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. [91] Some acquaintances noted Collins' politeness around women, while others described him as lascivious and bad-tempered. Michigan Murders - Wikipedia [44], At 6:30a.m. on April 16, the body of a 13-year-old schoolgirl named Dawn Louise Basom was found beside a desolate road in Ypsilanti. Beineman, an 18 year-old Eastern Michigan co-ed from Grand Rapids, was found dead along a road east of Ann Arbor. [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. He was known to engage in sexual violence, including one instance in which he had raped a woman who had resisted his advances. 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. Police had noted (and would continue to note) common denominators in the physical characteristics of the victims, and the manner in which they died: all of the victims had been brunette Caucasians; each (excluding Mixer) had been the recipient of extensive violence inflicted with a blunt and/or bladed instrument prior to her murder; each of the victims' bodies had been found within a 15-mile radius of Washtenaw County; and each victim (excluding Mixer) had received knife wounds to the neck. Crime Stoppers of Michigan's Family Meetings MIni Documentary. WebHe raped and killed the two, then put their bodies in his car. Michigan murderers list | Murderpedia I have two things to say: I think they [the jury] conscientiously tried to give me a fair trial. WebMurders of Michigan women still unsolved 50 years later but cops had eye on 1 man Unsolved for 50 years. Moreover, although the prosecution at Collins' trial had been unable to question Arnold Davis in detail as to the contents of the laundry box he had observed his roommate hurriedly remove from their apartment and towards his car two days prior to his arrest, one of the items he had seen within this laundry box had been a distinctive purple leather shoe, which may have belonged to Kalom.[58]. Case not closed: Unsolved homicides in the Kalamazoo area Although Collins emphatically protested his innocence and insisted the eyewitnesses' identification of him had been an error, he refused to return to the police station to take a polygraph test. 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. The Brutal Murder Spree of John Norman Collins - The Lineup Michigan 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). [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. LANSING, 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. In September 1988, Chapman agreed to participate in a live interview conducted by the. Web(FOX 2) - By July 23, 1969, panic is in the hot, muggy, southeast Michigan air. Roxie Ann Phillips (17): June 30, 1969 (California), 7. [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. [16] In addition, her throat had been slashed, and her miniskirt then tied around her neck. It was a travesty of justice that took place in this courtroom. 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. Seven young women in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area, including three enrolled at the University of Michigan, were sexually assaulted and either strangled, shot, or beaten to death. [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. 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. Neighbors also say they went to high school with one of the victims. In June 2018, Jeffrey Willis was sentenced to life in prison for the abduction and murder of Heeringa, then 25-years-old. [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. The same day, the head of the state police crime laboratory, Sgt. Upon tracing Collins' movements in relation to the dates of the disappearance and murder of the seven murder victims linked to the Michigan Murderer (which then included Jane Mixer), police discovered that, on June 21,[105] Collins and his roommate, Andrew Manuel, had traveled to Monterey in Collins' Oldsmobile Cutlass, which the pair used to tow a camper-trailer they had rented under false names, and had paid for with a stolen check, for the vacation. [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. 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 perpetrator, John Norman Chapman (then known as John Norman Collins) was arrested one week after the final murder. [149][n 5], Upon receipt of the guilty verdict against their client, Collins' defense attorneys announced their intention to appeal upon the grounds of "tainted identification and the change of venue question." [161] He had further informed his roommate he had agreed to drive Schell from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti the following day. CRIME VICTIMS AND FAMILIES [145], On August 19, 1970, John Norman Collins was unanimously found guilty of the first-degree murder of Karen Sue Beineman. AMOS: 1979 - 1994 [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. The forensic experts who had testified on behalf of the prosecution, Dr. Jervis stated, had therefore based their conclusions on "insufficient data". [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. Sex Slayer Could be Anyone! Naiboa was shot after taking the wrong bus home from his new job. [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. [76] These hair clippings were predominantly blond, and as such did not belong to the victim, whose own hair color had been dark brown. Formal sentencing was scheduled for 8:30a.m. August 28. [132] (The prosecution had initially intended to question Davis in detail as to each of the contents of this laundry box upon the grounds that the contents Davis had previously described to investigators may include Beineman's missing cut-off blue jeans; however, Collins' attorneys successfully objected to this motion upon the grounds that Collins was solely on trial for the murder of Karen Sue Beineman, and this testimony could suggest a link to the six other victims of the Michigan Murders then linked to the same perpetrator. 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. 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. 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. In rebuttal to the testimony of Dr. Golub, the defense recalled Dr. Walter Holz on August 12 to testify as to the samples he had himself taken to Dr. Golub for identification; Dr. Holz affirmed that he had taken twenty magnified photographic slides of samples retrieved from Beineman's panties to Dr. Golub's laboratory for analysis, and that they had contained numerous man-made fibrous materials. Prior to his passing sentence, Judge Conlin asked Collins if he wished to address the court before mandatory life sentencing was imposed. As such, he may have become acquainted with Basom throughout the time he frequented his girlfriend. [110] Several of Phillips' personal possessions would later be found strewn along State Route 68.[111][112]. [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. Web0:00. guilty of first-degree murder for six of the seven victims. [157], The state of California postponed their requests to extradite Collins to face charges relating to Phillips' murder in June 1971. [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. [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. [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]. [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. [126], Initial jury selection began on this date, and would continue until July 9. The circumstances surrounding this case prevented me from getting a fair trial. A killer is on the loose, five women in southeast Michigan are dead, and a sixth is missing. Davis informed police he had long suspected Collins had murdered Schell, but had been too afraid to report his suspicions. All six murders were committed in the span of 1.5 hours between the times of 5:00 til just before 6:30 pm. He drove to a secluded area and dug up two shallow graves, but before burying them, Williams said he had sex with their bodies. [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. The timing of these four witnesses' recollections as to when Collins had actually entered the motorcycle shop varied slightly, although consensus among three of these men was that he had entered the premises as they were eating lunch, which they typically did anytime between 1 and 2p.m.[138], Upon cross-examination, the time factor of these witnesses as to when they had actually seen Collins expanded to between noon and 2p.m. Two of these employees had signed statements affirming the time Collins had entered their premises was approximately 2p.m., although one of these witnesses stated he had been repeatedly harassed by an Ann Arbor Police Sergeant as to the actual time he had seen Collins. Four of these witnesses were employees of a motorcycle sales firm which Collins had visited on the afternoon of Beineman's disappearance. 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. Arnold Davis also informed police Collins had been in the company of victim Alice Kalom on the evening of her disappearance. Over 50 years later, the case remains cold. 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. 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. No search warrant had been sought prior to Collins being questioned on this date, and his apartment would only be searched on July 30two days after Arnold Davis had observed Collins hurriedly remove a box of women's clothing and jewelry from his 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. 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. [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. The driver had been aged around 20 and clean-cut with short, dark, side-parted hair. [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. This is She had made arrangements to meet Collins at her home on the evening of June 30, but Collins had never arrived. Devon Hoover's body was found wrapped in a sheet in the attic on April 23. 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. 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. [86] When questioned as to the source of these clippings, Leik (who had not been informed of the discovery of the hair clippings found upon Beineman's panties) informed investigators that his wife regularly cut their children's hair in this basement, and that she had done so shortly before the family had embarked upon their vacation. 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. 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.