", Collins, in his recent letter to the Free Press,praised Schroeder as "a good man" who "kept his 'Word' to me." While waiting on Beineman on the day she disappeared, a Wig shop manager had gotten an decent look at as she road away with a man on a Triumph 650 Bonneville motorcycle. A woman police officer mentioned her name to someone and that someone "dropped the dime" on Maralynn. The perpetrator, John Norman Chapman (then known as John Norman Collins) was arrested one week after the final murder. The next year, hestarted tutoringinmates on how to pass theGED exam, the test for ahigh-school equivalency diploma. The man who put the cuffs on JNC!!!). Fournierwho now lives in Santee, California,nearSan Diego added he also wasnever able to talk to Davis, but is convinced Collins is guilty. mean while looking for Iggys fun house. [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. Michigan Murders - Wikipedia Larry said. Kimberly P. Mitchell is a staff photojournalist that joined the Detroit Free Press in 2005. bathroom tub shower and dual sink vanity all heated by Tankless water heater! 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. But Collins was a bit bigger than Larry. I know a woman who went bike riding with John during that period. Although Collins burst into tears when informed the stains on the floor covered with paint had been varnish, he quickly regained his composure and continued to deny any knowledge of Karen Sue Beineman. Convicted of one The Michigan Murders, a series of killings that terrorized southeastern Michigan for two years, but is believed to have committed all. It sentstate police looking atthe other unsolved cases. [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). Collins, Chapman recalled, give him explicit, sexually graphicinstructions on what to do with a girl, including suggestions that some women "like it rough.". [74]), The forensic examination of Beineman's body further revealed she had been raped prior to her murder, and that her torn panties had been forcefully placed inside her vagina; these panties revealed the presence of human semen and 509[75] human hair clippings measuring less than three-eights of an inch upon the material. "That was tough on Leik. 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. I never took her life. I also know someone who was a graduate student working on a project with Alice at the time she disappeared--she was absolutely horrified to find out that she had been murdered. John Norman Collins eventually found his way into a Washtenaw County, Michigan, courtroom. Im looking forward to seeing that too! Pretty weird at the time how close they came to catching him at different times. [3] Although Schell had been dead for several days, her entire lower body was in a remarkably preserved condition, whereas her head, shoulders and breasts were in an advanced state of decomposition, leading the pathologist to conclude her body had been stored in a naturally cool environment, but with the upper third of her body exposed to natural heat. She said that the girl was an informant. [104] Reviewing information regarding the murder of Roxie Ann Phillips, investigators discovered that immediately prior to her disappearance, Phillips had informed a close friend that she had become acquainted with an Eastern Michigan University student named John, who drove a silver-grey Oldsmobile Cutlass and who was temporarily residing with a friend in a camper-trailer. She came up missing on July 23, 1969, and was discovered a few days later, strangled and beaten to death. 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.". My friend admonished her telling her that it was too dangerous to ride with a strange man. The first victim, Mary Fleszar, disappeared in July 1967. Everything matched the belt and that swatch, which connected the two," Fournier said. Some peoples facts are not so good but you did a nice job!!! 2023 FOX Television Stations, Michigan Murders: 50 years ago, terror reigned in Ypsilanti, Michigan Murders: Close calls, haunting roads - life after a suspected serial killer is arrested, The heaviest snow is behind us heading into the weekend, Snow storm shuts down Detroit Metro Airport, Power outages hit Metro Detroit hard as winter storm pounds area, WATCH - Jennifer Hammond talks with Detroit Titans guard Antoine Davis after coming up just short of the NCAA all-time scoring record, 65-year-old woman killed in double shooting on Detroit's west side, Suspect still wanted after brutal beating of victims after they shoveled his snow last winter in Detroit, Wayne County woman wins $1 million after 'random urge' to buy Michigan Lottery ticket, General Motors laying off 500 white collar positions, Police: Wayne County Morgue employee broke into homes of the deceased. [47], One week after the murder of Dawn Basom, a detective conducting a routine examination of this farmhouse basement discovered a scrap of cloth from Basom's blouse, plus an earring later determined to belong to Maralynn Skelton. "We've never met," said Chapman, 47, of Mississauga, Canada, near Toronto. In a final address to the jury on August 14, Judge Conlin informed the panel they had two choices in the verdict they could render: Guilty of first-degree murder, or not guilty. [60], By July 1969, as a result of the coordinated investigation into the killings, more than 1,000 convicted sex offenders had been investigated and eliminated as suspects; over 800 tips from informants had been actively investigated; and several thousand individuals routinely interviewed. The rookie cop soon found out his football fraternity's rival: it was John Norman Collins. She researched the key suspects past, dug through hundreds of evidence photos and newspaper clippings and worked with Witsil to uncover new details in the cases. Living with Mom, and then moved into the basement of his uncle's house. ICK!!! Michigan Serial Killer Unmasked: John Norman Collins 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. John Norman Collins | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers [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. Her birthday was on Christmas, and she sought toget into U-M's graduate school for social work. "This source that I have says he saw Alice on the back of Collins' motorcycle, driving away," Fournier said. Bundshuh recalled during interviews with the Free Pressat his Adrian home. 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. Folklore! Each motion filed had been reserved or, in the final instance, denied. "In my mind," the detectivesaid, "the Kalom case is solved.". 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. News articles described John Collinsas a square-jawed,"handsomeAll-American who seemed to be leading a textbook college career." A state prosecutor charged Collins with the first-degree premeditated murder of 18-year-old Karen Sue Beineman, a student at Eastern Michigan University. John Norman COLLINS - Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers 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. Anenraged Collins responded by forcefully asserting:"I didnt kill that baby!". 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. The 619 Emmet house is actually a sorority house, not a fraternity house. But, again, there were marital problems, and the coupledivorced. 5 Harry Potter closet previously used as an office, hand-carved lightly distressed maple hardwood flooring-Ponto Beach on the first level, and simple times carpet on the second level, open concept gourmet kitchen with overside white quartz island 8 x 4 She had been raped, then stabbed 25 times with a knife estimated to have measured four inches in length. These two witnesses were followed by the individual who had found her body on July 26, and the medical examiner called to the crime scene, Dr. Craig Barlow. 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. Dual sink vanity in main bathroom, with walk-in shower and tub. Collins criticizes former sheriff Harvey, accusing him of having an obsession with hismother. We have been known to play those kinds of PRANKS on each other in the Fraternity.". Collins also says he metKalom at an Ann Arbor bar and made a date for Saturday morning to go for a motorcycle ride. [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." She had last been seen on July 1 with John Norman Collins. Make your donation to WEMU todayto keep your community NPR station thriving. The DNA evidence, combined with what Collins said in his prisoninterviews with detectives and what he wrote in never-before-published letters to his second cousin in Canada,refocused attention on Collins as a suspectin some of the unsolved cases. You want to get him to talk.". David Leik. 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. ", Collins and Beineman chatted, and then they "started making out. He remembered something from the day before. The Most Dangerous Serial Killers Of The 1960s - Grunge.com "I would 'NEVER'hurt a CHILDEVER!!!" The email, detectives said, is characteristic of Collins, full of denials and rationalizations. The assistant DA was a friend of my Dad's! In this lineup, Goshe positively identified the man she had seen with Karen Sue Beineman as John Norman Collins. The following year, he formally requested transfer to a Canadian prison, in the belief this would facilitate his prospects of eventual release. [97], The hairs found upon Beineman's panties and those recovered from the basement of the Leik home were subjected to a detailed forensic neutron analysis[98] to determine whether they had sourced from the same individuals. Wikizero - Michigan Murders In response to defense questioning, Sgt. I said 'would you look at these pictures for me' and she said sure. [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. "We fooled around a little more and I ejaculated on her panties. Although forensic experts would deduce later that morning that the stains covered by the black paint had actually been varnish stains, one of the investigators discovered numerous hair clippingsmany measuring less than three-eights of an inchbeside the family washing machine. Glass particles found within this basement were of a similar consistency to those found upon the soles of Basom's shoes. Several motions by the defense counsel throughout the jury selection process that the trial should be moved to a jurisdiction outside of Washtenaw County were rejected by Judge John Conlin, who ruled on June 29 that the 14 members of the jury selected from Ann Arbor by this date and considered satisfactory by both counsels would serve as jurors throughout the trial. She was a Kind & Loving person to all that knew her." A Midnight Jogger John Norman Collins: The Co-Ed Killer Crime Library This psychologist had been adamant that Collins' trial should be held outside Washtenaw County, and this motion had likewise been reserved. The same day, the head of the state police crime laboratory, Sgt. Manuel was extensively questioned as to his potential involvement in both Phillips' murder and those committed in Michigan which investigators had linked to Collins, and agreed to submit to a polygraph test. PDF John Norman Collins - Radford University This is the only murder for which Collins would ever stand trial. [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. [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 suggested they had met within a day or so before she was murdered, and they had gone out scrambling on a motorcycle," Bundshuh said. beautiful ceramic fountain, and enjoying your concrete round gas fire pit. There were no recent updates for the slaying of 17-year-old Roxie Phillips, who was slain in Salinas,California, law enforcement officials said. More often than not, we continue on our, On this edition of 89.1 WEMUS "Hidden In Plain Sight," our own Lisa Barry takes you to a west side Ann Arbor shoe store that first opened downtown in, Being a mom is hard, regardless of who you are or what your background may be. 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. Sowhen DNA matching Collins turned up on Alice Kalom's clothing, it was significant. ", "Autopsy Shows EMU Coed was Stabbed Many Times", "Ypsilanti Man Arraigned, Accused of Co-Ed Murder", "Citizens Asked to Aid Murder-Suspect Hunt", "Collins' Trial Will Begin on Tuesday: Faces Charge of Murder in Slaying of Co-Ed", "Man Convicted in 1979 Slaying of University of Michigan Student", "Fourth in Area: Girl Found Murdered Near North Campus", "Latest Slaying in Ann Arbor Area Linked to Dope, Policewoman Says", "Path of Murder Victim Traced to Restaurant: Girl Found Slain Near Ann Arbor May Have Bought Food For Killer", "Police Seek Clues to Fourth Girl Murdered", "Murder Victim Had Electric Cord Wrapped Around Neck", "Co-Eds in Michigan Carry Weapons in Wake of Series of Five Slayings", "The LeForge Barn Fire: Murder Site of Dawn Basom, John Norman Collins' Youngest Victim", "Still No Suspect: Latest Victim Identified as 'U' Coed", "Who Killed These Girls? Less than two months later, 21-year old Michigan graduate student disappeared shortly after midnight walking home from a friends party on Thompson Street. In college, he drank beer, joined Theta Chifraternity and dated often. "[93] before angrily walking out of her apartment. Aside from being the last person seen with Karen and living directly across the street from Joan Schell, there was more to link John Collins to the murders. 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. Kim you have the location for Dawn Basom's murder site wrong. [88], Police had already established that Collins was a known motorcycle enthusiast[89] who owned several motorcycles, including a blue Triumph Bonneville. ", "The thing with my cousin, as much as I hate to say this, is, he is narcissistic," Chapman said. To go down into his basement and say 'whoa, something's different here'," Sheriff Harvey said. 25070 southfield rd, southfield michigan hood ornament bird john norman collins uncle's house 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. He wrestled, played basketball, baseball, football and skied. Here's a link to a news photo that shows it http://oldnews.aadl.org/aa_news_19690418-last_hour_theorized_by_police, Yes you are correct cyclodan. Greg Fournier who attended EMU and wrote a book,"Terror in Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked,"and blog, Fornology.com spent years gathering informationwith his researcher Ryan Place. John Norman Collins, 22, of Center Line Collins, a 22-year-old Eastern Michigan University student, never fit anyone's image of a killer. [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. 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. Another individual would be convicted of the murder of Jane Mixer in 2005. John Norman Collins: Michigan murder suspect's letters, interviews [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. Moreover, a psychologist retained by the defense had testified as such on April 20, 1970. Roxie Ann Phillips (17): June 30, 1969 (California), 7. MATURE CONTENT WARNING: This story contains descriptions of gruesome crime scenes. [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. They met at 11 or 11:30 a.m., in front of the U-M student union, chatted and went to Burger King for a bite to eat. Collins then offers a similar account, but in more detail, that he gave the detectives. There have been six before her, five in southeast Michigan and one in California - though that one was not connected at the time. Shemarried William Collins. William Milliken promised to leave "no stone unturned" to find herkiller. Her body would be discovered two days later near an abandoned farmhouse on North Territorial Road. [87] When Mathewson showed these photographs to both Goshe and her assistant, Patricia Spaulding, both women were adamant the man in the photographs was the same individual with whom Beineman had last been seen alive. The moment passed and they continued their ride uneventfully. "This is what I knew deep down in my heart, and I felt so good knowing, without question, this is our guy.". dear retrokimmer & brother, I dearly love that you did this memorial to the poor victims of that sadistic monster,My father & I were going to do this very thing, but Then I got very badly injured,and couldn't finish our memorial, (there;s next year) fine job thank you for remembering the girls !!!!! [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. The tiny hairs in Karen's underwear were a fit to the hairs in the basement. 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]. She told me years ago that Maralynn was killed by a motorcycle gang. 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]. Still, in interviews with detectives,Collins described meetingKalom, 21, of Portage, and taking her on a motorcycle-riding date just before she was slain. Investigators noted strong similarities between this murder and previous killings attributed to the Michigan Murderer, including the fact that a garter belt had been tied around Skelton's neck[35] and her clothes and shoes had been neatly placed beside her body. 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. student named John Norman Collins, was eventually caught when evidence linking him to the murder of final victim Karen Sue Beineman was found in the basement of a home belonging to his uncle, state trooper David Leik. 10 Killers Who Targeted College Women | Thought Catalog Collins rejected any association with the slaying of the 13-year-old, just like in his police interviews. What more do you want? Born in Windsor, Canada, Collins istheyoungest of three, with an older brother and sister,Jerryand Gail. Collins rented a room on the second floor of a Ypsilanti building on Emmet Street. Photos, evidence in Michigan murders case against John Norman Collins And John picked her up and he had a nice carthat was his mother's car," Fournier said. The injuries described by Collins were consistent with those inflicted upon the victims which had not been disclosed to the news media, and David Leik would inform investigators that he had not disclosed any information regarding the Michigan Murders to his nephew. Each item had been deliberately placed in this location, indicating that the murderer had returned to the scene of the crime and that the two homicides were definitely linked. 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. [119], In November, Ryan, in an effort to determine the most effective defense strategy, persuaded Collins to undergo a private and independent polygraph test. My name is C and I have been doing some research about the co ed killer. He says he wasn't allowed to keepPolaroid photos of his late mother. 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. 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. The Michigan Attorney General and the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office confirmed no litigation is in the works, and to prosecute the cases, investigators would need more evidence. So sad. [159] At the time of the announcement of this decision, preliminary legal maneuvers between Michigan and California authorities had been ongoing to extradite Collins to Monterey County to face trial for Phillips' murder.[160]. I saw your video you did on the location of where the girls went missing and where they were found.. That was haunting to me and very disturbing .. After I saw in the video the home you lived in and how you lived next door this man It had to be haunting to you to know you could of been one of his victims After watching the KELLY AND COMPANY VIDEO that i saw I have to question myself if I truly believed he could of murder these women .. After I read the book there was no doubt in my mind.. Well I just want to let you know much I had enjoy the video you had done it just put everything in perspective . Each testified on August 6. 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." My mother was a student at EMU then and knew John's aunt. ButCollins says Davis did somethingthat would "lead right back to me.". I finished reading the book "Michigan Murders" today and am looking at the Internet for more information. Best wishes! Thetyped,single-spaced letters Collins wrote to his cousin are sprinkled with words in all caps, perhaps for emphasis, andidiosyncratically misspelled words. John Collins grew up in Center Line, north of Detroit. His nephew had stayed at the home: John Norman Collins. 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. [88] Later that evening, Collins informed Davis he had simply decided to "get rid of" the box and its contents. She also recalled having observed a young man with short, side-parted dark hair, wearing a horizontal striped sweater, waiting on a blue motorcycle outside the shop as Beineman made her purchase. [49] Sales of tear gas, knives, and security locks increased,[64] hitchhiking became a rarity among students, and the reward offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer increased to $42,000 (the equivalent of about $341,046 as of 2023[update]). 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.