[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. [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. "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. They focused on Kalom, who, like Mixer, also was shot; Basom, the youngest of the cases,and Mary Fleszar, the first woman slain. Wow, Kim, this does bring back memories. The first letter, dated Oct. 22, Collins says he has much to reveal and doesn't "know where to begin." John Norman Collins, 22, of Center Line Collins, a 22-year-old Eastern Michigan University student, never fit anyone's image of a killer. "We fooled around a little more and I ejaculated on her panties. Chapman said he is convinced of his cousin'sguilt, and in his last letters,hewas"confessing by not really confessing. "They said she was in the basement having lunch so I went down there and talked with her. His mother attended every single day of the trial. ButCollins says Davis did somethingthat would "lead right back to me.". [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. "He was in with John for about 45 minutes. Butin 2005, when DNA and other evidenceconvicted Gary Leitermanof killing 23-year-old Jane Mixer, itcleared Collins of suspicion in that case. 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. 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. Living with Mom, and then moved into the basement of his uncle's house. ", "Terror in Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked,", Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. [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. [153], In each appeal instance, Collins' conviction was upheld, with successive appellate judges of the Supreme Court announcing in October 1974, their refusal to review his conviction[154] and the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit announcing their own satisfaction with the earlier findings of the district court. Shemarried William Collins. Karen was the latest girl in a two-year stretch to go missing. Collins also wrote two letters in 2013 that gave specific accounts of how two of the victims Kalom and Beineman died, and his involvement with them. In a new twist just this week,Collins revised his story yet again. She was reported missing by her roommate, Sherri Green, when she failed to return to her dormitory after curfew. No search warrant had been sought prior to Collins being questioned on this date, and his apartment would only be searched on July 30two days after Arnold Davis had observed Collins hurriedly remove a box of women's clothing and jewelry from his apartment. Later, Arnie Davis, Collins' roommate, showed up. [132] Mrs. Leik also testified to having cut her children's hair in her basement two days prior to embarking on a vacation with her family, and that when they had returned home, she had noticed that several items from her basement had been moved, that she had discovered a wet, soiled cloth containing hair aside a laundry tub, and that other itemsincluding a nearly-full bottle of ammoniawere missing.[76]. [72], Beineman had died of strangulation, although the pathologist noted the blunt force injuries inflicted to her skull and brain had been so extensive they would likely have proven fatal. The circumstances surrounding this case prevented me from getting a fair trial. [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]. Fournier said Collins'cousin, John Chapman, gave him the letters, but he decided against including them inhis 2016 book. Schell had intended to travel to Ann Arbor to visit her boyfriend, and her roommate had accompanied her to the bus stop. The mail lady did a "double-take", every time she put their mail in! "He had several fraternity brothers that rented an apartment there," Fournier said. John Norman Collins "The Co-Ed Killer Information researched and summarized by Jami Lyle, Justin Hanky, & Rex Harrison Department of Psychology . She chose the car. Melanie Maxwell has been a picture editor at the Free Press since 2018. beautiful ceramic fountain, and enjoying your concrete round gas fire pit. In the 1970 trial, Joan Goshe, the owner of Wig's by Joan in Ypsilanti, testified that she saw Collins and Beineman the Eastern Michigan University coed from Grand Rapids outside the shop. [20], Despite tracing and eliminating more than 150 registered owners of red-and-black vehicles in the state of Michigan, and establishing the alibis of numerous individuals whose physical features bore a likeness to the composite drawing of the driver the police had obtained from Kolbe, all investigative lines of inquiry into the murder of Joan Schell failed to bear fruit. Collins was then informed by Judge Conlin that if the jurors' verdict was wrong, the error would be corrected in due course. She supported herself by waiting tables at a Detroit restaurant. He was polite and handsome, but the boy next door image was a farce. Decades later, Fournier showed the former sheriffCollins'letters. Secondary full She had been strangled. In the past decade, prison records show that Collins has hadonly one misconduct report. Davis pointedto the laundry room. After his Michigan arrest, the car he drove to California was impounded where they found some important evidence for the California murder. Collins' grip of terror on our community ended officially on August 19, 1970, when he was found guilty of first-degree murder. "A lot of the girls were beaten about the face, and so on, let alone the stab wounds," Harvey said. Through interviewing a recent girlfriend of Collins, investigators also learned that she had lived in an apartment complex directly across the road from the home of Dawn Basom, and that, throughout their courtship, Collins had been a regular visitor to her apartment. 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. And John picked her up and he had a nice carthat was his mother's car," Fournier said. "He said he kept trying and she said she was going to call the police and he SNAPPED and choked her. [47] A handkerchief found stuffed in her mouth had likely been placed there to muffle her cries throughout her torture, and her murderer had placed her body in a location where rapid discovery was assured. The hairs found in Karen's underwear matched hair in his uncle's basement - which is where she was believed to have been killed. 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 WikiZero zgr Ansiklopedi - Wikipedia Okumann En Kolay Yolu By '69, he was a senior at Eastern Michigan University, studying to be a teacher. [137] On this date, Collins was formally sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. Victims like Mary Terese Fleszar, a 19-year-old EMU accounting major and Joan Elspetch Schell, a 20-year-old art student. All-American boy John Norman Collins was arrested, tried, and convicted of the strangulation . He also triesto discredit his cousin for disclosing his private letters,suggesting what he wrote ismostly fiction. "In my mind," the detectivesaid, "the Kalom case is solved.". Corporal David Leik had just returned from vacation when he noticed things were amiss in the basement. Evidently, despite Collins' protestations of innocence and denials of even knowing Karen Sue Beineman, she had been in the basement of Collins' uncle at the time of, shortly before, or shortly after her murder.[68]. "I was on patrol the afternoon of the 23rd of July, and turned the corner down by Sill Hall on the campus and there was John Collins. The victim had received multiple slash and stab wounds to the body (including two stab wounds which had pierced her heart),[55] and a gunshot wound to the forehead before her neck had been cut through to the spine. He was known to engage in sexual violence, including one instance in which he had raped a woman who had resisted his advances. Until he was an adult, Chapman said, hedidn't know the full extent of the accusations against Collins. he writes. Letters, interviews reveal dark side. [134] Although subjected to intense cross-examination by Joseph Louisell as to the reliability of his findings, Holz remained adamant the color, length, type and diameter of the hair samples found upon Beineman's panties were a precise match to those found in the Leik family basement. Another individual would be convicted of the murder of Jane Mixer in 2005. Anyways, in this sad state of affairs vigilance and protection is key. 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. [142] Prosecuting attorney William Delhey argued first, recounting the evidence the state had presented and Collins' conscious efforts to destroy physical evidence at the Leik household before telling the jury that their collective application of common sense could only dictate a guilty verdict.[143]. I was in Ypsi when all this was happening. 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. He once told a girl that he had strangled a cat with a clothesline. Hurkos proved to be of little help and soon the police had yet another body on their hands, student Karen Sue Bieneman. Everything matched the belt and that swatch, which connected the two," Fournier said. Detectives recalled that'sabout thesame timewhen they visited Marquette to confront Collins about the new DNA evidence that linked him to Kalomand to try to turn over some new stones. A low-maintenance backyard with irrigation is the perfect place to relax and entertain guests. Like 89.1WEMUonFacebookand follow us onTwitter, Patrick Campion is the WEMUProgram Director. ", Chapman said when he was a teen, he asked Collins for dating advice. 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. Still, in interviews with detectives,Collins described meetingKalom, 21, of Portage, and taking her on a motorcycle-riding date just before she was slain. If you missed part one, stop reading right now and go to part one here. [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. (FOX 2) - By July 23, 1969, panic is in the hot, muggy, southeast Michigan air. He was held without bond. 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. [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. August 1: Collins is arraigned on murder. 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. 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. "The town collectively went into shock," Fournier said. [82], The description of the young man with whom Beineman had last been seen alive was heard by a patrolman named Larry Mathewson, who believed the person described by Diana Goshe and others may be John Norman Collins: a former Theta Chi fraternity brother[85] of his who had previously been interviewed but eliminated from police inquiries,[86] and who he had himself seen riding his motorcycle around the Eastern Michigan University campus on the afternoon of July 23. 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. 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. They saw a clean-cut man sitting on a Triumph motorcycle and got a good look at him before he turned away. [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. Seems basic enough, but a lot of this could have been avoided (or just brought the killer behind bars faster) if these girls would have followed these basic precautions. New evidence in 2005 resulted in the conviction of Gary Earl Leiterman for one of the murders attributed to John Norman Collins, the murder of law student Karen Mixer. All-American boy John Norman Collins was . Collins ends the lettersayingit is the first time he had written down his account of events, and if "I had it to do all over again I'd probably take a different route. Although neither eyewitness was certain, both believed this student to be John Norman Collins: a student at Eastern Michigan University majoring in elementary education,[20] who lived directly across the street from Schell at 619 Emmet,[23] and whose physical features bore a likeness to the composite drawing police had generated of the driver of the vehicle Schell had entered. One of the men in the car Schell had entered was Collins' roommate, Arnold Davis, who later informed police the girl had indeed entered the car he had been driving, but that Collins had insisted he give Schell the lift she was seeking to Ann Arbor in his own car. 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. I have read all that is available on this story and feel this guy was wrongly convicted. 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. On Sunday, July 27, police arrived at the apartment on Emmet Street Collins shared with his roommate, Arnold Davis. He comes out and said 'take him back to jail.' 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. The first victim, Mary Fleszar was last seen being cut off by a guy in a shiny car just a block from Collins' room. Sherry and Mike (my bro and sis) went down to babysit some kids whose parents who'd rented the house afterwards, and actually saw the bloodstains!!! I walked over to see if he was playing a JOKE on me and had a dummy there to scare me. So sadmy twins are at EMU and they were home this weekend and asked me if I knew anything about the serial killer. [60] She was last seen walking home towards her apartment on Thompson Street, having attended a friend's party. [76] These hair clippings were predominantly blond, and as such did not belong to the victim, whose own hair color had been dark brown. ", "Pretty soon, John started crying," the former sheriff said. [107] Albrecht described this individual, whose surname she did not know, as being 5 ft 11 in tall, clean-cut, with dark brown hair and who had described himself as an Eastern Michigan University senior with aspirations to become a teacher. ", "The thing with my cousin, as much as I hate to say this, is, he is narcissistic," Chapman said. He was then sentenced to serve a term of life imprisonment with hard labor, in solitary confinement, at Southern Michigan Prison. Mary Terese Fleszar was last seen alive the evening of July 9, 1967. Investigators had long suspected John Norman Collins of killing young women and girls in the Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor areas in the late1960s. [105], On August 14, 1969, Collins attended a pretrial hearing at Ypsilanti District Court. Beineman, she said, went in the store,purchased a brown hairpiece, and left with Collins on his motorcycle. Sounds like a little youthful imagination!! "This source that I have says he saw Alice on the back of Collins' motorcycle, driving away," Fournier said. In the case of victims Mary Fleszar and Joan Schell, investigators were able to establish he had been a neighbor of both women,[94] and that at the time of Fleszar's disappearance, Collins had actually worked in an office at the Eastern Michigan University located directly opposite the hallway from the office where Fleszar had herself worked. Butback then, DNA profiling didn't exist, and authorities only proved Collins killed 18-year-old Karen Beineman. because it didn't happen as you would think it did,"Collins wrote to his cousin, setting him up for a lengthy explanation that revealed he had lied for years. Collins, now known as John Chapman, proclaims his innocence to this day. [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. In the few days he was in southern California, 17-year-old Roxie Phillips disappeared. John Norman Collins, who was dubbed the "Ypsilanti Ripper," continued his spree until his arrest in 1969, just seven days after killing Karen Sue Beineman. Location: Near an old farmhouse in a field in Superior Township, two miles north of Ypsilanti. "My parents never told me anything about the crimes.". He tries to give his cousin a glimpse of prison life. He also had a new story to tell them about Beineman. I never took her life. 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. 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. Bundshuh recalled during interviews with the Free Pressat his Adrian home. [96], The same day, Leik was advised by investigators of his nephew's suspect status, and the level of circumstantial evidence unfolding against him. 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. [56] She had also been raped, although the pathologist was unable to determine whether this act had occurred before or after death. [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. "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. That seems tocorrelatewith a memory Collins describes in his longletters. Four of these witnesses were employees of a motorcycle sales firm which Collins had visited on the afternoon of Beineman's disappearance. [40], Following the March 24 murder of Maralynn Skelton, police from the five separate jurisdictions where the murderer had abducted or disposed of the bodies of his victims formally combined resources in an effort to compare information and identify the perpetrator. It seemed,Schroeder said, as if Collins was describing what "he had done himself. CHAPTER 3: 'Handsome' EMU student was unlikely serial killer suspect. mean while looking for Iggys fun house. Sex Slayer Could be Anyone! Some know John Norman Collins, now 74 and serving a life sentence at Ionia Correctional Facility, as "the Ypsilanti Ripper," or "the Co-Ed Killer." Collins grew up in Michigan. And here's California - and they've got a better case than us, and they've got the death penalty," Sheriff Harvey said. Davis wrapped the gun in a blanket and tossed them both into a garbage bin. (Chapman holds. [16] In addition, her throat had been slashed, and her miniskirt then tied around her neck. [161] He had further informed his roommate he had agreed to drive Schell from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti the following day. The seven. Go back and read Part One here:Michigan Murders: 50 years ago, terror reigned in Ypsilanti, Continue reading Part Three here:Michigan Murders: Close calls, haunting roads - life after a suspected serial killer is arrested, This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Moreover, they added, theevidence from two Michigan victims had yetto be DNA-tested. But, again, there were marital problems, and the coupledivorced. 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. [125][110] He was tried in Ann Arbor, before Judge John Conlin. If police in Michigan were doubting Collins as their man, they got more evidence a few thousand miles away. Less than three hours later, Kolbe reported her roommate missing after failing to receive any contact. 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. 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. He remembered something from the day before. I remember the last victim was murdered just 3 BLOCKS from my house!!!! It didn't take a scientist to figure out what transpired. John Norman Collins, now known as John Norman Chapman, continues to maintain his innocence despite this evidence and having been convicted by a jury of his peers. Collins has been locked up for 50 years - but that doesn't erase the pain. [127], The prosecutors at Collins' trial, William Delhey and Booker Williams, opted to charge Collins only with the murder of Karen Sue Beineman, with the state contending that she had been murdered by Collins in the basement of the Leik household. Chapman said he and his cousin had been writing to each other since 1982 when Chapmanwas 10. Author Greg Fournier later wrote a book about the killings. The following day, following a consultation with opposing counsels, Judge John Conlin allowed Davis to testify as to having observed Collins hurriedly remove a laundry box containing women's clothing and jewelry from his apartment and place this box in the trunk of his car two days prior to his arrest. SoHarvey called the prosecutorand Collins' attorney. They wanted to see whether they could find aDNA match with other victims. He once told a girl that he had strangled a cat with a clothesline. 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. They were all shot, strangled, stabbed or subjected to terrible acts. She worked across the hall from where Collins had a student job," Fournier said. As he had explained this to Davis, Collins had been carrying a red handbag, which he claimed Schell had left in his car. [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. As such, he may have become acquainted with Basom throughout the time he frequented his girlfriend. Born in Windsor, Canada, Collins istheyoungest of three, with an older brother and sister,Jerryand Gail. Best wishes! (He said) 'take him back to jail.' It was a travesty of justice that took place in this courtroom. [68][81] In total, seven witnesses would be found who would later testify to having seen Collins in the area between the university campus and Mrs. Goshe's wig shop between 11a.m. and 1p.m. on July 23; including three young women who stated Collins had attempted to entice them onto his motorcycle.[95]. "I looked at her for a moment. Through interviewing acquaintances of Phillips, investigators established that she had been introduced to the individual she had referred to as "John from Michigan" through a 17-year-old friend named Nancy Ann Albrecht, who informed police she had herself become acquainted with Collins on June 29, and that she had mentioned her friend (Phillips) to Collins on this date. That same month, on the 26th, 16-year-old Maralynn Skelton was also found dead, beaten and bludgeoned extensively. Karen had left to walk to a wig shop in downtown Ypsilanti, yet she arrived on the back of a motorcycle. "[116][n 3], A formal indictment would later be served against Collins for the first-degree murder of Roxie Ann Phillips in April 1970, although the evidence surrounding this indictment was ordered to be sealed until after the trial of Collins for the murder of Karen Sue Beineman had concluded. 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. My name is C and I have been doing some research about the co ed killer. Has it been 40 years?!?
