CHECK THE DNA. if what you say is true.why doesn't JNC insist on DNA testing to prove his innocence? Location: Near an old farmhouse in a field in Superior Township, two miles north of Ypsilanti. Two of these bloodstains[75] were discovered to be type Athe blood type of Karen Sue Beineman. . 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. Before Collins left the Golden State, he saw a doctor for a case of poison oak. Larry said John was memorable because he was a great athlete. Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. She wasn't upset with me and we got dressed. [106] Collins had later returned to Michigan alone in his vehicle; Manuel would later be located in Arizona following Collins' arrest. Collins was ready to confess, but without a witness, the former sheriff said itmight not stick. John Norman Collins, 22, of Center Line Collins, a 22-year-old Eastern Michigan University student, never fit anyone's image of a killer. Victims like Mary Terese Fleszar, a 19-year-old EMU accounting major and Joan Elspetch Schell, a 20-year-old art student. Instead, Collins said he lent Davis, who was having car trouble, his keys and he went to Ann Arbor. 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. The Brutal Murder Spree of John Norman Collins - The Lineup [152], At his 1972 appeal hearing, Collins' lawyers did succeed in securing the partial striking of the testimony of Dr. Vincent P. Guinn, the final prosecution witness at his trial, who had testified as to the odds of erroneous matching of the hairs found upon Karen Beineman's panties to those in the Leik family basement being "more than a million-to-one. 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. She laughed it off, but said he looked frighteningly serious. Almost all of them had been raped and mutilated, as Washtenaw County Sheriff Doug Harvey explains. 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. He was held without bond. "[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. (I said) 'the polygraph is sitting over here'. Kim you have the location for Dawn Basom's murder site wrong. A woman police officer mentioned her name to someone and that someone "dropped the dime" on Maralynn. A 3 Bedroom, 2.5 Bathroom, 2 story condo in a highly sought community RIVERVIEW Courts. 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. Collins adds:"I like to believe that I still have some 'INTEGRITY.' 7 months agoIt really hammers down the point that you need to watch yourself. [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. They focused on Kalom, who, like Mixer, also was shot; Basom, the youngest of the cases,and Mary Fleszar, the first woman slain. After those two letters,they quit writing. A look at five of Michigan's serial killers and their crimes According to Davis, he had heard Collins and Kalom arguing behind closed doors, before Kalom had run out of his (Collins') apartment, with Collins chasing after her. During the course of the investigation, police determined that she had been killed in the basement of Collins uncles family home in the College Heights neighborhood. You can't change the past, BUTT, you can HOPE for a better future.". After his Michigan arrest, the car he drove to California was impounded where they found some important evidence for the California murder. Almost one year later on July 6, 1968, student Joan Schell was found dead in Ann Arbor with 47 stab wounds. Beineman's body was replaced with that of a tailor's mannequin, and the gully surrounding this mannequin monitored by undercover officers. [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. [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. Collins says he vomited in the laundry tub. Delhey also stated the prosecution's intent to prove that Collins had had sole access to his uncle's home and basement on the afternoon of Beineman's disappearance, and although he had made concerted efforts to remove physical evidence from the crime scene, blood samples recovered from this location were a match for the blood type of the victim. [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. [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. Former Washtenaw County Sheriff Doug Harveysaid he wishes that he could have solved the other homicide cases. [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. [132] (The prosecution had initially intended to question Davis in detail as to each of the contents of this laundry box upon the grounds that the contents Davis had previously described to investigators may include Beineman's missing cut-off blue jeans; however, Collins' attorneys successfully objected to this motion upon the grounds that Collins was solely on trial for the murder of Karen Sue Beineman, and this testimony could suggest a link to the six other victims of the Michigan Murders then linked to the same perpetrator. What more do you want? The first victim, Mary Fleszar was last seen being cut off by a guy in a shiny car just a block from Collins' room. It would seem unlikely he didn't know Mary. In 1969.my family had a coney island in Annarbor.across from the Michigan theater..we all remember it well.I read the book and took the same tour.but at that time the old farm house was still standing.my brother and I went there late at night, and we walked the property.when U drive up the short driveway..when U reach leavel.that's were the lilac plums were placed togather..one extra flower to indicate there is an other death comming soon ! My mother was a student at EMU then and knew John's aunt. Hurkos accurately predicted that the murderer was a strongly built white male under 25 years of age, who had been born outside the United States, and who rode a motorcycle. [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]. 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. If a person wants something, he alone is the deciding factor of whether or not to take it, regardless of what society thinks is right or wrong if a person holds a gun on somebodyit's up to him to decide whether to take the other's life or not. Butin 2005, when DNA and other evidenceconvicted Gary Leitermanof killing 23-year-old Jane Mixer, itcleared Collins of suspicion in that case. Some of my Fraternity Brothers lived in the Emmet House in 1990. Initially, police took him at his word, and did not seek to verify his alibi. In a new twist just this week,Collins revised his story yet again. Anyways, in this sad state of affairs vigilance and protection is key. Great Job! 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 [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. [39] Nonetheless, Ann Arbor Police Chief Walter Krasny formally linked Skelton's murder to the series. Kimberly P. Mitchell is a staff photojournalist that joined the Detroit Free Press in 2005. In 1970, John Collins was tried for the murder of Karen Beineman. 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. When asked to formally identify the individual upon whose motorcycle she had observed waiting outside her shop,[84] Goshe pointed directly at John Norman Collins. Now, 40 years later, I find that a close, (unnamed), old girlfriend of mine was one of the last people to speak to Karen alive. One reason, Collins says, is because, in prison, snitches and rats are killed. ", In 30 years of letters, Chapman said, Collins exhibited a domineering personality, expressed misogynistic views, and seemed to have "underlying anger toward his mother. Sad sad fact. Pretty weird at the time how close they came to catching him at different times. 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. A vacationing Leik had entrusted Collins to watch over his house while he was away. [119], In November, Ryan, in an effort to determine the most effective defense strategy, persuaded Collins to undergo a private and independent polygraph test. "What you have to remember is he had denied everything about this,knowing her before that.". 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! 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. All the victims had been sexually mutilated. Thatseemed to make Collins happy. Davis informed police he had long suspected Collins had murdered Schell, but had been too afraid to report his suspicions. 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. In 1967, John Norman Collins lived in a rental about one block south of EMU's campus. They saw a clean-cut man sitting on a Triumph motorcycle and got a good look at him before he turned away. "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. 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. [32] A subsequent autopsy revealed the victim had died of numerous fractures covering one-third of her skull and one side of her face,[33] all of which had been inflicted with a heavy blunt instrument. 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. [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. Next, they went to "a really PRETTY SPOT that was on the outskirts of campus," which "led to sex.". Reading this book should be required for all college students, especially females. [88] Later that evening, Collins informed Davis he had simply decided to "get rid of" the box and its contents. Each motion filed had been reserved or, in the final instance, denied. And John picked her up and he had a nice carthat was his mother's car," Fournier said. The detectives said they tracked Davis to New York but were never able to interviewhim. 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. I never took her life. 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. Evaluation of individual will and moral restraints within society, written by Collins while enrolled at Eastern Michigan University. 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. She had been slashed across the throat,shot in the head and stabbed in the heart. Collins' uncle, State Police Sergeant David Leik, had been on vacation with his family at the time of Beineman's disappearance, and had only returned home on July 29three days after the discovery of her body. "They said she was in the basement having lunch so I went down there and talked with her. [80], Upon retracing Beineman's movements on the day of her disappearance, police questioned the proprietor of the wig shop Beineman had visited immediately prior to her disappearance, Diana Joan Goshe. 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. [107], Phillips' nude, battered body had been found in a ravine in Carmel Highlands on July 13,[108] with the belt belonging to her culotte dress knotted around her neck. Everything matched the belt and that swatch, which connected the two," Fournier said. She had made arrangements to meet Collins at her home on the evening of June 30, but Collins had never arrived. Collins sayshe didn't expect the 2013 letters"would become such a 'FOCAL POINT'after 50 years," and accuses Fournier of using his cousinto "dig-up some dirt on me" and garner media attention for himself. 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. [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]. [125][110] He was tried in Ann Arbor, before Judge John Conlin. Less than three hours later, Kolbe reported her roommate missing after failing to receive any contact. A sorority house, quiet student rentals, family homes, downtown businesses, and isolated tracts of land still stand, hidden in plain sight, as a reminder of the lives cut short during a time of Terror in Ypsilanti. 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. [21] Nonetheless, the inquiry into both murders remained active, and a reward then-totaling $7,800 for information leading to the conviction of the perpetrator of both homicides remained.[22]. And she looked at them and I don't know, the third or fourth picture was Collins and when she saw it she just dropped her sandwich in her lap and said 'oh shit, that's him!'" Onone visit, the detectives brought Collins photosof his beloved motorcycle. ", "The thing with my cousin, as much as I hate to say this, is, he is narcissistic," Chapman said. She also orchestrated the evidence locker. Glass particles found within this basement were of a similar consistency to those found upon the soles of Basom's shoes. He was a letterman at the Catholic High School and was a sports hero. David Leik, had refused to divulge the blood type(s) of his family to defense attorneys. 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. Triad Animal torture Yes. "just watched video with my wife who lived across the street at 614 emmet she said she wiil get intouch with you with some very scarry stories nice job kimmer". [27], Despite the fact Mixer had not been subjected to a sexual assault, the fact her tights had been lowered to expose her thighs and sanitary napkin suggested a sexual motive behind the murder,[27] and although the victim had not been beaten, stabbed or mutilated, her student status, the tying of a garment around her neck, and the proximity of her abduction and murder led investigators to tentatively link her murder to those of Fleszar and Schell. The email, detectives said, is characteristic of Collins, full of denials and rationalizations. On August 17, 1970, John Normans Collins was found guilty by a jury. But as Leik walked into the basement, he found a mess of the hair and there was blood on the basement floor. Collins details his discomfort at being locked up in the Washtenaw County jail before his trialand his steadfast refusalto "allow them to BREAK ME. Watch where you walk, tell people where you are going, when youre coming back, have pepper spray on your key chain, and don't go to people's houses/take rides with people that you just met. In the Late '60s, Michigan's Co-Ed Killers Stalked Campuses Living with Mom, and then moved into the basement of his uncle's house. ", Chapman said when he was a teen, he asked Collins for dating advice. The man who put the cuffs on JNC!!!). Still, in the police interviews and the letters, Collins steered clear of outrightconfessing to killing anyone, and in his email to the Free Press last week, he claims he has been exploited and wronged that in a way, he isthe victim. [57] Sections of her clothing were scattered around her body, although one of her shoes was missing. [36], The victim was identified as a 16-year-old Romulus[37] high school student named Maralynn Skelton, who had disappeared while hitchhiking in Ann Arbor. JOHN NORMAN COLLINS Born in - American Crime Stories | Facebook 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. Larry turned to one of the girls he saw Collins flirting with to see if he was the same man that drove off with Karen in downtown Ypsilanti. 'The Michigan Murders' is one of those rare books you re-read because Retro Kimmer'S Blog: the Michigan Coed Murders 40 Years Later Then, he waited. He tries to give his cousin a glimpse of prison life. In a brief final argument on behalf of the prosecution, Booker Williams re-emphasized the physical and circumstantial evidence against Collins, before accusing the defense attorneys of attempting to sow doubt in, particularly, the forensic evidence presented by the prosecution. He also did some modeling, appearing in a bodybuilding magazine bare-chested with ripplingmuscles. The Inside was really old and spooky, like still 1870's. 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. The two played intramural football. The perpetrator, John Norman Chapman (then known as John Norman Collins) was arrested one week after the final murder. Fournier deniedCollins' accusations, noting that the Free Press asked him for the letters. 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. He was known to engage in sexual violence, including one instance in which he had raped a woman who had resisted his advances. So ur saying the women that live there cried a lot because of what happened there previously?? True story, but I will protect my lady friend's privacy and withold her name. "Okay John, let me give you a little prelude to the 'STORY'that ended with me in here for the past 45 yrs. The killer had taken too big of a risk with Beineman however. But they also found something unusual, more than 500 short clipped blonde hairs. Dual sink vanity in main bathroom, with walk-in shower and tub. David Leik and his wife, Sandra, following their testimony against Collins at his trial. [157], The state of California postponed their requests to extradite Collins to face charges relating to Phillips' murder in June 1971. 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. The evidence that sealed Collins' fate came from a home owned by a Michigan State Trooper. 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. Collins was subsequently taken into police custody but denied any involvement whatsoever in the killing. In the past decade, prison records show that Collins has hadonly one misconduct report. He remembered something from the day before. 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. [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 hope some day it will be corrected; second, I never knew a girl named Karen Sue Beineman; I never had a conversation with her. After a couple of pages, he hints at more. Following the state's closing argument, both Neil Fink and Joseph Louisell delivered separate closing arguments on behalf of the defense, describing Collins as a "young victim of circumstances" and dismissing much of the evidence presented as "fuzzy allegations," with Louisell being particularly scornful as to the testimony of Walter Holz, to whose conclusions, he asserted, the prosecution hinged its entire case. "She asked me if he was in any trouble and I said 'not that I'm aware of, but if you had a picture I probably could (clear him)'," Larry said. 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 Welcome to 11826 Caminito Rihely Moreover, a psychologist retained by the defense had testified as such on April 20, 1970. The following year, he formally requested transfer to a Canadian prison, in the belief this would facilitate his prospects of eventual release. The receptionist could not offer any clear description of the man beyond that he was a handsome young white male with dark hair, that he had driven a blue-grey Chevrolet, and that he had not been carrying a camera. Shemarried William Collins. [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. Sorry for the error.. xK. The mail lady did a "double-take", every time she put their mail in! [92][n 2]. 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. [109] She had been strangled to death and, as with several Michigan victims linked to Collins, one earring was missing. 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].