In Cold Blood: The Brutal 1959 Murder of the Walker Family. 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. 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. Each testified on August 6. 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 Serial's new true-crime podcast, The Coldest Case in Laramie, revisits a 1985 murder. Three women, including one from Flint make the list, along with two former police officers. A forensic examination of this trailer revealed it had been completely wiped of fingerprints. where she spent some years as a teenager was a miserable place. [72], Beineman had died of strangulation, although the pathologist noted the blunt force injuries inflicted to her skull and brain had been so extensive they would likely have proven fatal. [161] He had further informed his roommate he had agreed to drive Schell from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti the following day. By what name was Dead North (2018) officially released in Canada in English? Alex Murdaugh was at the center of this trial. Throughout their vacation, Collins had been temporarily residing in the Leik family's Ypsilanti home, having been granted sole access to the house in order that he could feed their German shepherd. On Sunday, July 27, police arrived at the apartment on Emmet Street Collins shared with his roommate, Arnold Davis. [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. [28][n 1], Four days after the discovery of Mixer's body, on March 25, a surveyor discovered the nude, mutilated body of a teenage girl lying upon a blue jacket behind a vacant house on a remote, rural section of Earhart Road,[30] just a few hundred yards from where the body of Joan Schell had been discovered eight months previously. [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. Menu. The point is: It's not society's judgment that's important, but the individual's own choice of will and intellect. Schell had intended to travel to Ann Arbor to visit her boyfriend, and her roommate had accompanied her to the bus stop. Formal sentencing was scheduled for 8:30a.m. August 28. 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. The victims were held captive before being killed, and forensic DNA testing has indirectly implicated two suspects . She had made arrangements to meet Collins at her home on the evening of June 30, but Collins had never arrived. 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. He left her body behind an abandoned church and fled. Initially, police took him at his word, and did not seek to verify his alibi. 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. [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. 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 . [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. Brenton Walker tells cops he went into a rage, and pleads guilty to the second-degree murder of Heather Young. Anthony Walker is responsible for the murders of at least six people in Lenawee County, Michigan between 1975 and 1986. On October 14, Judge Conlin rejected defense motions to dismiss the case, or suppress any evidence obtained; ruling Collins' arrest had been on the reasonable grounds he had committed a felony. [43] These factors led police to publicly conclude the same perpetrator was responsible for at least three of the murders thus far committed. "[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. 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. The following day, following a consultation with opposing counsels, Judge John Conlin allowed Davis to testify as to having observed Collins hurriedly remove a laundry box containing women's clothing and jewelry from his apartment and place this box in the trunk of his car two days prior to his arrest. 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. 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. [166] In addition, prior to his returning to Michigan, Collins is known to have visited a California hospital to receive treatment for poison oak anaphylaxis.[166]. [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. [39] Nonetheless, Ann Arbor Police Chief Walter Krasny formally linked Skelton's murder to the series. Prior to his passing sentence, Judge Conlin asked Collins if he wished to address the court before mandatory life sentencing was imposed. Promoted by Open Road Media | By Olivia Mason | Published Feb 5, 2018 When people looked at John Norman Collins, they did not see a killer. Why America is obsessed with the Alex Murdaugh murder trial. I was flabbergasted when I found this documentary. [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. 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. [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. This psychologist had been adamant that Collins' trial should be held outside Washtenaw County, and this motion had likewise been reserved. Despite a massive manhunt and hours upon hours burned by Oakland County investigators, the killer remains at large to this day. He was then sentenced to serve a term of life imprisonment with hard labor, in solitary confinement, at Southern Michigan Prison. The victim's right thumb had also received a gunshot wound, suggesting the woman had instinctively raised her hand to protect herself before her killer had fired the gun at point-blank range. Home . It was a travesty of justice that took place in this courtroom. Three years later, the West Michigan murders still unsolved, police in Ohio arrested Dillon, then 42, of Magnolia, Ohio, in the deaths of five men from 1989 to 1992 two hunters, two fishermen . Stars Julia Drahos Laura Frizzo Mark Schwartzman See production, box office & company info [128], The two primary questions before the jury, Delhey stated, would be the accuracy of eyewitnesses who would be called to testify and, ultimately, whether the more than 500 hair samples found upon Beineman's panties matched the hair clippings later recovered from the basement of Collins' uncle. She was last seen by co-workers on August 11, 2000. That's back when saying such things could get your accounts deleted or demonetizedwhich for a little upstart nonprofit would have been the end of the road. [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. 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. [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. [96], The same day, Leik was advised by investigators of his nephew's suspect status, and the level of circumstantial evidence unfolding against him. [133] In addition, Mrs. Sandra Leik testified to Collins being given a key to the family home in order that he could feed the family's German shepherd. 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. Questioned by police, Collins flatly denied even knowing Schell, and insisted he had spent the weekend of June 2930 with his mother at her house in the Detroit suburb of Center Line, and had not returned to Ypsilanti until the morning of July 1. 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. Two of these bloodstains[75] were discovered to be type Athe blood type of Karen Sue Beineman. AMOS . Beineman's body was replaced with that of a tailor's mannequin, and the gully surrounding this mannequin monitored by undercover officers. [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 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. This former girlfriend was able to provide Mathewson with two recent photographs of Collins. (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. [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. This spokesman indicated the reasoning being that, as Collins had already received a life sentence in Michigan, the case therefore was undeserving of "priority attention" by California authorities, in part due to the fact Collins would be returned to Michigan to serve his sentence if convicted. One eyewitness reported seeing the girl minutes thereafter, at approximately 7:35, although her movements thereafter were never verified. [120] Three weeks after the examination, at a meeting with the family in Judge Conlin's chambers, Ryan summarized its tentative conclusions and suggested a "diminished capacity" plea for an insanity defense. 7. The rented trailer in which Collins and Manuel had traveled to California was located on August 1 in Monterey County, behind the home of Andrew Manuel's grandfather. This vehicle had slowed to a stop before the driver had asked her, "Want a ride?" 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. [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. DePue assaulted his wife in front of their three children and then took her away. In Girl in the Picture, the director adapted Matt Birkbeck's bestselling books Finding Sharon and A Beautiful Child . [56] She had also been raped, although the pathologist was unable to determine whether this act had occurred before or after death. The same day, the head of the state police crime laboratory, Sgt. 10:18 . 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. [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. Read Next: The 21 Best New True Crime Books 5. 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. 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? [132]), Also to testify at the trial on behalf of the prosecution was Marjorie Barnes, who testified on July 30 to having observed Collins leaving his uncle's home carrying a laundry box covered with a blanket on either July 24 or 25, 1969. 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. 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]. If a person wants something, he alone is the deciding factor of whether or not to take it, regardless of what society thinks is right or wrong if a person holds a gun on somebodyit's up to him to decide whether to take the other's life or not. Went to a family gathering and my dad told me this story about my cousin who I had never met and couldn't believe it. [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. As such, he may have become acquainted with Basom throughout the time he frequented his girlfriend. 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. THE MICHIGAN MURDERS Murders of Michigan women still unsolved 50 years later but cops had eye on 1 man The slayings all but one of which were in the Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor area created. See production, box office & company info. Glass particles found within this basement were of a similar consistency to those found upon the soles of Basom's shoes. [114] An FBI arrest warrant was issued against Andrew Manuel, who was located in Phoenix on August 6[115] and detained by FBI agents. 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. [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. The perpetrator, John Norman Chapman (then known as John Norman Collins) was arrested one week after the final murder. Deering was owed $200 in a crack deal in 2000, so he doused a home full of children with charcoal lighter fluid and set the building on fire. 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. 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. The same afternoon police searched the Leik family's basement, Collins was confronted with evidence thus far gained and deduced. [119], In November, Ryan, in an effort to determine the most effective defense strategy, persuaded Collins to undergo a private and independent polygraph test. On August 18, investigators announced that all significant leads had been exhausted, and that the number of officers assigned to investigate the case had been reduced. [42], Little physical evidence existed beyond eyewitness descriptions and forensic reports. [158] Just six months later, in January 1972, Monterey County District Attorney William Curtis formally announced, via a spokesman, the intention of California authorities to waive all extradition proceedings against Collins for Phillips' murder. Making a Murderer: Part 2 (Trailer) Making a Murderer (Podcast 2) . [70], Three days after the disappearance of Beineman, her nude body was discovered face-down in a wooded gully alongside the Huron River parkway. [109] She had been strangled to death and, as with several Michigan victims linked to Collins, one earring was missing.