July 31: John Norman Collins is placed under arrest for Beineman's murder. 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. Triad Animal torture Yes. 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. 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. Michigan Murders: A timeline of events - mlive.com [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. A killer is on the loose, five women in southeast Michigan are dead, and a sixthis missing. 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. Between the summers of 1967 through 1969, before the term serial killer was coined, a predatory killer stalked the campuses of Eastern Michigan University and the University of Michigan seeking prey until he made the arrogant mistake of killing his last victim in the basement of his uncle's home. With the mounting evidence, Collins was arrested on July 31, 1969. Several of these wounds had punctured her lungs, liver and carotid artery, with one additional wound inflicted behind her left ear fracturing her skull. [5] I walked over to see if he was playing a JOKE on me and had a dummy there to scare me. In September 1988, Chapman agreed to participate in a live interview conducted by the. John Collins, by most accounts,grew up to bea good student and a great athlete. Collins rejected any association with the slaying of the 13-year-old, just like in his police interviews. [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. About 20 minutes later, Harvey said, Collins'attorney arrived and consulted with his client, who, by then, had time to calm down andregain his composure. Living with Mom, and then moved into the basement of his uncle's house. Sheriff Harvey said, just before the test, John met in private with his attorney. "Was he still going to deny everything?". ", "Pretty soon, John started crying," the former sheriff said. But Collins wasn't all that he seemed. He tries to give his cousin a glimpse of prison life. Both roadmap the journey of the book and John Norman Collins, who was convicted of one of the murders and linked to six of them, in the years after the original 1976 publication date. The detectives said they tracked Davis to New York but were never able to interviewhim. The next year, hestarted tutoringinmates on how to pass theGED exam, the test for ahigh-school equivalency diploma. Both letters begin,"Hello John, =: )," and Collins ends one calling Chapman "the Best Little Brother ever! I remember the last victim was murdered just 3 BLOCKS from my house!!!! [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. 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. I understand they still have DNA, perhaps if the local press would get off this guys back and allow fairness to take place you might find out the culprit was someone else. 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. Some of my Fraternity Brothers lived in the Emmet House in 1990. I spent one year in Marquette and knew john. What is the exact address of where Karen was murdered? She worked alongside Witsil and Maxwell interviewing key figures into the investigation of the Michigan Murders cold case to produce a documentary video and portraits. [145], On August 19, 1970, John Norman Collins was unanimously found guilty of the first-degree murder of Karen Sue Beineman. 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. William Milliken promised to leave "no stone unturned" to find herkiller. Andunlessauthorities uncover more evidence sometime soon,he just might. Moreover, a psychologist retained by the defense had testified as such on April 20, 1970. More than two years later, Karen Beineman disappeared. Another individual would be convicted of the murder of Jane Mixer in 2005. Collins lived at end of our block on Emmett St and he used to speed by on his motorcycle and wave to us--we thought he was soooooo coolalmost James Dean like! The Inside was really old and spooky, like still 1870's. A vacationing Leik had entrusted Collins to watch over his house while he was away. "I would 'NEVER'hurt a CHILDEVER!!!" A 3 Bedroom, 2.5 Bathroom, 2 story condo in a highly sought community RIVERVIEW Courts. Just basicallyfraternity rivals and that.". [163], When Kalom's body was found, a distinctive boot print on her skirt was found to be a perfect match to a boot Collins had owned, and although Collins had evidently cleaned his car in an effort to destroy evidence prior to his arrest, investigators would find bloodstains in this vehicle and upon a raincoat he owned which were determined to match Kalom's blood type. 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. But Collins was a bit bigger than Larry. What more do you want? Her body was found two days later in a field. [84], On July 27, Arnold Davis testified as to his being in the company of Collins throughout the late afternoon and evening of July 23, 1969 (hours after Beineman had last been seen alive). [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. Later, Arnie Davis, Collins' roommate, showed up. But back then, DNA profiling didn't exist, and. [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. "They took the car apart and they found under one of the seats, a swatch of fabric, I think was about the size of a dime. [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. And to your new HOME! Since reading this book I have been assumed by every aspect of what happen.. A few days later, Roxie was found in Pecadero Canyon outside of Salinas. In the few days he was in southern California, 17-year-old Roxie Phillips disappeared. All-American boy John Norman Collins was . [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]. The man they led away, John Norman Collins, could not have been further removed from the public image of a killer he was a 22-year-old Eastern Michigan education student, former football . Roxie Ann Phillips (17): June 30, 1969 (California), 7. You can't change the past, BUTT, you can HOPE for a better future.". After those two letters,they quit writing. By July 24, every cop in Washtenaw County was issued a Be On the Lookout (BOLO) for the bike and biker. [162] Nonetheless, the decision of the prosecution at his 1970 trial was to try Collins solely with the murder of Karen Sue Beineman. On the surface, John Norman Collins was an all-American boya fraternity member studying elementary education at Eastern Michigan University. [66][101], On August 1, 1969, John Norman Collins was formally arraigned for the murder of Karen Sue Beineman. [91] Some acquaintances noted Collins' politeness around women, while others described him as lascivious and bad-tempered. [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. The first victim, Mary Fleszar was last seen being cut off by a guy in a shiny car just a block from Collins' room. [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. [153], His lawyers further argued that, at an evidentiary hearing in April 1970, shortly before jury selection had begun, Collins' indictment for the California murder of Roxie Ann Phillips had likewise received extensive media coverage in Washtenaw Countyfurther reducing the chances of potential jurors being unbiased. We have been known to play those kinds of PRANKS on each other in the Fraternity.". [43] These factors led police to publicly conclude the same perpetrator was responsible for at least three of the murders thus far committed. So sad. Honest to God, that's what they said - apparantly, they didn't clean it well enough, and they came through the paint!Needless to say, Sherry and Mike were creeped out!!! 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. [17], The lack of blood beneath or near the corpse, plus the testimony of eyewitnesses, led investigators to determine Schell's body had lain in its present location for less than 24 hours. This psychologist had been adamant that Collins' trial should be held outside Washtenaw County, and this motion had likewise been reserved. "When the doctor and his wife came down here to the end of the street to get the mail, his wife looked down and said 'there's a body down there," Fournier said. The apartments have a perfect view of Dawn's home. [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. 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. The first victim, Mary Fleszar, disappeared in July 1967. Frank Witsil is a staff writer at the Detroit Free Press. The killer had taken too big of a risk with Beineman however. "I will ALWAYS Love her! Fournier, who offered the letters to the Free Press,speculated that Collins blamed Davis as revenge for testifying against him at trial. There was a door with steps from the basement into the garage that had been covered over. "He had several fraternity brothers that rented an apartment there," Fournier said. [41] By early April, each of these law enforcement agencies had collectively assigned 20 investigators to work exclusively upon the four homicides. I wasn't until our LAST VISIT together that I told her the WHOLE STORY. He added the letters appeared to be "a desperate attempt to convince his cousin of his innocence, and the ultimate end game would be to get a Canadian prison transfer.". "He knew me, and I knew him. The evidence that sealed Collins' fate came from a home owned by a Michigan State Trooper. Investigators determined the knife was consistent with the weapon used to stab Kalom. The first motion by Collins' attorneys, contending denial of defense motions to move the trial outside of Washtenaw County and the prejudice of prosecution witnesses, was filed with the Michigan Court of Appeals on December 14, 1970. Bundshuhadded that the new information, along with the DNA match, supported that Collins was the "perpetrator in that case." But, the dog, Prince, had a "NOT SO FRIENDLY STREAK," and Collins warnedBeineman he would bite her and to "STAY BACK. 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. Sounds like a little youthful imagination!! Larry said. [77], At approximately 12:15a.m. the following morning,[78] in the midst of a heavy, humid storm, one officer observed a young man running from the gully;[79] the heavy rain and insect irritation had prevented the officer from observing the young man actually approaching the gully. University of Michigan graduate Alice Kalom was next, found in a field with her throat cut, stab wounds, and a gunshot to the head. She had been beaten and strangled and then dumped in a patch of poison oak in the canyon. [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. [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. "My parents never told me anything about the crimes.". Moreover, if Collins believes he was wrongly accused, he can request a review. bathroom tub shower and dual sink vanity all heated by Tankless water heater! Prosecutor William F. Delhey agreed to a proviso that the test be conducted off the record and its results remain confidential. The event took place quietly this fall, after editors searched for the right cover art and writers for the new prologue and epilogue. On August 17, 1970, John Normans Collins was found guilty. 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. In college, he drank beer, joined Theta Chifraternity and dated often. 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. [118] At this hearing, Collins' court-appointed attorney, Richard Ryan, challenged the validity of the physical evidence and the credibility of the circumstantial evidence before formally requesting the case against his client be dismissed and the evidence seized from his rooming house and vehicle suppressed upon the grounds Collins had not consented to a police search of his property. [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! I was in Ypsi when all this was happening. He was polite and handsome, but the boy next door image was a farce. Butin 2005, when DNA and other evidenceconvicted Gary Leitermanof killing 23-year-old Jane Mixer, itcleared Collins of suspicion in that case. "I may be off on the day/time etc. [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. The tiny hairs in Karen's underwear were a fit to the hairs in the basement. His mother worked as a waitress and told John and his siblings that their father had abandoned them. Some peoples facts are not so good but you did a nice job!!! [39] Nonetheless, Ann Arbor Police Chief Walter Krasny formally linked Skelton's murder to the series. Terror in Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked - amazon.com They focused on Kalom, who, like Mixer, also was shot; Basom, the youngest of the cases,and Mary Fleszar, the first woman slain. Then come back here for part two. He is currently in Marquette Branch Prison at Marquette, Michigan. [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]. 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. [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. 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. Fournierwho now lives in Santee, California,nearSan Diego added he also wasnever able to talk to Davis, but is convinced Collins is guilty. [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. "In my mind," the detectivesaid, "the Kalom case is solved.". 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. Two of these bloodstains[75] were discovered to be type Athe blood type of Karen Sue Beineman. *SHUDDER!*. [60] She was last seen walking home towards her apartment on Thompson Street, having attended a friend's party. This is part two of our Michigan Murders series. You want to get him to talk.". From what I read, the city and officials were so quick to get this solved (perhaps their donuts were getting cold) that they failed to look at anyone else. Terror in Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked - amazon.com The clippings were swept into neat piles when they left. ", Chapman said when he was a teen, he asked Collins for dating advice. This neighbor twice observed a young man in a blue-grey Chevrolet slow to a halt beside Fleszar and begin talking to her: each time, Fleszar had shaken her head and walked away from the car. Wow, Kim, this does bring back memories. He wrestled, played basketball, baseball, football and skied. Yet, investigators added, as Collins and any other potential suspects age, the window of time is closing on whether the casescan be prosecuted tobring justice and resolution for the victims and their families. 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. News articles described John Collinsas a square-jawed,"handsomeAll-American who seemed to be leading a textbook college career." It was across the street from where the second victim, Joan Schell, lived. [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. Their lease expressly forbade any "painting" or tampering with the Basement. Before Collins left the Golden State, he saw a doctor for a case of poison oak. He is known for being a Criminal. The perpetrator, John Norman Chapman (then known as John Norman Collins) was arrested one week after the final murder. they didn't clean well enough??!! Oh, wait! They combed the 100 square miles of side roads between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti for the 18-year-old who was last seen getting on a motorcycle with a stranger in Ypsilanti. In the spring of 1969, he is connected to two murders, a 23-year-old Michigan law student named Jane Louise Mixer, and a 16-year-old Romulus High School student named Maralynn Skelton who was last seen alive hitchhiking in Ann Arbor. [61][62] Investigators had publicly claimed prior to Kalom's murder they were satisfied that the third victim initially linked to the Michigan Murderer, Jane Mixer, had been killed by a separate perpetrator; the fact Kalom had also received a gunshot wound to the head led investigators to reconsider the possibility Mixer may have been murdered by the same perpetrator. Her murderer had likely driven to the location to dispose of her body, before making rudimentary efforts to conceal the body with clumps of grass. It sentstate police looking atthe other unsolved cases. She also hintedhe had another side: Collins was moody and seemed "mad most of the time.". [42], Little physical evidence existed beyond eyewitness descriptions and forensic reports. Davis "told me that he tried to make a move on her and she resisted," Collinswrites. Collins "was arrested based on a tip provided by his uncle" (Ejk), who was a Michigan State Trooper. Davis wrapped the gun in a blanket and tossed them both into a garbage bin. He was a letterman at the Catholic High School and was a sports hero. "Butwhat you want him to do is admit things that you can investigate. His female friends described him as aggressive and short tempered. [106] Collins had later returned to Michigan alone in his vehicle; Manuel would later be located in Arizona following Collins' arrest. It wasn't enough evidence for the state police to recommend new charges, butit was enough to convinceBundshuh. 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. When I was first arrested my Mother asked me if I had done this and I told her 'NO' and she never asked me about it again. The following evening, Davis observed Collins emerging from his bedroom carrying a box partially covered by a blanket. John Norman Collins, 22, of Center Line Collins, a 22-year-old Eastern Michigan University student, never fit anyone's image of a killer. Reading this book should be required for all college students, especially females. [114] An FBI arrest warrant was issued against Andrew Manuel, who was located in Phoenix on August 6[115] and detained by FBI agents.
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