News articles described John Collinsas a square-jawed,"handsomeAll-American who seemed to be leading a textbook college career." Five different police agencies frantically searched for Karen Sue Beinemanon July 23, 1969. Although never tried for the murders of Fleszar, Schell, Skelton, Basom, Kalom or Phillips, physical and circumstantial evidence exists in each case indicating that Collins had indeed committed these murders. 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. 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. He spilleda drink on the seat, reached for something to clean it up and grabbed a cloth wrapped around the .22 caliber pistol that "we had been shooting the day before. He told me that he tried to get her into his car, BUTT, he couldn't because of the dog barking in the driveway. 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. And when twonow-retired Michigan State Police detectives questioned Collins face-to-face, his denials began to unravel. 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. 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. 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. They had set up a task force at an old seminary. When Davis returned home, he told Collins he went to a partyandhad an accident in his car. The mail lady did a "double-take", every time she put their mail in! Her body would be discovered two days later near an abandoned farmhouse on North Territorial Road. She came up missing on July 23, 1969, and was discovered a few days later, strangled and beaten to death. Despite the advanced state of decomposition, the pathologist was also able to locate multiple lineal abrasions upon the victim's chest and torso,[10] indicating that Fleszar had been extensively beaten before her death. We have been known to play those kinds of PRANKS on each other in the Fraternity.". [161] He had further informed his roommate he had agreed to drive Schell from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti the following day. In an email to the Free Press sent this week, Collins maintainshe is innocent. 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. 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. 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. 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. "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. She was never seen alive again. [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. [133] In addition, Mrs. Sandra Leik testified to Collins being given a key to the family home in order that he could feed the family's German shepherd. He says he wasn't allowed to keepPolaroid photos of his late mother. Corporal David Leik had just returned from vacation when he noticed things were amiss in the basement. He was known to engage in sexual violence, including one instance in which he had raped a woman who had resisted his advances. Eric Schroeder, 54, said inextensive interviews with the Free Press. I understand they still have DNA, perhaps if the local press would get off this guys back and allow fairness to take place you might find out the culprit was someone else. I don't think there was ever a farmhouse or barn in the area you referenced. Thetyped,single-spaced letters Collins wrote to his cousin are sprinkled with words in all caps, perhaps for emphasis, andidiosyncratically misspelled words. The killer had taken too big of a risk with Beineman however. Collins "was arrested based on a tip provided by his uncle" (Ejk), who was a Michigan State Trooper. About three weeks later Dawn Basom, just 13, was found dead after disappearing the previous evening. Collins' grip of terror on our community ended officially on August 19, 1970, when he was found guilty of first-degree murder. All had been killed and then dumped on back roads. Collins rejected any association with the slaying of the 13-year-old, just like in his police interviews. This individual had asked for permission to take a photograph of the body as it lay in the coffin as a keepsake for her parents. She chose the car. The first known victim linked to the Michigan Murderer was a 19-year-old Eastern Michigan University accounting student named Mary Terese Fleszar,[8] who was last seen alive on the evening of July 9, 1967, by a neighbor walking towards her Ypsilanti apartment. 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 His mother worked as a waitress and told John and his siblings that their father had abandoned them. I was in prison for seven years. [114] No hard evidence would ever arise suggesting his involvement in any murders, and the Washtenaw County prosecutor's office would publicly announce on December 18 their satisfaction that Manuel had "no knowledge of the murders. Not something a mom wants to think about.". [66], Despite recovering numerous stolen items from his apartment and being informed by Arnold Davis that Collins had been in the habit of committing burglaries with a former roommate of theirs named Andrew Manuel,[100] no incriminating evidence linking Collins to Beineman or any victim of the Michigan Murders was discovered, although officers were informed by Arnold Davis on this date of the incident two days earlier in which he (Davis) had observed Collins carrying a laundry box containing women's clothing and jewelry from his apartment and towards his car. 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. Collins claimed he never killed anyone and he even agreed to take a polygraph test. He shares the nickname The Co-Ed Killer with murderer Edmund Kemper. In fact, the motorcycle he picked up Karen on was cobbled together stolen parts. Collins was arrested, tried, and convicted to a life sentence for Beinemans murder. ", "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? This summer, as Bundshuh prepared to retire, he gathered the more-than-50-year-old files that he had become familiar with so he could ship them to the Michigan State Police headquarters in Dimondale so the state candigitize them. Moreover, if Collins believes he was wrongly accused, he can request a review. He adds:"Now I hope that you will simply leave me alone.". At that point, Karen was only missing. By July 24, every cop in Washtenaw County was issued a Be On the Lookout (BOLO) for the bike and biker. All Rights Reserved. This is the only murder for which Collins would ever stand trial. Collins then offers a similar account, but in more detail, that he gave the detectives. Her body was found two days later in a field. In response to questions as to her personal character, Goshe further conceded she had previously lied under oath on two occasions (one instance of which was unrelated to the trial). 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. [16] In addition, her throat had been slashed, and her miniskirt then tied around her neck. But as Leik walked into the basement, he found a mess of the hair and there was blood on the basement floor. That seems tocorrelatewith a memory Collins describes in his longletters. The 619 Emmet house is actually a sorority house, not a fraternity house. [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! Formal sentencing was scheduled for 8:30a.m. August 28. [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. The assistant DA was a friend of my Dad's! Goshe then observed Beineman climb onto the motorcycle before the young man with whom she had accepted the ride drove away. John Collins, by most accounts,grew up to bea good student and a great athlete. She worked alongside Witsil and Maxwell interviewing key figures into the investigation of the Michigan Murders cold case to produce a documentary video and portraits. After his Michigan arrest, the car he drove to California was impounded where they found some important evidence for the California murder. The man who put the cuffs on JNC!!!). 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. Copyright 11826 Caminito Rihely. 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. Melanie Maxwell has been a picture editor at the Free Press since 2018. ". The discovery of several dried bloodstains and two buttons missing from the victim's raincoat at a Northfield Township commercial gravel pit on June 10 indicated the victim had been murdered at this location. Collins says he vomited in the laundry tub. The detectives said they tracked Davis to New York but were never able to interviewhim. "He said he kept trying and she said she was going to call the police and he SNAPPED and choked her. ", After 10 p.m., he claims an upset-looking Davis said he "needed to talk to me.". 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. John Norman Collins, aka the Coed Killer,was convicted of one murder in the series of seven linked murders that occurred between 1967-1969 in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area, involving young women from two college campuses. University of Michigan graduate Alice Kalom was next, found in a field with her throat cut, stab wounds, and a gunshot to the head. "Was he still going to deny everything?". The rented trailer in which Collins and Manuel had traveled to California was located on August 1 in Monterey County, behind the home of Andrew Manuel's grandfather. Butback then, Harvey, 88, saidthere was no DNA profiling and just not enough clues for charges. All-American boy John Norman Collins was arrested, tried, and convicted of the strangulation . Roxie Ann Phillips (17): June 30, 1969 (California), 7. [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. In college, he drank beer, joined Theta Chifraternity and dated often. 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. The Michigan Murders was a series of highly publicized killings of young women committed between 1967 and 1969 in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area of Southeastern Michigan by an individual known as the Ypsilanti Ripper, the Michigan Murderer, and the Co-Ed Killer. He once told a girl that he had strangled a cat with a clothesline. 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. Until he was an adult, Chapman said, hedidn't know the full extent of the accusations against Collins. [137] On this date, Collins was formally sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. 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]. So ur saying the women that live there cried a lot because of what happened there previously?? John Norman Collins (John Norman Chapman) an American serial killer who is a suspect in The Michigan Murders, a series of highly publicized killings of young women committed between 1967 and 1969. The forensic experts who had testified on behalf of the prosecution, Dr. Jervis stated, had therefore based their conclusions on "insufficient data". Did I turn you on to the book Michigan Murders that had a bunch of stuff on John Norman Collins? John Norman Collins, 22, of Center Line Collins, a 22-year-old Eastern Michigan University student, never fit anyone's image of a killer. [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]. ", Collins introducedBeineman and Davis and offeredBeineman the option of riding home on his bike with him or going in the car with Davis. The evidence that sealed Collins' fate came from a home owned by a Michigan State Trooper. The email, detectives said, is characteristic of Collins, full of denials and rationalizations. It didn't take a scientist to figure out what transpired. 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. 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. After Kalom's body was found, Collins writes, Davis"admitted to killing her.". It is Alpha Xi Delta, I am a member and will be living in the house next year. 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. Later, Arnie Davis, Collins' roommate, showed up. 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 . John Norman Collins is a suspect connected to seven young women's vicious and heinous murders. They wanted to see whether they could find aDNA match with other victims. While DNA matched in Kalom's case, no DNA was found on evidence connected to Basom of Ypsilanti or Fleszar, 19, of Willis. In part three of our special series, we'll meet the women who had close calls with the killer, including one woman who says he's still luring women into his clutches today, from his prison cell. The tiny hairs in Karen's underwear were a fit to the hairs in the basement. 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. Norman Collins (1967-1969) aka "The Michigan Murderer" was a 30-year old resident of Ypsilanti, Michigan, and he killed 7 female students at Eastern Michigan University using a variety of methods -- guns, knives, blunt instruments, strangulation. Fournier said Collins'cousin, John Chapman, gave him the letters, but he decided against including them inhis 2016 book. Collins last victim was 18-year-old Karen Sue Beineman, another EMU student. Randy, bloodstains.c'mon! Had this violation of the county prosecutor's order not taken place, Collins may not have realized how seriously he was considered a suspect at that stage, and thus may not have disposed of the physical evidence which would have assisted in linking him to other killings linked to the Michigan Murders. "We were trying to figure out not just on the Kalom casebut all the cases was, was he to the point he wanted to talk?" He added that he "likedhim and thought well of him," but heard "he was having some HEALTH ISSUES" and asked, "if you ever come in contact with him again kindly tell him that I wish him nothing BUTT Good Health the rest of his retired years.". Leik acknowledged that the evidence thus far gathered against his nephew was compelling, although in this first interview, he did not advise officers of the items missing from his household, or the paint marks he and his wife had found upon the floor of the family basement; however, the following morning, Leik scraped away some of the black paint which had been sprayed in his basement to reveal a stain which looked ominously like human blood and immediately returned to the police station to report his findings. 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. Social work, she wrote in her application, would help her better understand social relationships. Pretty weird at the time how close they came to catching him at different times. Nonetheless, the three appellate judges at this appeal hearing concluded thus: "In our view, improperly admitted testimony that is merely corroborative of properly admitted evidence is not the basis for holding the error reversible. Shemarried William Collins. Several of these wounds had punctured her lungs, liver and carotid artery, with one additional wound inflicted behind her left ear fracturing her skull. That car matched a car registered to his mother. [91] Some acquaintances noted Collins' politeness around women, while others described him as lascivious and bad-tempered. Found: August 7, 1967. The perpetrator, John Norman Chapman (then known as John Norman Collins) was arrested one week after the final murder. [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. 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.". Then we googled the address and the Michigan Murders popped up. Triad Animal torture Yes. "He likes to have control over what is happening.". [120] Three weeks after the examination, at a meeting with the family in Judge Conlin's chambers, Ryan summarized its tentative conclusions and suggested a "diminished capacity" plea for an insanity defense. [157], The state of California postponed their requests to extradite Collins to face charges relating to Phillips' murder in June 1971. [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. The detectives made special arrangementsto allow Collins to keep one of the pictures with him in prison. . In an effort to discredit Goshe's testimony, Fink diverted questioning as to the model of motorcycle she had seen outside her shop, to which Goshe conceded her initial belief as to the model being a Honda 350 was inaccurate. [56] She had also been raped, although the pathologist was unable to determine whether this act had occurred before or after death. The following day, Washtenaw County Sheriff Douglas Harvey testified as to the discovery of Beineman's body, her subsequent autopsy, and his obtaining an updated composite drawing of the suspect with whom Beineman had last been seen alive from Mrs. Joan Goshe and her assistant, Patricia Spaulding. Collins, now known as John Chapman, proclaims his innocence to this day. Her body was later found with multiple stab wounds, and more grotesquely, no hands or feet on August 7. Butback then, DNA profiling didn't exist, and authorities only proved Collins killed 18-year-old Karen Beineman. He lifted weights and I didn't," Larry said. [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]. Secondary full A 3 Bedroom, 2.5 Bathroom, 2 story condo in a highly sought community RIVERVIEW Courts. 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. Ha. [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]. Frank Witsil is a staff writer at the Detroit Free Press. I had no idea that a murderer lived there!-C. The event took place quietly this fall, after editors searched for the right cover art and writers for the new prologue and epilogue. SoHarvey called the prosecutorand Collins' attorney. Bundshuh recalled during interviews with the Free Pressat his Adrian home. Collins and Schell had alighted from Davis's car together, and he (Davis) had not seen his roommate for almost three hours before Collins had returned to their apartment, alone, referring to Schell as a "bitch" and claiming he had "dropped her [Schell] off" in Ann Arbor after being unable to obtain the sexual encounter he had hoped to achieve with her. The driver had been aged around 20 and clean-cut with short, dark, side-parted hair. She also hintedhe had another side: Collins was moody and seemed "mad most of the time.". he was in the same building as me interesting is now because I just moved to ypsi and live four blocks from where he did. The circumstantial evidence linking Collins to Schell's abduction and murder was stronger than that of any other Michigan victim linked to him, and police would formally announce this fact within days of his arrest. ", In 30 years of letters, Chapman said, Collins exhibited a domineering personality, expressed misogynistic views, and seemed to have "underlying anger toward his mother. Almost all of them had been raped and mutilated, as Washtenaw County Sheriff Doug Harvey explains. 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. During the trial, Collins sat more relaxed than before: He smiled at attorneys, his mother, and his family. He's believed to be the last person to see the first victim alive. Then-Gov. bathroom tub shower and dual sink vanity all heated by Tankless water heater! As for the youngest victim, 13-year-old Dawn Basom, he was connected to her too: he had friends that lived in the apartment building near Dawn's home. I lived on Leforge at the time and know the area well. 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. Chapman's theory: Collins wasunhappy with his mother's marriage choices, blamed her for taking him away from his father, and took out his hatred for his mom on women like her: attractive, brunette, smart, independent and who rejected him. [41] By early April, each of these law enforcement agencies had collectively assigned 20 investigators to work exclusively upon the four homicides. Initially, police took him at his word, and did not seek to verify his alibi. [42], Little physical evidence existed beyond eyewitness descriptions and forensic reports. [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. 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. 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. 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. Davis "told me that 'SOMETHING' happened at my uncle's house and that I needed to see it. Handsome and clean-cut, he graduated from a. Arnold Davis also informed police Collins had been in the company of victim Alice Kalom on the evening of her disappearance. John Collins grew up in Center Line, north of Detroit. [137], Five independent witnesses were called to testify on behalf of the defense as to Collins' whereabouts on the dates Karen Sue Beineman had disappeared and her body had been found. Two people saw Roxie get in the car. John Norman Collins's age is 75. [58], The victim was identified the following day[59] as a 21-year-old University of Michigan graduate student named Alice Elizabeth Kalom, who had disappeared shortly after midnight on the morning of June 8. [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.
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