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. On April 30, 1989, police responded to a quadruple murder in a Lakeville, Indiana home. [141], On August 13, both prosecution and defense attorneys delivered their closing arguments to the jury (these arguments concluded the following day). 99,084 views Jul 26, 2019 John Norman Collins, aka "The Michigan Murderer," was suspected of killing six women in the Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor area between 1967-69 and a seventh woman in. [9] Her nude body was found by two 15-year-old boys on an abandoned farm at Superior Township on August 7, and was formally identified via dental records the following day. [92] Moreover, several of these female acquaintances divulged that Collins would become enraged upon learning a woman was menstruating: one woman revealed to police that on one occasion, when Collins had begun groping her breasts, she had informed him she was experiencing her period; in response, Collins had yelled, "That is really disgusting! Her roommate became concerned when she did not return that night and notified police the next day. The jury did not take its task lightly, but, I think things were blown out of proportion. On November 22, 1985, they planned to go hunting near David's family cabin in White Cloud. 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. [125][110] He was tried in Ann Arbor, before Judge John Conlin. Ryan further stated at this hearing he was "undecided" as to whether the upcoming trial be held away from the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti district due to pretrial publicity, and this final motion was held in abeyance until an impartial jury could be selected. Both women had agreed this composite drawing was accurate, and only disagreed as to the structure of the suspect's chin. 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. Photo: Michigan Department of Corrections. A little Googling and up popped an intriguing case: Jeff Titus, a former Marine and police officer, imprisoned for nearly two decades for the murder of two hunters in Michigan that the original. 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. 20 hours ago. 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. [31] Investigators called to the crime scene noted a dramatic increase in the savagery exhibited against the victim, with one investigator describing the injuries inflicted upon the victim as being the worst he had seen in 30 years of police work. 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. 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. 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. [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. The following year, he formally requested transfer to a Canadian prison, in the belief this would facilitate his prospects of eventual release. [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. AMOS . [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. [56] She had also been raped, although the pathologist was unable to determine whether this act had occurred before or after death. [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. Shortly before the body was discovered, the murderer had again returned to the body, which he had moved a further three feet.[13]. The documentary on a life-changing prison culinary program will make its Michigan debut at the 10th annual Freep Film Festival. David Leik, had refused to divulge the blood type(s) of his family to defense attorneys. 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. [34] However, the dramatic increase in savagery exhibited against the victim and the fact that Skelton was a known drug user, dealer and occasional police informant[38] as opposed to a university student[24] led some junior investigators to speculate her murder may have been drug-related. Kyle Rogers is the News Director for Gray Television's Local News Live. 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. An autopsy revealed Mixer had been shot twice in the head with a .22-caliber pistol, then garroted with a nylon stocking which, the pathologist noted, had not belonged to her. [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. Collins had returned to their shared apartment shortly thereafter and asked Davis to hide a knife for him. 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. African-American Archives Bikers cartel Case Files Chicago Detroit Documentary Drug Gangs East Coast Exclusive Featured International Interview Mafia Mafia Insider Members Only Midwest Mob Hits . [88] Later that evening, Collins informed Davis he had simply decided to "get rid of" the box and its contents. [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. 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. [58], The victim was identified the following day[59] as a 21-year-old University of Michigan graduate student named Alice Elizabeth Kalom, who had disappeared shortly after midnight on the morning of June 8. [76] These hair clippings were predominantly blond, and as such did not belong to the victim, whose own hair color had been dark brown. [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. [66][101], On August 1, 1969, John Norman Collins was formally arraigned for the murder of Karen Sue Beineman. We've assembled a list of 15 documentaries that focus on some of Michigan's worst human beings - Murderers. But we were, and are, committed [75], The 47th and final witness to appear for the prosecution at Collins' trial was a University of California chemistry professor named Dr. Vincent P. Guinn, who testified on August 5 as to his conclusions that the hair samples retrieved from Beineman's panties bore "a remarkable similarity" to those retrieved from the Leik household and that, upon statistical calculations he had begun the previous month, the odds of erroneous matching of the hair samples earlier testified to by Walter Holz were quite low. [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. He was then sentenced to serve a term of life imprisonment with hard labor, in solitary confinement, at Southern Michigan Prison. He did not die of COVID-19; prison officials did not release his cause . [147] In response, Collins rose from his chair and made the following speech:[148]. [145], On August 19, 1970, John Norman Collins was unanimously found guilty of the first-degree murder of Karen Sue Beineman. [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. [144] The jury then retired to consider their verdict, and would deliberate for over 27 hours over a period of three days, with an additional five-and-a-half hours devoted to their re-reading portions of testimony, before announcing they had reached their verdict. 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. [41] By early April, each of these law enforcement agencies had collectively assigned 20 investigators to work exclusively upon the four homicides. Delhey formally closed his opening statement to the jury by requesting they return a verdict of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. 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. Investigators also ascertained Collins had either been acquainted with most of the victims, had currently or previously lived close to their place of residence, or had likely established possible prior contact prior to their murders. [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]. Two days after the remains had been identified as those of Mary Fleszar, a young man claiming to be a friend of the Fleszar family arrived at the funeral home holding Fleszar's body prior to her scheduled burial. [91] Some acquaintances noted Collins' politeness around women, while others described him as lascivious and bad-tempered. [109] She had been strangled to death and, as with several Michigan victims linked to Collins, one earring was missing. 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. "[155] This appeal motion was partly upheld upon the basis that Dr. Guinn's testimony relating to probabilities was based upon on the statistical probability of another prosecution expert, and therefore, this part of his testimony was impermissible. Although never tried for the murders of Fleszar, Schell, Skelton, Basom, Kalom or Phillips, physical and circumstantial evidence exists in each case indicating that Collins had indeed committed these murders. [88], Evidence of culpability in remaining cases. [81] Reportedly, Beineman herself insisted Goshe observe the man with whom she had accepted a ride, stating that she had made two foolish errors in her life: purchasing a wig; and accepting a ride from a stranger,[82] before stating: "I've got to be either the bravest or the dumbest girl alive, because I've just accepted a ride from this guy." In the cold, isolated world of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Police Chief Laura Frizzo launches an investigation into the disappearance of Chris Regan, never expecting to come face to face with a possible serial killer. The prosecution was therefore limited to questioning Davis with regards to whether the contents of this box included women's clothing and jewelry, without specifically describing any particular item. A seasoned journalist with The New York Times, Barker is now also the . Formal sentencing was scheduled for 8:30a.m. August 28. 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. She had been raped, then stabbed 25 times with a knife estimated to have measured four inches in length. [70], Three days after the disappearance of Beineman, her nude body was discovered face-down in a wooded gully alongside the Huron River parkway. Between 1976 and 1977, the sleepy suburbs of Oakland County, Michigan, were invaded by a demonic presence. Several of these wounds had punctured her lungs, liver and carotid artery, with one additional wound inflicted behind her left ear fracturing her skull. [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. 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. The five-week trial of Alex Murdaugh has dominated headlines and cable news channels, and the murders have been the subject of podcasts and even two documentaries. 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. 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. 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 was sentenced to life without parole in 2006. 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. 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. [68], Mindful of the fact the killer had evidently returned to sites of his previous murders to move the bodies, possibly in a sexual ritual, police theorized he may also attempt to return to this latest crime scene. Collins grew up in Michigan. David Leik. 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. [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. The Pesce Family Murders - Billy Wadd's Awakening . The documentary on a life-changing prison culinary program will make its Michigan debut at the 10th annual Freep Film Festival. Although police theorized that Fleszar had been raped, the advanced state of decomposition of the corpse had erased any conclusive evidence of sexual assault. [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. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for this final murder attributed to the Michigan Murderer on August 19, 1970, and is currently incarcerated at Marquette Branch Prison.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, investigators believe Chapman to be responsible for all seven murders linked to the same perpetrator.Credits: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/michigan_murders [55][63], By the spring of 1969, public outcry regarding the murders committed by the individual dubbed by the press as the Michigan Murderer and the Co-Ed Killer was increasing, particularly among the student population of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. 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. 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. 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. Why America is obsessed with the Alex Murdaugh murder trial. 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. 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. Home . New details shed more light on. [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. [119], In November, Ryan, in an effort to determine the most effective defense strategy, persuaded Collins to undergo a private and independent polygraph test.