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. News articles described John Collinsas a square-jawed,"handsomeAll-American who seemed to be leading a textbook college career." He remembered something from the day before. 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. On July 23, 1969, she was last seen alive at a wig shop in downtown Ypsilanti. One neighbor, Dr. Marjorie Barnes, saw Collins leaving State Police Sergeant David Leiks home. Fournier deniedCollins' accusations, noting that the Free Press asked him for the letters. 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. [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]. In the case of Joan Elspeth Schell, two separate witness accounts had placed the victim both entering a car with three men on the night of her disappearance, and walking alone in the company of a man believed to be John Collins later that evening. He's believed to be the last person to see the first victim alive. [130], Three days after both counsels had begun introducing witnesses, Joan Goshe was called to testify on behalf of the prosecution. 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. You want to get him to talk.". [114] An FBI arrest warrant was issued against Andrew Manuel, who was located in Phoenix on August 6[115] and detained by FBI agents. 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. They were all shot, strangled, stabbed or subjected to terrible acts. Upon tracing Collins' movements in relation to the dates of the disappearance and murder of the seven murder victims linked to the Michigan Murderer (which then included Jane Mixer), police discovered that, on June 21,[105] Collins and his roommate, Andrew Manuel, had traveled to Monterey in Collins' Oldsmobile Cutlass, which the pair used to tow a camper-trailer they had rented under false names, and had paid for with a stolen check, for the vacation. Muddy Waters, coach at Hillsdale, would take us (freshman) there to make us tough JNC was a little sh*t, smart alec and cocky wore a stocking cap under his helmet played middle linebacker and would cuss at and spit upon the offensive line men (ME) anyway, thanks for the memory, albeit sad. I had no idea that a murderer lived there!-C. Her murderer had likely driven to the location to dispose of her body, before making rudimentary efforts to conceal the body with clumps of grass. 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. He once told a girl that he had strangled a cat with a clothesline. Less than two months later, 21-year old Michigan graduate student disappeared shortly after midnight walking home from a friends party on Thompson Street. [12] Kolbe later informed investigators that Schell had informed her of her intentions to hitchhike when it became apparent she had missed the last bus, and that one of the first vehicles to pass when Schell had begun hitchhiking was a red-and-black Pontiac Bonneville containing three young white men. July 31: John Norman Collins is placed under arrest for Beineman's murder. Victims like Mary Terese Fleszar, a 19-year-old EMU accounting major and Joan Elspetch Schell, a 20-year-old art student.Collins was a student at EMU majoring in elementary education. [144] The jury then retired to consider their verdict, and would deliberate for over 27 hours over a period of three days, with an additional five-and-a-half hours devoted to their re-reading portions of testimony, before announcing they had reached their verdict. Although earlier attempts to enforce news blackouts as to the discovery of Basom and Kalom had proven unsuccessful,[60] on this occasion, police successfully ordered a news blackout relating to the discovery of this latest victim. On July 11, 2005, a 62-year-old former nurse named Gary Earl Leiterman was charged with the murder of Jane Mixer, Chapman is currently serving his life sentence at the, This page was last edited on 2 January 2023, at 01:56. And to your new HOME! 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. From his second floor window he would have been able to see the very women he chose as some of his victims. "He starts shaking.". [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). And,Schroeder said, when they mentioned Dawn Basom, the 13-year-old victim killed in 1969,it touched a nerve. Fournier, who offered the letters to the Free Press,speculated that Collins blamed Davis as revenge for testifying against him at trial. I walked over to see if he was playing a JOKE on me and had a dummy there to scare me. The prosecution was therefore limited to questioning Davis with regards to whether the contents of this box included women's clothing and jewelry, without specifically describing any particular item. They had set up a task force at an old seminary. 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. 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. Moreover, they added, theevidence from two Michigan victims had yetto be DNA-tested. 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. Collins addsFournier's scheme prompted him to think: "TWO can play this 'GAME!' [119], In November, Ryan, in an effort to determine the most effective defense strategy, persuaded Collins to undergo a private and independent polygraph test. About 20 minutes later, Harvey said, Collins'attorney arrived and consulted with his client, who, by then, had time to calm down andregain his composure. A veteran Detroit journalist, she joined the Free Press in 2012. 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. [n 4], The defense contended that although the murder of Beineman was a "vicious, sadistic attack" which had degraded her body "almost beyond human comprehension,"[102] the prosecution's case that Collins was the perpetrator of the crime was a weak one at best. 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. Evaluation of individual will and moral restraints within society, written by Collins while enrolled at Eastern Michigan University. 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. Disappeard: July 18, 1967. 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). [121][122], In January 1970, Neil Fink and Joseph Louisell, partners at one of Detroit's highest-priced law firms, agreed to take over Collins' defense. Thank you for spending the time and effort to upload your videos and photos. Collins went to trial and on August 19, 1970, was found guilty and sent to prison for life with hard labor.John Norma will mark his 40 th year of incarceration in 2010. Collins' attorneys also alleged these alibi witnesses had been subjected to police harassment, that the tests conducted upon the hair samples found upon Beineman's panties were unreliable, and that Collins' uncle, Sgt. When informed his request was impossible,[3] the young man had replied: "You mean you can't fix her up enough so I could just get one picture of her? 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. She also hintedhe had another side: Collins was moody and seemed "mad most of the time.". An autopsy revealed Mixer had been shot twice in the head with a .22-caliber pistol, then garroted with a nylon stocking which, the pathologist noted, had not belonged to her. Beineman's body was replaced with that of a tailor's mannequin, and the gully surrounding this mannequin monitored by undercover officers. 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. [88], Evidence of culpability in remaining cases. Her birthday was on Christmas, and she sought toget into U-M's graduate school for social work. After his Michigan arrest, the car he drove to California was impounded where they found some important evidence for the California murder. I was there and you didn't get me!". [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. His mother attended every single day of the trial. She came up missing on July 23, 1969, and was discovered a few days later, strangled and beaten to death. [43] These factors led police to publicly conclude the same perpetrator was responsible for at least three of the murders thus far committed. This is the only murder for which Collins would ever stand trial. 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. 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. He planned to become a teacher. The family took his surname. Location: Near an old farmhouse in a field in Superior Township, two miles north of Ypsilanti. It's one thing,Chapman said, Collins can take with him to the grave. I wasn't until our LAST VISIT together that I told her the WHOLE STORY. In the few days he was in southern California, 17-year-old Roxie Phillips disappeared. "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". Butin 2005, when DNA and other evidenceconvicted Gary Leitermanof killing 23-year-old Jane Mixer, itcleared Collins of suspicion in that case. Moreover, this search had also uncovered small bloodstains in nine areas of the basement. Larry was still a senior in college and, though he may not have known his name, he recognized his face. Collins ends his email, with a request: "You can say whatever you want about me" butleave "my Dear Mother" out. [146] He remained impassive upon hearing the jury foreman announce the verdict, although many spectators gasped audibly,[102] and his mother and sister left the courtroom in tears. My friend, in the wig shop, told Karen to NOT go on the motorcycle with this guy..because he had just tried to pick my friend up for a ride. "What you have to remember is he had denied everything about this,knowing her before that.". So sadmy twins are at EMU and they were home this weekend and asked me if I knew anything about the serial killer. [125][110] He was tried in Ann Arbor, before Judge John Conlin. He has ordered to life without parole in prison. As we now know, police make mega mistakes and prosecutors have major egos and will NEVER EVER admit to being wrong. [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. [166] In addition, prior to his returning to Michigan, Collins is known to have visited a California hospital to receive treatment for poison oak anaphylaxis.[166]. " Collins writes he figured Davis just"made a mess" at the house. [151] This first appeal was formally rejected on October 24, 1972. The first letter, dated Oct. 22, Collins says he has much to reveal and doesn't "know where to begin." As such, he may have become acquainted with Basom throughout the time he frequented his girlfriend. Jim Bundshuh the 53-year-old detective whosename rhymes with gumshoe andgoes by the nickname Bunny because it's easier to remember said heinterviewedCollinsthree times. 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. One eyewitness reported seeing the girl minutes thereafter, at approximately 7:35, although her movements thereafter were never verified. Reading this book should be required for all college students, especially females. [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. When the killer had not been found in two years, the public outcry was became intense. [76] These hair clippings were predominantly blond, and as such did not belong to the victim, whose own hair color had been dark brown. [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]. [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. [19], Kolbe later stated she had attempted to dissuade Schell from entering this vehicle, but that Schell had opted to accept the driver's offer, promising to call her roommate to assure her of her safety once she reached her boyfriend's Ann Arbor residence. Yet, investigators added, as Collins and any other potential suspects age, the window of time is closing on whether the casescan be prosecuted tobring justice and resolution for the victims and their families. 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]. "And nobody wanted to say anything to anybody because it was very obvious by that time that there was a serial killer working this area.". Dual sink vanity in main bathroom, with walk-in shower and tub. [137] On this date, Collins was formally sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. 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. Frank Witsil is a staff writer at the Detroit Free Press. I knew he was guilty as sin,' " Harveyrecalled thinking when he read Collins' own words. Fournier said Collins'cousin, John Chapman, gave him the letters, but he decided against including them inhis 2016 book. 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. "I may be off on the day/time etc. In 1967, John Norman Collins lived in a rental about one block south of EMU's campus. Thatseemed to make Collins happy. [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.