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In one of the prison interviews, Schroeder saidCollins confirmed he picked up Beineman on her way to the shop. If police in Michigan were doubting Collins as their man, they got more evidence a few thousand miles away. [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. 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! Found as a mass of rotting flesh. There was a moment,though, Harvey recalled, he thought Collins would confess. I was on the prison yard with him in 1986, we played basketball, and hand ball he maintained his innocence he is well kept, clean, neat, sober and yet at the same time he was not someone to be under estimated "The Michigan Coed Murders", as they came to be called, began with Eastern Michigan student Mary Flezlar on July 10, 1967. On Sunday, July 27, police arrived at the apartment on Emmet Street Collins shared with his roommate, Arnold Davis. [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. Born in Windsor, Canada, Collins istheyoungest of three, with an older brother and sister,Jerryand Gail. By July 24, every cop in Washtenaw County was issued a Be On the Lookout (BOLO) for the bike and biker. Collins claims he left the house alone, but came back and foundBeineman dead. All-American boy John Norman Collins was arrested, tried, and convicted of the strangulation . "He had several fraternity brothers that rented an apartment there," Fournier said. 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. My name is Sheri I live in Salem twp not far from the Michigan murders.. A couple of yrs ago I was told by the Librarian at Salem to read this book. [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. Muddy Waters, coach at Hillsdale, would take us (freshman) there to make us tough JNC was a little sh*t, smart alec and cocky wore a stocking cap under his helmet played middle linebacker and would cuss at and spit upon the offensive line men (ME) anyway, thanks for the memory, albeit sad. By that point, Larry had been brought in to share what he had with Michigan State Police, the Washtenaw County Sheriff, and other agencies. In college, he drank beer, joined Theta Chifraternity and dated often. Collinsassertshis innocence by saying that if the sheriff had caught the killer the night of the stakeout, "I wouldn't be here now.". "That was tough on Leik. This is all so fascinating.. why do dumb women want to marry inmates ?? He's believed to be the last person to see the first victim alive. 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. But they were striking. While they were in the store, Free Press reports at the timesaidGoshe heard Beineman comment:"I've done only two foolish things in my life buy this wig and accept a ride from a stranger on a motorcycle.". It wasn't enough evidence for the state police to recommend new charges, butit was enough to convinceBundshuh. Kalom, who graduated from the University of Michigan not long before she was killed, was described as a "wholesome-looking girl" with "a vivid imagination." I walked over to see if he was playing a JOKE on me and had a dummy there to scare me. So ur saying the women that live there cried a lot because of what happened there previously?? Terror in Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked Paperback - August 1, 2016 by Gregory A. Fournier (Author) 236 ratings See all formats and editions Kindle $6.95 Read with Our Free App Audiobook $0.00 Free with your Audible trial Paperback $22.95 12 Used from $12.59 15 New from $16.50 Audio CD $30.54 2 New from $28.44 On top of that, Collins, in two 2013 letters to his cousinJohn Chapman, revealed inhis own words what he said "really happened" all those years ago, confirming details from the cases and recanting his claim that he never knew his victim. [88], Police had already established that Collins was a known motorcycle enthusiast[89] who owned several motorcycles, including a blue Triumph Bonneville. Having compared case notes, investigators in both California and Michigan agreed enough similarities existed between the murder of Roxie Ann Phillips and the Michigan Murders to establish a definite connection between the cases,[113] and on August 5, this connection was formally announced. They focused on Kalom, who, like Mixer, also was shot; Basom, the youngest of the cases,and Mary Fleszar, the first woman slain. 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. [71] As had been the case with previous victims, her killer had placed a section of cloth in her throat to muffle her screams throughout her torture. "He was probably 20 or 30 pounds heavier that I was. 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. Location: Near an old farmhouse in a field in Superior Township, two miles north of Ypsilanti. So sadmy twins are at EMU and they were home this weekend and asked me if I knew anything about the serial killer. "[156], At the time of his 1970 conviction, a grand jury indictment against Collins remained outstanding in relation to the June 1969 murder of Roxie Ann Phillips in Monterey County, California. It seemed,Schroeder said, as if Collins was describing what "he had done himself. Funny thing, blood and semen evidence were collected from most of the victims and never once has Collins filed an appeal demanding a DNA test. Randy/Jerry--C'mon! Instead, Collins said he lent Davis, who was having car trouble, his keys and he went to Ann Arbor. Furthermore, Goshe had identified a photograph shown to her of Collins as being the man she had seen with Beineman. 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. 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. Delhey formally closed his opening statement to the jury by requesting they return a verdict of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. 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. [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. Handsome and clean-cut, he graduated from a. I was only 5 and 6 yrs old when the murders happened so never heard about them.. In his email to the Free Press, Collins acknowledged he has no control over what people say about him, and that's why he refuses interviews. This is part two of our Michigan Murders series. 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. After hearing six hours of testimony from nine prosecution witnesses, Judge Edward Deake ruled that probable cause had been established, and Collins was formally ordered to stand trial for Beineman's murder.[73]. [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. I hope some day it will be corrected; second, I never knew a girl named Karen Sue Beineman; I never had a conversation with her. You can contact Patrick at734.487.3363, on twitter@WEMUPC, or email him atpcampion@emich.edu, Serving Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, MI, PublishedOctober 30, 2017 at 6:55 AM EDT, Credit Lisa Powers (image on left) / https://lisapowers2020.smugmug.com/, Credit Lisa Powers / https://lisapowers2020.smugmug.com/, Credit Lisa Powers (image on right) / lisapowers2020.smugmug.com/, In our daily drives this time of year, we frequently encounter cyclists on the paths and roadways around town. It didn't take a scientist to figure out what transpired. The point is: It's not society's judgment that's important, but the individual's own choice of will and intellect. [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. Living with Mom, and then moved into the basement of his uncle's house. On July 31, the prosecution introduced two forensic witnesses to testify regarding the physical evidence indicating the victim had been killed inside the Leik family home. In the past decade, prison records show that Collins has hadonly one misconduct report. 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.". Fournier said Karen was the only one to get on the bike. The driver had been aged around 20 and clean-cut with short, dark, side-parted hair. COLLINS' LETTER: John Norman Collins one of Michigan's most notorious killers pens letter to the Free Press. For example, in the case of Mary Fleszar, investigators discovered that at the time of her disappearance, Collins had worked part-time in the Eastern Michigan University administration unit, and that his office had been located directly opposite the hallway from the office where Fleszar had herself worked. The victim's right thumb had also received a gunshot wound, suggesting the woman had instinctively raised her hand to protect herself before her killer had fired the gun at point-blank range. And Collins loved motorcycles a detail that later would come up at trialand decades later in the prison interviews with detectives. [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). A medical examination revealed Beineman had been extensively beaten about the face and body, with some lacerations inflicted being so severe sections of skin had been removed, exposing subcutaneous tissues. Fournier deniedCollins' accusations, noting that the Free Press asked him for the letters. 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. Collins rented a room on the second floor of a Ypsilanti building on Emmet Street. 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. Larry was still a senior in college and, though he may not have known his name, he recognized his face. 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. Eight days later, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole; he will live out the remainder of his days in the maximum security wing of Marquette Branch Prison. "It all began the day before I met Karen B. Upon questioning Collins' co-workers, investigators learned that Collins had repeatedly taken delight in describing, in graphic detail, details of the injuries inflicted upon each successive victim linked to the Michigan Murderer to his female colleagues;[19] he had claimed these details had been provided to him by an uncle of his named David Leik, who served as a sergeant in the police force. Enjoy dual pane vinyl windows, high 9' ceilings top & bottom floors, a spacious loft 10' x 10' that can be used as a bedroom or game room, a 10' x 5' Harry Potter closet previously used as an office, hand-carved lightly distressed maple hardwood flooring-Ponto . In September 1988, Chapman agreed to participate in a live interview conducted by the. I remember the day they began to extract evidence from Collins apartment and car just down the streetvery, very spooky Geez! "The Leik children, the three boys were all white blonde little guys and that hair, color wise, the first original look at it, seemed to be a fit," Larry said. The family took his surname. Has it been 40 years?!? [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. That would change the next day. The mail lady did a "double-take", every time she put their mail in! [52] (The farmhouse itself was destroyed in an act of arson on May 13; when the fire was extinguished, five clipped lilacs[53] were found arranged in an even row across the driveway to the building, leading investigators to theorize they had been placed there by the murderer to symbolize each victim. 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. Welcome to Lakeside. [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. Despite repeatedly challenging the overturning of the 1981 decision to transfer him to a Canadian prison, a federal appellate court ruled in May 1988 that Chapman should remain incarcerated at Marquette Branch Prison. Welt marks upon the chest and shoulders indicated the killer had also used restraints to hold the victim prone as he whipped her torso and upper legs with a leather belt[35] before tearing a branch from a nearby tree and inserting this instrument eight inches into her vagina. But they also found something unusual, more than 500 short clipped blonde hairs. 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. You can't change the past, BUTT, you can HOPE for a better future.". 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. Bundshuh remembered Collins cried when asked about Kalom, saying they dated. [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. I jus wish we lived in a world where that wasnt necessary, and where that sick man would have gotten the help he needed. Their lease expressly forbade any "painting" or tampering with the Basement. Her body would be discovered two days later near an abandoned farmhouse on North Territorial Road. "We've never met," said Chapman, 47, of Mississauga, Canada, near Toronto. Thetyped,single-spaced letters Collins wrote to his cousin are sprinkled with words in all caps, perhaps for emphasis, andidiosyncratically misspelled words. A low-maintenance backyard with irrigation is the perfect place to relax and entertain guests. She was a Kind & Loving person to all that knew her." [24] Blood spatterings and churned soil close to the crime scene indicated she had been beaten close to where her body was discovered, and that she may have attempted to escape her attacker. He once told a girl that he had strangled a cat with a clothesline. I remember her telling us how shocked the aunt was at the arrest and how hard she found it to believe that her nephew was involved.