It came after [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. [129], Formal witness testimony began on July 20, 1970. Four of these witnesses were employees of a motorcycle sales firm which Collins had visited on the afternoon of Beineman's disappearance. Less than three hours later, Kolbe reported her roommate missing after failing to receive any contact. [67] Although this information proved to be of little help throughout the actual manhunt, Hurkos also predicted that this individual would shortly strike one final time. 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. [131], Although subject to intense cross-examination by defense attorney Neil Fink as to the credibility of her testimony, Goshe remained insistent in her identification of John Norman Collins as being the individual who had waited for Karen Sue Beineman to return to his motorcycle. Samples recovered from both locations would prove to be a precise match. [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. [123] Judge Conlin set a trial date of June 1. Slayer 'Could be Anyone', "Collins Ordered to Stand Trial for Murder: Judge Bases Ruling on Testimony of Nine in Killing of Co-Ed", "Collins Trial: Never Saw Stakeout Report, Sheriff Testifies", "Continue to Build Case in Collins Trial", "John Collins' Aunt Testifies She Found Items Moved, Missing From Basement", "Crime Center Directs Hunt for Co-Ed Killers", "Collins to Face Trial for Beineman Murder", "Star Prosecution Witness Cross-Examined Sharply", "Michigan Murders: Former Sheriff Recalls Washtenaw County's Most Notorious Serial Killer", "Key State Witnesses Called in Collins Trial", "Scientific Test Inventor Called as Defense Witness for Collins", "Search for Michigan Killer Spreads out to California", "Collins Can't Receive Fair Trial in Ann Arbor, Attorney Claims in Requesting Change of Venue", "Michigan Suspect Linked Directly to Salinas Case", "Multiple Sex Killings Have Terrorized Five States", "Police Say Slain Girl Knew of Accused Man", "Local Officials Irked As California Drops Collins Case", "Murder Similarities Under Investigation", "Collins Faces Murder Examination on Thursday", "Collins Friend Cleared in Co-Ed Deaths: Had No Knowledge of Slayings, Aid in Ann Arbor Says", "Similarities in Deaths of Girls Being Investigated", "Ouster In State's Case is Sought in Co-Ed Sex Slaying", "Continue Hearings: Judge Upholds Collins' Arrest", "Lawyers for the Defense in the John Norman Collins Case", "John Collins Seeks Justice 19 Years After Slayings End", "The Ann Arbor Library: The Michigan Murders", "Two Girls Testify at Collins' Trial: Slain Co-Ed's Roommates Tell of Day She Was Last Seen Alive", "Strong Challenges Face Prosecution in Trial of Collins", "The Michigan Murders Part 1: Seven Young Women", "Links to Other Slayings Sighted in Collins Trial: Defense Protests Plan to Ask Friend of Suspect About Girls' Apparel Items", "Data on Fingerprints, Stains Heard by Trial Jury: Crime Laboratory Head Finds No Marks Identifiable as Suspect's", "Jurors Quietly Visited Basement After Court Recessed Hour Early", "Three Defense Motions Denied for Collins", "Collins Guilty: Life Sentence is Mandatory", "Two Scientists Reject Data in Collins Case: Charge Prosecution Tests on Identifying Hairs Were Invalid", "Hair Not From Same Source, Nuclear Chemist Testifies", "Convicted in Michigan: Co-Ed Slayer Gets Life Term", "Nine Notorious Michigan Men Who Terrorized and Brutalized Women", "Collins Sentenced to Life Imprisonment and Hard Labor in Solitary Confinement", "Denies Killing Girl Before He Gets Life Term", "People vs. Collins: Decided October 24, 1972", "Final State Witness Heard in Collins Case: Defense Readdy to Start Testimony After Finishing Cross-Examination", "People v. Collins: Michigan Court of Appeals; Decided October 24, 1972", "Collins' Lawyer Promises Appeal On Extradition", "Extradition Hearing for Collins: California Seeks to Try Convict in Slaying of Girl", "California Drops Case Against Co-Ed Killer", "Collins is Linked to Schell Case: Slaying Suspect Reportedly was Driver of 'Pickup' Car", "New Book Lists Goofs in Serial Killings Probe", "John Collins' Aunt Testifies She Found Items Moved, Missing from Basement", "An Exclusive Interview: Collins Ends Seven Years of Silence", "Slayer of EMU Co-Ed Fails in Tunnel Escape Attempt", "Appeals Court Supports Canadian Citizenship Application Citizenship", "Never-Before-Published Letters, Interviews Offer Clues in Infamous Michigan Murders", "State Transfers 'Co-ed Killer' Convict to Ionia Prison", "The Michigan Murders Part 4: The Aftershock", "Court of Appeals Rejects Request for a New Trial", "Michigan Murders: Close calls, Haunting Roads, and Life After a Suspected Serial Killer is Arrested", initial 1972 appeal against his conviction, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michigan_Murders&oldid=1152510415, Violence against women in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2023, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 6. [88], Police had already established that Collins was a known motorcycle enthusiast[89] who owned several motorcycles, including a blue Triumph Bonneville. [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. [83], Although Goshe would initiallyand incorrectlydescribe the motorcycle as being possibly a Honda 350 model,[84] when police questioned Carol Wieczerca, a clerk in the store adjacent to the wig shop, Wieczerca was able to state that the model of the motorcycle was actually a Triumph. 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. [68][81] In total, seven witnesses would be found who would later testify to having seen Collins in the area between the university campus and Mrs. Goshe's wig shop between 11a.m. and 1p.m. on July 23; including three young women who stated Collins had attempted to entice them onto his motorcycle.[95]. As such, he may have become acquainted with Basom throughout the time he frequented his girlfriend. Two of those murders occurred within two weeks of the double killing in Michigan. Sex Slayer Could be Anyone! Roxie Ann Phillips (17): June 30, 1969 (California), 7. He was known to engage in sexual violence, including one instance in which he had raped a woman who had resisted his advances. Watch our mini documentary to learn more about the Family Meetings. Hoover's death was ruled a homicide after he was found with multiple gunshot wounds to his head. [16] In addition, her throat had been slashed, and her miniskirt then tied around her neck. [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. If you would like to attend the family meeting please RSVP online or call 314-922-5000, ext. [139], Dr. Jervis' conclusions were supported by a private consultant named Auseklis Perkons, and a Massachusetts-based Director of Forensic Research named Samuel Golub. Michigan businessman Kurt Rillema was suspended from the exclusive Orchard Lake Country Club after he was charged with raping two women 24 years ago. [70], Three days after the disappearance of Beineman, her nude body was discovered face-down in a wooded gully alongside the Huron River parkway. 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. She was reported missing by her roommate, Sherri Green, when she failed to return to her dormitory after curfew. Collins was then informed by Judge Conlin that if the jurors' verdict was wrong, the error would be corrected in due course. 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 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. [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. Another individual would be convicted of the murder of Jane Mixer in 2005. [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. [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. Goshe recalled Beineman visiting her store to purchase a $20 headpiece in the early afternoon of July 23. Clothed only in a white blouse and bra, which had been pushed around her neck, she had been repeatedly stabbed in the chest and genitals,[45] had received multiple slash wounds across the breasts, buttocks and stomach,[46] then strangled to death with a two-foot length electrical flex still knotted around her neck. [92][n 2]. 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. 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. 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. 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. (Chapman holds. Each motion filed had been reserved or, in the final instance, denied. [69] Upon questioning both of Beineman's roommates, police were informed that she (Beineman) had last been seen shortly after noon on her way to a downtown wig shop. David Leik and his wife, Sandra, following their testimony against Collins at his trial. WebFor example, some of the most infamous Michigan murders that remain unsolved are the Oakland County Child Killer case, where four children were murdered from 1976-1977; 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. Donaldson killed three of the victims, 22-year-old Benjamin Edward Mitchell, 32-year-old Monica Caridad Hoffa and 20-year-old Anthony Naiboa, in October 2017, police said at the time. [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. 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.

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