In a brief final argument on behalf of the prosecution, Booker Williams re-emphasized the physical and circumstantial evidence against Collins, before accusing the defense attorneys of attempting to sow doubt in, particularly, the forensic evidence presented by the prosecution. 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. 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. On Sunday, July 27, police arrived at the apartment on Emmet Street Collins shared with his roommate, Arnold Davis. [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. AMOS . [91] Some acquaintances noted Collins' politeness around women, while others described him as lascivious and bad-tempered. Another individual would be convicted of the murder of Jane Mixer in 2005. The murder of Joan Schell, a 20 year old E.M.U. [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. [147] In response, Collins rose from his chair and made the following speech:[148]. [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. He was sentenced to life without parole in 2006. 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. Although Washtenaw County Sheriff Douglas Harvey conceded at a press conference that same month that investigators had little physical evidence to act upon and that the perpetrator had yet to make a serious error, he was adamant about the fact the murderer was still at large was due to pure luck, and not for lack of police effort. 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. 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. [40], Following the March 24 murder of Maralynn Skelton, police from the five separate jurisdictions where the murderer had abducted or disposed of the bodies of his victims formally combined resources in an effort to compare information and identify the perpetrator. She had been raped, then stabbed 25 times with a knife estimated to have measured four inches in length. [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. 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. [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. [42], Little physical evidence existed beyond eyewitness descriptions and forensic reports. [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. [49] Many female students opted to arm themselves with knives, with others adopting a "buddy system" whereby they would refuse to walk anywhere unless in the company of a trusted male friend or at least three other girls. 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. [56] She had also been raped, although the pathologist was unable to determine whether this act had occurred before or after death. 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. [00:42:57] 342. r/Documentaries. She was last seen by co-workers on August 11, 2000. 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. 10:18 . The first documentary aired in 2014 and the second in 2016. Collins' uncle, State Police Sergeant David Leik, had been on vacation with his family at the time of Beineman's disappearance, and had only returned home on July 29three days after the discovery of her body. I have two things to say: I think they [the jury] conscientiously tried to give me a fair trial. Nov.14, 2010 -- A Michigan couple's 17-year-old adopted daughter and two other people were charged this morning in connection to Friday's brutal attack on the couple. [70], Three days after the disappearance of Beineman, her nude body was discovered face-down in a wooded gully alongside the Huron River parkway. [76] In his opening statement to the jury on July 20, Delhey outlined the prosecution's contention that the evidence to be presented would form a clear pattern indicating that Collins had been in the company of Karen Sue Beineman at the time she was last seen alive by Mrs. Joan Goshe and her assistant; that he had taken her to the home of his own uncle, where he had tortured and beaten the girl before strangling her to death at this location; and that he had then discarded her body, before attempting to persuade his roommate to provide him with a false alibi. Reverend Robert Pelley, his wife Dawn, and Dawn's daughters Janel and Jolene were shot at close range with. Anthony Walker is responsible for the murders of at least six people in Lenawee County, Michigan between 1975 and 1986. 7. Upon recommendation from his lawyers, Collins chose not to testify in his own defense. 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. [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]. 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). Kennard Christensen, testified as to the results of forensic tests conducted in the Leik family basement: the results of these tests confirmed evidence of bloodstains in four separate areas. [119], In November, Ryan, in an effort to determine the most effective defense strategy, persuaded Collins to undergo a private and independent polygraph test. It's a town so small that the local hot spot is literally a cabin in the woods. Initially, police took him at his word, and did not seek to verify his alibi. 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. Serial's new true-crime podcast, The Coldest Case in Laramie, revisits a 1985 murder. The Missing Hunters/The Flashlight Rapist: With Barb Boudro, Richard Carlson, Denise Dudley, Frank Duvall. On April 30, 1989, police responded to a quadruple murder in a Lakeville, Indiana home. Erin Rebecca Taylor, age 24, of 1741 Wright Street, Marquette, Michigan, worked as a temporary secretary at the Upper Peninsula Medical Center in Marquette. The following evening, Davis observed Collins emerging from his bedroom carrying a box partially covered by a blanket. [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. [57] Sections of her clothing were scattered around her body, although one of her shoes was missing. [39] Nonetheless, Ann Arbor Police Chief Walter Krasny formally linked Skelton's murder to the series. The injuries described by Collins were consistent with those inflicted upon the victims which had not been disclosed to the news media, and David Leik would inform investigators that he had not disclosed any information regarding the Michigan Murders to his nephew. [n 4], The defense contended that although the murder of Beineman was a "vicious, sadistic attack" which had degraded her body "almost beyond human comprehension,"[102] the prosecution's case that Collins was the perpetrator of the crime was a weak one at best. 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. 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. CROWN POINT, IN On Wednesday, Kelly Cochran, 35, was convicted and sentenced to 65 years in prison after pleading guilty to the 2016 slaying of her husband, Jason Cochran, 37. [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. 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. [32] A subsequent autopsy revealed the victim had died of numerous fractures covering one-third of her skull and one side of her face,[33] all of which had been inflicted with a heavy blunt instrument. She was last seen alive outside a drive-in restaurant on Washtenaw Avenue two days before her body was discovered (although autopsy reports indicated Skelton had died between 24 and 36 hours before her body was discovered). She was convicted in Michigan and sentenced to life in prison for Regan's murder in May 2016. Although police theorized that Fleszar had been raped, the advanced state of decomposition of the corpse had erased any conclusive evidence of sexual assault. Each motion filed had been reserved or, in the final instance, denied. 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. 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. Furthermore, Goshe had identified a photograph shown to her of Collins as being the man she had seen with Beineman. | dG1fR01hTXN4TXg0UDA. In the case of California victim Roxie Ann Phillips, police had discovered that, prior to her murder, the victim had told a close friend she had met an Eastern Michigan University student named John, who owned a silver Oldsmobile Cutlass and several motorcycles; her nude, strangled body was found discarded in a patch of poison oak on July 13,[164] with the distinctive red-and-white floral patterned belt from her culotte dress knotted around her neck. [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. The point is: It's not society's judgment that's important, but the individual's own choice of will and intellect. "[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. [49] Sales of tear gas, knives, and security locks increased,[64] hitchhiking became a rarity among students, and the reward offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer increased to $42,000 (the equivalent of about $341,046 as of 2023[update]). I hope some day it will be corrected; second, I never knew a girl named Karen Sue Beineman; I never had a conversation with her. [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. Each item had been deliberately placed in this location, indicating that the murderer had returned to the scene of the crime and that the two homicides were definitely linked. Despite the evident distress of Sandra Leik throughout her testimony, during which she had testified that Collins had been as "close to me" as her own sons, For several years following his incarceration, Collins refused to grant interviews to the media; but six years after his conviction, Collins formally requested a personal interview with reporters from, In October 1977, Collins was transferred from Southern Michigan Prison to, In 1980, Collins legally changed his surname to that of his biological father, Chapman. The documentary on a life-changing prison culinary program will make its Michigan debut at the 10th annual Freep Film Festival. Alex Murdaugh was at the center of this trial. Moreover, this search had also uncovered small bloodstains in nine areas of the basement. David Leik, had refused to divulge the blood type(s) of his family to defense attorneys. Marquette, Michigan. Evaluation of individual will and moral restraints within society, written by Collins while enrolled at Eastern Michigan University. [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. 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. [109] She had been strangled to death and, as with several Michigan victims linked to Collins, one earring was missing. Upon conducting a search of the basement of this farmhouse, investigators discovered a further garment of her clothing, a length of electrical flex of the same type used to strangle the victim, and fresh human bloodstains, indicating this location as being the site of Basom's murder. By July 23, 1969, panic is in the hot, muggy, southeast Michigan air. [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. See production, box office & company info. 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. She was later murdered by a gunshot to the back of her head. Stars Julia Drahos Laura Frizzo Mark Schwartzman See production, box office & company info [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. 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. The case remained unsolved for decades, until the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office took another crack at the Walker family murders case. An unexpected confession casts doubt on Steven's role in the murder case, but the new suspect gives conflicting accounts of what . 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. [157], The state of California postponed their requests to extradite Collins to face charges relating to Phillips' murder in June 1971. Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey
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