[124], The trial of John Norman Collins for the murder of Karen Sue Beineman began in the Washtenaw County Court Building on June 2, 1970. [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. Season 1 of the provoking documentary series won four Emmys, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. Northern Michigan's most notorious cold case, the horrific 1968 murder of six members of the Robison family in Good Hart, has seemingly languished unsolved for five decades, a festering open wound amid an otherwise idyllic setting. He was held without bond. In response to questions as to her personal character, Goshe further conceded she had previously lied under oath on two occasions (one instance of which was unrelated to the trial). [96], The basement of Sgt. As he had explained this to Davis, Collins had been carrying a red handbag, which he claimed Schell had left in his car. It comes amid a frenzy of interest in true crime media, that can be both . [74]), The forensic examination of Beineman's body further revealed she had been raped prior to her murder, and that her torn panties had been forcefully placed inside her vagina; these panties revealed the presence of human semen and 509[75] human hair clippings measuring less than three-eights of an inch upon the material. 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. She had received extensive skull and brain injuries which had been inflicted with a blunt instrument, had been forced to ingest a caustic substance,[58] and her neck, shoulders, nipples and breasts had been burned with the same caustic agent. They played cards, hunted, and enjoyed the outdoors together. [12], Almost one year later, on July 5, 1968, the partially decomposed, mutilated body of a 20-year-old art student named Joan Elspeth Schell[15] was found by construction workers on an Ann Arbor roadside. [80], Upon retracing Beineman's movements on the day of her disappearance, police questioned the proprietor of the wig shop Beineman had visited immediately prior to her disappearance, Diana Joan Goshe. Delhey also stated the prosecution's intent to prove that Collins had had sole access to his uncle's home and basement on the afternoon of Beineman's disappearance, and although he had made concerted efforts to remove physical evidence from the crime scene, blood samples recovered from this location were a match for the blood type of the victim. BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (WNDU/Gray News) - A 3-year-old and a 4-year-old were killed in a house fire early Thursday morning in Michigan, according to officials. These motions were repeatedly contested by Collins' attorney, Neil Fink, who opposed and successfully delayed his client's extradition upon the grounds of due process. Michigan murders Documentary - YouTube 0:00 / 1:00:35 Michigan murders Documentary 29,117 views Mar 25, 2017 The Michigan Murders were a series of highly publicize .more .more 85. 6 The Murder Of Nevaeh Buchanan. [105], On August 14, 1969, Collins attended a pretrial hearing at Ypsilanti District Court. Report. They first planned to visit a friend in Mio, 150 miles east. The driver had been aged around 20 and clean-cut with short, dark, side-parted hair. 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. [107] Albrecht described this individual, whose surname she did not know, as being 5 ft 11 in tall, clean-cut, with dark brown hair and who had described himself as an Eastern Michigan University senior with aspirations to become a teacher. [142] Prosecuting attorney William Delhey argued first, recounting the evidence the state had presented and Collins' conscious efforts to destroy physical evidence at the Leik household before telling the jury that their collective application of common sense could only dictate a guilty verdict.[143]. 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. [5], 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,[6] investigators believe Collins to be responsible for all seven murders linked to the same perpetrator.[7]. 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. Kindle $9.99 Rate this book Darker than Night: The True Story of a Brutal Double Homicide and an 18-Year-Long Quest for Justice Tom Henderson 3.87 904 ratings112 reviews On a cold, snowy night in 1985, two men begged for their lives In 1985, two 27-year-old friends left their suburban Detroit homes for a hunting trip in rural Michigan. "He's got him by the neck now. 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. The forensic experts who had testified on behalf of the prosecution, Dr. Jervis stated, had therefore based their conclusions on "insufficient data". [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. Alas, it wasn't her first murder. The first motion by Collins' attorneys, contending denial of defense motions to move the trial outside of Washtenaw County and the prejudice of prosecution witnesses, was filed with the Michigan Court of Appeals on December 14, 1970. [18], Schell hailed from Plymouth and had recently moved into a house on Emmet Street in Ypsilanti; she was last seen by her roommate, Susan Kolbe, at a Washtenaw Avenue bus stop on the evening of June 30. After being convicted in the brutal triple murder of two women and an 11-month-old baby, Walker was convicted and sentenced to life for the crime. 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. The Michigan Murders was a series of highly publicized killings of young women committed between 1967 and 1969 in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area of Southeastern Michigan by an individual known as the Ypsilanti Ripper, the Michigan Murderer, and the Co-Ed Killer. [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. In Girl in the Picture, the director adapted Matt Birkbeck's bestselling books Finding Sharon and A Beautiful Child . [67] Although this information proved to be of little help throughout the actual manhunt, Hurkos also predicted that this individual would shortly strike one final time. What Lies Beyond. Or if the island is horrific enough, and the killing of four . 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. [114] No hard evidence would ever arise suggesting his involvement in any murders, and the Washtenaw County prosecutor's office would publicly announce on December 18 their satisfaction that Manuel had "no knowledge of the murders. [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 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. State (s) Michigan. Dr. Jervis testified as to his belief that insufficient chemical samples had existed in the samples retrieved from the basement which the prosecution scientists had worked with to form their conclusions, and that to form a conclusive neutron activation analysis, at least ten components in a hair sample must be compared, whereas only five components had been used by the prosecution's forensics experts to determine their findings. A forensic examination of this trailer revealed it had been completely wiped of fingerprints. [3], 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 strangulationwith their bodies occasionally mutilated after death before being discarded within a 15-mile radius of Washtenaw County. Despite repeatedly challenging the overturning of the 1981 decision to transfer him to a Canadian prison, a federal appellate court ruled in May 1988 that Chapman should remain incarcerated at Marquette Branch Prison. Erin Rebecca Taylor, age 24, of 1741 Wright Street, Marquette, Michigan, worked as a temporary secretary at the Upper Peninsula Medical Center in Marquette. Leik acknowledged that the evidence thus far gathered against his nephew was compelling, although in this first interview, he did not advise officers of the items missing from his household, or the paint marks he and his wife had found upon the floor of the family basement; however, the following morning, Leik scraped away some of the black paint which had been sprayed in his basement to reveal a stain which looked ominously like human blood and immediately returned to the police station to report his findings. Her fully clothed body, covered with her own raincoat and with a copy of the novel Catch-22 placed by her side, was found the following morning atop a grave in Denton Cemetery in Van Buren Township. This documentary is extremely unique, because most of the footage is from Michael's own documentary crew that he hired during his trial. Davis informed police he had long suspected Collins had murdered Schell, but had been too afraid to report his suspicions. John List appeared to be the perfect son, husband, and father. Menu. The Michigan Murders were a series of highly publicized killings of young women committed between 1967 and 1969 in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area of Southeastern Michigan by an individual known as the Ypsilanti Ripper, the Michigan Murderer, and the Co-Ed Killer.All the victims of the Michigan Murders were young women between the ages of 13 and 21 who were abducted, raped, beaten and murderedtypically by stabbing or strangulationwith their bodies occasionally mutilated after death before being discarded within a 15-mile radius of Washtenaw County. She had been raped, then stabbed 25 times with a knife estimated to have measured four inches in length. Famed documentary filmmaker Errol Morris takes true crime reenactments to the next level by casting Hollywood actors in Wormwood, his Netflix docuseries that examines the government's attempts to cover up CIA experiments with LSD in the 1950s. [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. [54]), Less than two months after the murder of Dawn Basom, on June 9, three teenage boys discovered a partially nude body of a young woman in a field close to an abandoned farmhouse on North Territorial Road. Leik's home was subjected to an intense forensic examination. The autopsies show that Seth's grandfather was shot. At around 5 p.m. on December 24th, 2019, in Swartz Creek, Michigan a suburb about 20 minutes southwest of Flint Kevin Bacon, a 25-year-old hairdresser . [23] Prior to enrolling at Eastern Michigan University in the fall of 1966, he had been an honor student and football co-captain at his high school.[89]. [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. [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. Four of these witnesses were employees of a motorcycle sales firm which Collins had visited on the afternoon of Beineman's disappearance. [73] (The blunt instrument used to inflict these injuries to Beineman's skull and brain was never found. This demon would eventually be known as the Oakland County Child Killer. [68], The final murder attributed to the killer was that of 18-year-old Karen Sue Beineman, an Eastern Michigan University student who was last seen alive on July 23, 1969. I was flabbergasted when I found this documentary. Furthermore, Collins' lawyers argued issues such as the admissibility of testimony relating to the microscopic analysis of hair samples presented at his trial, and the denial of defense motions to suppress prosecution witnesses testifying against their client. [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. [36], The victim was identified as a 16-year-old Romulus[37] high school student named Maralynn Skelton, who had disappeared while hitchhiking in Ann Arbor. In response to questioning from prosecution attorneys, Goshe described how, on the afternoon of her disappearance, Beineman had informed her she had accepted a lift home from the man waiting outside the wig shop. DePue assaulted his wife in front of their three children and then took her away. [107], Phillips' nude, battered body had been found in a ravine in Carmel Highlands on July 13,[108] with the belt belonging to her culotte dress knotted around her neck. [24], On March 20, 1969,[24] a 23-year-old University of Michigan law student named Jane Louise Mixer disappeared after posting a note on a college bulletin board seeking a lift across the state to her hometown of Muskegon,[25] where she had intended to inform her family of her engagement and imminent move to New York City. One eyewitness reported seeing the girl minutes thereafter, at approximately 7:35, although her movements thereafter were never verified. Although Collins burst into tears when informed the stains on the floor covered with paint had been varnish, he quickly regained his composure and continued to deny any knowledge of Karen Sue Beineman. 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 . The perpetrator, John Norman Chapman (then known as John Norman Collins) was arrested one week after the final murder. Investigators determined the knife was consistent with the weapon used to stab Kalom. The Pesce Family Murders - Billy Wadd's Awakening . Photo: Michigan Department of Corrections. In Cold Blood: The Brutal 1959 Murder of the Walker Family. [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. INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY TRAVELS TO MICHIGAN'S UPPER PENINSULA IN PURSUIT OF A SUSPECTED FEMALE SERIAL KILLER IN DEAD NORTH Two-Night Special Premieres Monday, May 28 and Tuesday, May 29 at 9/8c on ID. The Michigan Murders: The True Story of the Ypsilanti Ripper's Reign of Terror Audible Audiobook - Unabridged Edward Keyes (Author), Pete Cross (Narrator), & 1 more 964 ratings See all formats and editions Audiobook $0.00 Free with your Audible trial [129], Formal witness testimony began on July 20, 1970. She was convicted in Michigan and sentenced to life in prison for Regan's murder in May 2016.