[34], These injuries had been inflicted after the victim had been extensively beaten and tortured: her killer had placed a section of her own shirt into her trachea to muffle her screams as she received extensive blunt force trauma to the face, head and body,[34] including several deep lacerations believed to have been inflicted with a leather strap. Beineman, an 18 year-old Eastern Michigan co-ed from Grand Rapids, was found dead along a road east of Ann Arbor. WebHis victims were young women, primarily college students in the Ann Arbor area, whom Collins beat, strangled, stabbed, and sometimes mutilated to death. 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. 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. Moreover, this search had also uncovered small bloodstains in nine areas of the basement. Furthermore, each victim had been found with an item of clothing tied around her neck, and each woman had been menstruating at the time of her death. Following the state's closing argument, both Neil Fink and Joseph Louisell delivered separate closing arguments on behalf of the defense, describing Collins as a "young victim of circumstances" and dismissing much of the evidence presented as "fuzzy allegations," with Louisell being particularly scornful as to the testimony of Walter Holz, to whose conclusions, he asserted, the prosecution hinged its entire case. [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]. 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. In this cross-examination, Sheriff Harvey admitted to having driven Mrs. Goshe and her assistant to East Lansing to view the updated composite drawing of the suspect in Beineman's murder, and that he had shown photographs of various suspects, including Collins, to Goshe prior to her formally identifying Collins in a lineup. 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. Glass particles found within this basement were of a similar consistency to those found upon the soles of Basom's shoes. 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. [2] [141], On August 13, both prosecution and defense attorneys delivered their closing arguments to the jury (these arguments concluded the following day). Investigators determined the knife was consistent with the weapon used to stab Kalom. [119], In November, Ryan, in an effort to determine the most effective defense strategy, persuaded Collins to undergo a private and independent polygraph test. [125][110] He was tried in Ann Arbor, before Judge John Conlin. Beineman's body was replaced with that of a tailor's mannequin, and the gully surrounding this mannequin monitored by undercover officers. Davis informed police he had long suspected Collins had murdered Schell, but had been too afraid to report his suspicions. The first two witnesses to testify were Beineman's two roommates; each of whom discussed Beineman's character, and her movements on the day of her disappearance. 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. 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. WebLarry, a suspect in the murders of five people in the 1960s, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for one murder in 1964; Danny was convicted of four sexually-motivated murders between March and August 1972 with accomplice Brent Eugene Koster (born October 10, 1956), [1] for which both were sentenced to life imprisonment. Evidently, despite Collins' protestations of innocence and denials of even knowing Karen Sue Beineman, she had been in the basement of Collins' uncle at the time of, shortly before, or shortly after her murder.[68]. Citing Collins' then-ongoing appeals against his convictions in the state of Michigan as the cause, and their likely resubmittal should any of his Michigan appeals be successful. [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. [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. [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]. 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. [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. 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. Maralynn Skelton (16): March 24, 1969 4. 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. [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. Following Collins' arrest, a section of a red-and-white belt bearing the same distinctive floral pattern was found in the trailer he and Manuel had towed to Salinas on June 21. 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. [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. 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. [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. Although police theorized that Fleszar had been raped, the advanced state of decomposition of the corpse had erased any conclusive evidence of sexual assault. [96], The same day, Leik was advised by investigators of his nephew's suspect status, and the level of circumstantial evidence unfolding against him. Three days prior to Collins' July 30 arrest, in direct breach of a Washtenaw County Prosecutor order,[167] two young Ann Arbor detectives had arrived at the Emmet Street apartment Collins shared with his roommate to question him as to the circumstantial evidence then-obtained against him. 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. James VanCallis, [105], On August 14, 1969, Collins attended a pretrial hearing at Ypsilanti District Court. [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. If you would like to attend the family meeting please RSVP online or call 314-922-5000, ext. He was then sentenced to serve a term of life imprisonment with hard labor, in solitary confinement, at Southern Michigan Prison. On August 3, two Washtenaw County detectives traveled to Salinas Police Department to review information and determine whether a connection existed between Phillips' murder and those which Collins was suspected of committing in Michigan. 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. 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. The forensic experts who had testified on behalf of the prosecution, Dr. Jervis stated, had therefore based their conclusions on "insufficient data". [121] Mrs. Collins reportedly remortgaged her home to secure their services. Two of these bloodstains[75] were discovered to be type Athe blood type of Karen Sue Beineman. [159] At the time of the announcement of this decision, preliminary legal maneuvers between Michigan and California authorities had been ongoing to extradite Collins to Monterey County to face trial for Phillips' murder.[160]. 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. Goshe recalled Beineman visiting her store to purchase a $20 headpiece in the early afternoon of July 23. The point is: It's not society's judgment that's important, but the individual's own choice of will and intellect. [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]). Although forensic experts would deduce later that morning that the stains covered by the black paint had actually been varnish stains, one of the investigators discovered numerous hair clippingsmany measuring less than three-eights of an inchbeside the family washing machine. Arraignment for Judy Marie Boyer WebAn Eastern Michigan University accounting student, Mary Terese Fleszar, was the first known victim of the Michigan Murderer the ultimate true crime classic by Michigan [92][n 2]. [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. [50] She had been accompanied part of the way by a friend named Earl Kidd, who informed police he and Basom had parted company at a desolate road just five blocks from her home,[51] where Basom had begun walking alone alongside railroad tracks toward her home. This former girlfriend was able to provide Mathewson with two recent photographs of Collins. [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. 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]. 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? Four of these witnesses were employees of a motorcycle sales firm which Collins had visited on the afternoon of Beineman's disappearance. 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. 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. [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. WebLANSING, 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. Watch our mini documentary to learn more about the Family Meetings. When Mathewson questioned Collins on July 25 as to his movements two days earlier, he admitted that on the date in question he had been riding his Triumph Bonneville in the vicinity, and that he had stopped to converse with a former girlfriend of his while doing so (the point at which Mathewson had observed him). [12] Kolbe later informed investigators that Schell had informed her of her intentions to hitchhike when it became apparent she had missed the last bus, and that one of the first vehicles to pass when Schell had begun hitchhiking was a red-and-black Pontiac Bonneville containing three young white men. This vehicle had slowed to a stop before the driver had asked her, "Want a ride?" 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. [15], In early August, investigators were contacted by their counterparts in Salinas, California[102] who stated they had reason to believe a Michigan individual named John may be responsible for the June 30 death of a 17-year-old girl named Roxie Ann Phillips.[103]. 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. Michigan businessman Kurt Rillema is accused of raping two strangers nearly a quarter-century ago. 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. In the case of victims Mary Fleszar and Joan Schell, investigators were able to establish he had been a neighbor of both women,[94] and that at the time of Fleszar's disappearance, Collins had actually worked in an office at the Eastern Michigan University located directly opposite the hallway from the office where Fleszar had herself worked. In regards to the seventh, the 7-year-old, Tom Gaffney was found guilty of second-degree murder. The same day, the head of the state police crime laboratory, Sgt. [162] Although Collins had claimed to police that he had been with his mother in the Detroit suburb of Center Line on the weekend of Schell's disappearance, police had never sought to verify his alibi.[24]. [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. [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. [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]. [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. [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. [109] She had been strangled to death and, as with several Michigan victims linked to Collins, one earring was missing.
Bovada Birthday Bonus,
Holley Gamble Funeral Home Clinton, Tn Obituaries,
Fayette County Wv Grand Jury Indictments 2021,
Articles M