List of serial killers by number of victims, List of serial killers in the United States, legislatively abolished the death penalty, "Inmate Information Details: Collins, John Norman", "Who Killed these Girls? [153], His lawyers further argued that, at an evidentiary hearing in April 1970, shortly before jury selection had begun, Collins' indictment for the California murder of Roxie Ann Phillips had likewise received extensive media coverage in Washtenaw Countyfurther reducing the chances of potential jurors being unbiased. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for this final murder attributed to the Michigan Murderer on August 19, 1970, and is currently incarcerated at Marquette Branch Prison.Although never tried for the remaining five murders attributed to the Michigan Murderer, or the murder of a sixth girl killed in California whose death has been linked to the series, investigators believe Chapman to be responsible for all seven murders linked to the same perpetrator.Credits: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/michigan_murders By July 23, 1969, panic is in the hot, muggy, southeast Michigan air. Even Michigan's beautiful north is safe from crime, as two of the cases spotlight cases from the Upper Peninsula. James Cleophas Nelson, who went by the nickname "Bubba," died on June 8, 2020, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records. The forensic experts who had testified on behalf of the prosecution, Dr. Jervis stated, had therefore based their conclusions on "insufficient data". He left her body behind an abandoned church and fled. [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. At a second hearing in September, Collins refused to enter a plea; Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge John Conlin ordered a plea of not guilty entered on his behalf. MOUNT PLEASANT, MI The 2012 murder of 24-year-old Rebekah Gay and the confessed murderer, a neighbor and pastor at a nearby church, will be featured on a television documentary set to air . 4) Juwan Knumar Deering. The circumstances surrounding this case prevented me from getting a fair trial. 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. [86] Upon their return from their vacation, Leik's wife, Sandra, had noted numerous paint marks covering the floor of the family basement, and that several itemsincluding a bottle of ammonia, a box of laundry detergent, and a canister of black spray paintwere missing from the household. [73] (The blunt instrument used to inflict these injuries to Beineman's skull and brain was never found. Upon questioning Collins' co-workers, investigators learned that Collins had repeatedly taken delight in describing, in graphic detail, details of the injuries inflicted upon each successive victim linked to the Michigan Murderer to his female colleagues;[19] he had claimed these details had been provided to him by an uncle of his named David Leik, who served as a sergeant in the police force. 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]. For example, in the case of Mary Fleszar, investigators discovered that at the time of her disappearance, Collins had worked part-time in the Eastern Michigan University administration unit, and that his office had been located directly opposite the hallway from the office where Fleszar had herself worked. Christensen further stated that although partial fingerprints had been discovered in the basement of the Leik family,[133] no full fingerprints had been discovered in the basement which had not belonged to any Leik family member. Collins had returned to their shared apartment shortly thereafter and asked Davis to hide a knife for him. Although her mother, Jennifer, had told her to stay in the friend's apartment, Nevaeh decided to ride her tricycle outside. The same day, the head of the state police crime laboratory, Sgt. In a final address to the jury on August 14, Judge Conlin informed the panel they had two choices in the verdict they could render: Guilty of first-degree murder, or not guilty. THE MICHIGAN MURDERS Never-before-published letters, interviews offer clues in infamous Michigan murders Eight women and girls were slain in the late 1960s. Serial's new true-crime podcast, The Coldest Case in Laramie, revisits a 1985 murder. On July 31, the prosecution introduced two forensic witnesses to testify regarding the physical evidence indicating the victim had been killed inside the Leik family home. Another individual would be convicted of the murder of Jane Mixer in 2005. In this four-part documentary event, A&E . The circumstantial evidence linking Collins to Schell's abduction and murder was stronger than that of any other Michigan victim linked to him, and police would formally announce this fact within days of his arrest. In September 1988, Chapman agreed to participate in a live interview conducted by the. Goshe then observed Beineman climb onto the motorcycle before the young man with whom she had accepted the ride drove away. [65], At the request of an Ann Arbor citizen's community, a Dutch psychic named Peter Hurkos traveled to Washtenaw County on July 21, to generate a psychic profile of the murderer. Ryan further stated at this hearing he was "undecided" as to whether the upcoming trial be held away from the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti district due to pretrial publicity, and this final motion was held in abeyance until an impartial jury could be selected. Upon recommendation from his lawyers, Collins chose not to testify in his own defense. [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. In the fall of 1987, a teenage boy's unexpected disappearance opened a community's eyes to a sadistic killer who was closer to home than anyone in the quiet town of Harrison, Michigan ever expected. Karen Sue Beineman (18): July 23, 1969, In the years immediately following his conviction, Collins' mother, siblings and several of his friends remained steadfast in their belief that Collins had been the victim of a. Collins' mother, Loretta, and his two siblings, Jerry and Gail, refused to speak with Sgt. (Lake County Sheriff's Office) (WJBK) - A new documentary is shedding light on the victims of an alleged serial killer who authorities say injected her husband with a lethal dose of heroin and. As they later passed the creepy motorist, they saw him commit a heinous murder. Details: David Tyll and Brian Ognjan, both twenty-seven, had been best friends since they were in Boy Scouts together. 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. [87] When Mathewson showed these photographs to both Goshe and her assistant, Patricia Spaulding, both women were adamant the man in the photographs was the same individual with whom Beineman had last been seen alive. Moreover, this search had also uncovered small bloodstains in nine areas of the basement. Glass particles found within this basement were of a similar consistency to those found upon the soles of Basom's shoes. [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. [52] (The farmhouse itself was destroyed in an act of arson on May 13; when the fire was extinguished, five clipped lilacs[53] were found arranged in an even row across the driveway to the building, leading investigators to theorize they had been placed there by the murderer to symbolize each victim. [144] The jury then retired to consider their verdict, and would deliberate for over 27 hours over a period of three days, with an additional five-and-a-half hours devoted to their re-reading portions of testimony, before announcing they had reached their verdict. The Oakland County Child Killer ( OCCK) is the name given to the perpetrator (s) responsible for the serial killings of at least four children in Oakland County, Michigan, United States, between 1976 and 1977. Kelly admitted to intentionally injecting Jason with a fatal overdose of heroin and then smothering him to death with a pillow. Slayer 'Could be Anyone', "Collins Ordered to Stand Trial for Murder: Judge Bases Ruling on Testimony of Nine in Killing of Co-Ed", "Collins Trial: Never Saw Stakeout Report, Sheriff Testifies", "Continue to Build Case in Collins Trial", "John Collins' Aunt Testifies She Found Items Moved, Missing From Basement", "Crime Center Directs Hunt for Co-Ed Killers", "Collins to Face Trial for Beineman Murder", "Star Prosecution Witness Cross-Examined Sharply", "Michigan Murders: Former Sheriff Recalls Washtenaw County's Most Notorious Serial Killer", "Key State Witnesses Called in Collins Trial", "Scientific Test Inventor Called as Defense Witness for Collins", "Search for Michigan Killer Spreads out to California", "Collins Can't Receive Fair Trial in Ann Arbor, Attorney Claims in Requesting Change of Venue", "Michigan Suspect Linked Directly to Salinas Case", "Multiple Sex Killings Have Terrorized Five States", "Police Say Slain Girl Knew of Accused Man", "Local Officials Irked As California Drops Collins Case", "Murder Similarities Under Investigation", "Collins Faces Murder Examination on Thursday", "Collins Friend Cleared in Co-Ed Deaths: Had No Knowledge of Slayings, Aid in Ann Arbor Says", "Similarities in Deaths of Girls Being Investigated", "Ouster In State's Case is Sought in Co-Ed Sex Slaying", "Continue Hearings: Judge Upholds Collins' Arrest", "Lawyers for the Defense in the John Norman Collins Case", "John Collins Seeks Justice 19 Years After Slayings End", "The Ann Arbor Library: The Michigan Murders", "Two Girls Testify at Collins' Trial: Slain Co-Ed's Roommates Tell of Day She Was Last Seen Alive", "Strong Challenges Face Prosecution in Trial of Collins", "The Michigan Murders Part 1: Seven Young Women", "Links to Other Slayings Sighted in Collins Trial: Defense Protests Plan to Ask Friend of Suspect About Girls' Apparel Items", "Data on Fingerprints, Stains Heard by Trial Jury: Crime Laboratory Head Finds No Marks Identifiable as Suspect's", "Jurors Quietly Visited Basement After Court Recessed Hour Early", "Three Defense Motions Denied for Collins", "Collins Guilty: Life Sentence is Mandatory", "Two Scientists Reject Data in Collins Case: Charge Prosecution Tests on Identifying Hairs Were Invalid", "Hair Not From Same Source, Nuclear Chemist Testifies", "Convicted in Michigan: Co-Ed Slayer Gets Life Term", "Nine Notorious Michigan Men Who Terrorized and Brutalized Women", "Collins Sentenced to Life Imprisonment and Hard Labor in Solitary Confinement", "Denies Killing Girl Before He Gets Life Term", "People vs. Collins: Decided October 24, 1972", "Final State Witness Heard in Collins Case: Defense Readdy to Start Testimony After Finishing Cross-Examination", "People v. Collins: Michigan Court of Appeals; Decided October 24, 1972", "Collins' Lawyer Promises Appeal On Extradition", "Extradition Hearing for Collins: California Seeks to Try Convict in Slaying of Girl", "California Drops Case Against Co-Ed Killer", "Collins is Linked to Schell Case: Slaying Suspect Reportedly was Driver of 'Pickup' Car", "New Book Lists Goofs in Serial Killings Probe", "John Collins' Aunt Testifies She Found Items Moved, Missing from Basement", "An Exclusive Interview: Collins Ends Seven Years of Silence", "Slayer of EMU Co-Ed Fails in Tunnel Escape Attempt", "Appeals Court Supports Canadian Citizenship Application Citizenship", "Never-Before-Published Letters, Interviews Offer Clues in Infamous Michigan Murders", "State Transfers 'Co-ed Killer' Convict to Ionia Prison", "The Michigan Murders Part 4: The Aftershock", "Court of Appeals Rejects Request for a New Trial", "Michigan Murders: Close calls, Haunting Roads, and Life After a Suspected Serial Killer is Arrested", initial 1972 appeal against his conviction, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michigan_Murders&oldid=1130998673, 6. [135] Immediately following the testimony of Walter Holz, a colleague of his named Curtis Fluker testified that the blood type of the tissue samples recovered from the Leik family basement matched that of Karen Sue Beineman. The physical and circumstantial evidence linking Collins to this particular murder was stronger than any of the six outstanding murders then linked to him in Michigan, and authorities in Monterey did file several motions to extradite Collins to California to stand trial for Phillips' murder in 1970 and 1971. [110] Several of Phillips' personal possessions would later be found strewn along State Route 68.[111][112]. [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. [137], Five independent witnesses were called to testify on behalf of the defense as to Collins' whereabouts on the dates Karen Sue Beineman had disappeared and her body had been found. "[156], At the time of his 1970 conviction, a grand jury indictment against Collins remained outstanding in relation to the June 1969 murder of Roxie Ann Phillips in Monterey County, California. Although earlier attempts to enforce news blackouts as to the discovery of Basom and Kalom had proven unsuccessful,[60] on this occasion, police successfully ordered a news blackout relating to the discovery of this latest victim. He killed five children ranging between 6 and 11 years old. [70], Three days after the disappearance of Beineman, her nude body was discovered face-down in a wooded gully alongside the Huron River parkway. [75], The 47th and final witness to appear for the prosecution at Collins' trial was a University of California chemistry professor named Dr. Vincent P. Guinn, who testified on August 5 as to his conclusions that the hair samples retrieved from Beineman's panties bore "a remarkable similarity" to those retrieved from the Leik household and that, upon statistical calculations he had begun the previous month, the odds of erroneous matching of the hair samples earlier testified to by Walter Holz were quite low. [66][101], On August 1, 1969, John Norman Collins was formally arraigned for the murder of Karen Sue Beineman. [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. 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. Her roommate became concerned when she did not return that night and notified police the next day. [134] Although subjected to intense cross-examination by Joseph Louisell as to the reliability of his findings, Holz remained adamant the color, length, type and diameter of the hair samples found upon Beineman's panties were a precise match to those found in the Leik family basement. In an effort to discredit Goshe's testimony, Fink diverted questioning as to the model of motorcycle she had seen outside her shop, to which Goshe conceded her initial belief as to the model being a Honda 350 was inaccurate. Leik's home was subjected to an intense forensic examination. John List appeared to be the perfect son, husband, and father. The murder of Joan Schell, a 20 year old E.M.U. As Davis opened the door for his roommate to leave the apartment, he observed that the contents of this box included a woman's purple shoe, rolled-up jean-like material, and a burlap purse. [58], The victim was identified the following day[59] as a 21-year-old University of Michigan graduate student named Alice Elizabeth Kalom, who had disappeared shortly after midnight on the morning of June 8. In response to defense questioning, Sgt. [151] This first appeal was formally rejected on October 24, 1972. We've assembled a list of 15 documentaries that focus on some of Michigan's worst human beings - Murderers. [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. Schell had intended to travel to Ann Arbor to visit her boyfriend, and her roommate had accompanied her to the bus stop. The same afternoon police searched the Leik family's basement, Collins was confronted with evidence thus far gained and deduced. [11], A detailed examination of the crime scene revealed that the body had been moved three times throughout the month it had lain undiscovered:[12] initially, the body had lain upon a pile of bottles and cans obscured from view by elder trees, before being dragged five feet from this location into a field, where it had remained exposed throughout much of the time it had lain undiscovered. Upon cross-examination, Dr. Guinn did agree with defense attorney Neil Fink that a statistical analysis of hair mixtures had never been attempted in a court of law,[136] although he remained firm that his applications had been performed via scientific principles. Following her identification of a photograph of Collins, police further questioned the proprietor of the wig shop in which Beineman had last been seen alive, asking her to identify the man she had seen with Beineman in a police lineup. Everyone from average citizens to celebrities like the Kardashians was invested in the case of Anthony, who was on trial for the murder of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. Alas, it wasn't her first murder. [47] A handkerchief found stuffed in her mouth had likely been placed there to muffle her cries throughout her torture, and her murderer had placed her body in a location where rapid discovery was assured. [138], On August 8, Collins' attorneys introduced a renowned neutron analyst named Dr. Robert Jervis in an effort to discredit the earlier testimony of the forensic experts who had testified on behalf of the prosecution. [146] He remained impassive upon hearing the jury foreman announce the verdict, although many spectators gasped audibly,[102] and his mother and sister left the courtroom in tears.