Sunday, February 16, 2020

The Michigan Murders: The Ypsilanti Ripper (John Norman Collins) Part II




Investigation
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, Mrs. Diana Joan Goshe. Goshe recalled Beineman visiting her store to purchase a $20 headpiece in the early afternoon of July 23. 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.  Reportedly, Beineman herself insisted Mrs. Goshe observe the man with whom she had accepted a ride, stating that she had made two foolish errors in her life: purchasing a wig; and accepting a ride from a stranger, before stating: "I've got to be either the bravest or the dumbest girl alive, because I've just accepted a ride from this guy." Mrs. Goshe then observed Beineman climb onto the motorcycle before the young man with whom she had accepted the ride drove away.
Although Goshe would initially—and incorrectly—describe the motorcycle as being possibly a Honda 350 model, when police questioned Carol Wieczerca, a clerk in the store adjacent to the wig shop, Wieczerca was able to state that the model of the motorcycle was actually a Triumph.
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 Mrs. Goshe and others may be one John Norman Collins: a former fraternity member of his who had previously been interviewed but eliminated from police inquiries, and who he had himself seen riding his motorcycle around the Eastern Michigan University campus on the afternoon of July 23. When Mathewson questioned Collins on July 25 as to his movements two days earlier, he admitted that on the date in question he had been riding his Triumph Bonneville in the vicinity, and that he had stopped to converse with a former girlfriend of his while doing so (the point at which Mathewson had observed him). This former girlfriend was able to provide Mathewson with two recent photographs of Collins.  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.
Police had already established that Collins was a known motorcycle enthusiast who owned several motorcycles, including a blue Triumph Bonneville.  He held a part-time job as an inspector at a firm which manufactured drum brakes and was currently majoring in elementary education at Eastern Michigan University.  Prior to enrolling at Eastern Michigan University in the fall of 1966, he had been an honor student and football co-captain at his high school.
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 somebody—it's up to him to decide whether to take the other's life or not. The point is: It's not society's judgment that's important, but the individual's own choice of will and intellect.— Evaluation of individual will and moral restraints within society, written by Collins while enrolled at Eastern Michigan University.
Collins had established a reputation among his peers at Eastern Michigan University as a habitual thief who had once been evicted from a fraternity house for stealing from his roommates.  Despite casual acquaintances harking as to his politeness around women, close female acquaintances who had dated Collins described him as an aggressive, short-tempered, oversexed individual who had occasionally engaged in violence against women, including one instance in which he had raped a woman who resisted his advances.  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!" before angrily walking out of her apartment.
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; 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. The injuries described by Collins were consistent with those inflicted upon the victims who had not been disclosed to the news media and David Leik would inform investigators that he had not disclosed any information regarding the Michigan Murders to his nephew.
Investigators also ascertained Collins had either been acquainted with most of the victims, had currently or previously lived close to their place of residence, or had likely established possible prior contact prior to their murder. In the case of victims Mary Fleszar and Joan Schell, investigators were able to establish he had been a neighbor of both women, 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. 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. As such, he may have become acquainted with Basom throughout the time he frequented his girlfriend.
Suspect identification and questioning
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. In this lineup, Mrs. Goshe positively identified the man she had seen with Karen Sue Beineman as John Norman Collins.  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 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on July 23; including three young women who stated Collins had attempted to entice them onto his motorcycle.
On Sunday, July 27, police arrived at the apartment on Emmet Street Collins shared with his roommate, Arnold Davis. 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. The following evening, Davis observed Collins emerging from his bedroom carrying a box partially covered by a blanket. As Davis opened the door for his roommate to leave the apartment, he observed that the contents of this box included a purple woman's shoe, rolled-up jean-like material, and a burlap purse.  Later that evening, Collins informed Davis he had simply decided to "get rid of" the box and its contents.
Arrest
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 29—three days after the discovery of her body. Throughout their vacation, Collins had been temporarily residing in the Leik family's Ypsilanti home, having been granted sole access to the house in order that he could feed their German shepherd.  Upon their return from their vacation, Leik's wife, Sandra, had noted numerous paint marks covering the floor of the family basement, and that several items including a bottle of ammonia, some washing powder and a canister of black spray paint were missing from the household.
The same day, Leik was advised by investigators of his nephew's suspect status, and the level of circumstantial evidence unfolding against him. 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.
The basement of Sgt. Leik's home was subjected to an intense forensic examination. Although forensic experts would deduce later that morning that the stains covered by the black paint had actually been varnish stains, one of the investigators discovered numerous hair clippings—many measuring less than three-eighths of an inch—besides the family washing machine.  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. Moreover, this search had also uncovered small bloodstains in nine areas of the basement. Two of these bloodstains were discovered to be type A—the blood type of Karen Sue Beineman.
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 to determine whether they had sourced from the same individuals. Samples recovered from both locations would prove to be a precise match. Evidently, despite Collins' protestations of innocence and denials of even knowing Karen Sue Beineman, the girl had been in the basement of Collins' uncle at the time of, shortly before, or shortly after her murder.
Questioning of Leik's neighbors yielded additional circumstantial evidence: one neighbor, Marjorie Barnes, recalled having witnessed Collins leaving his uncle's home with a deluxe laundry detergent box prior to the Leik family returning from their vacation; another neighbor informed investigators she had heard the muffled screams of a young female emanating from the Leik household on the evening of Beineman's disappearance.
The same afternoon police searched the Leik family's basement, Collins was confronted with evidence thus far gained and deduced. Although Collins burst into tears when informed the stains on the floor covered with paint had been varnish, he quickly regained his composure and continued to deny any knowledge of Karen Sue Beineman. Later that day, having received initial laboratory reports indicating the hair samples recovered from Beineman's panties matched those discovered in Leik's basement, and that the bloodstains recovered from this location were of the same type as hers, Collins was arrested and his apartment and vehicles thoroughly searched.
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, 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.
Arraignment
On August 1, 1969, John Norman Collins was formally arraigned for the murder of Karen Sue Beineman. He was held without bond.   At a press conference relating to the arrest and charge of Collins in relation to the last of the Michigan Murders held on this date, Police Superintendent Frederick Davids revealed that Collins had been a suspect in the Beineman case from the very day she had disappeared, and that these suspicions had heightened following their forensic examination of David Leik's basement; furthermore, surveillance of Collins had been initiated on July 26, following the submission of a report compiled by Patrolman Larry Mathewson detailing the positive eyewitness identification he had obtained, and he had been formally arrested upon an open charge on the evening prior to his arraignment.
Link to additional murder
In early August, investigators were contacted by their counterparts in Salinas, California 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.
On August 3, two Washtenaw County detectives traveled to Salinas Police Department to review the information and determine whether a connection existed between Phillips' murder and those which Collins was suspected of committing in Michigan.  Reviewing information regarding the murder of Roxie Ann Phillips, investigators discovered that immediately prior to her disappearance, Phillips had informed a close friend that she had become acquainted with an Eastern Michigan University student named John, who drove a silver-grey Oldsmobile Cutlass and who was temporarily residing with a friend in a camper-trailer?
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,[95] 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.  Collins had later returned to Michigan alone in his vehicle; Manuel would later be located in Arizona following Collins' arrest.
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.  Albrecht described this individual, whose surname she did not know, as being 5 ft 11 in in height, clean-cut, with dark brown hair and who had described himself as an Eastern Michigan University senior with aspirations to become a teacher. Albrecht had provided Monterey County investigators with an identikit which, in addition to her descriptions of the suspect's possessions, circumstances, and status, bore a striking resemblance to John Norman Collins. She had made arrangements to meet Collins at her home on the evening of June 30, but Collins had never arrived.
Phillips' nude, the battered body had been found in a ravine in Carmel Highlands on July 13, with the belt belonging to her culotte dress knotted around her neck.  She had been strangled to death and, as with several Michigan victims linked to Collins, one earring was missing.  Several of Phillips' personal possessions would later be found strewn along State Route 68.
The house trailer in which Collins and Manuel had traveled to California was located on August 1 in Salinas County, behind the home of Andrew Manuel's grandfather. A forensic examination of this trailer revealed it had been completely wiped off fingerprints.  Upon questioning Manuel's grandfather, investigators were informed that his grandson and one John Collins had temporarily resided in the trailer—which they had hired from an Ypsilanti rental firm—between June and July, before both men had abandoned the trailer and (he believed) returned to Michigan.
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, and on August 5, this connection was formally announced.  An FBI arrest warrant was issued against Andrew Manuel, who was located in Phoenix on August 6 and detained by FBI agents. Manuel was extensively questioned as to his potential involvement in both Phillips' murder and those committed in Michigan which investigators had linked to Collins, and agreed to submit to a polygraph test.   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."
Michigan Murder victims
1. Mary Fleszar (19): July 9, 1967
2. Joan Schell (20): June 30, 1968
3. Maralynn Skelton (16): March 24, 1969
4. Dawn Basom (13): April 15, 1969
5. Alice Kalom (21): June 8, 1969
6. Roxie Ann Phillips (17): June 30, 1969 (California)
7. Karen Sue Beineman (18): July 23, 1969
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 Collins' trial for the murder of Karen Sue Beineman had concluded.
Pretrial hearings
On August 14, 1969, Collins attended a pretrial hearing at Ypsilanti District Court. After hearing six hours of testimony from nine prosecution witnesses, Judge Edward Deake ruled that probable cause had been established, and Collins was formally ordered to stand trial for Beineman's murder.
At a second hearing in September, Collins refused to enter a plea; Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge John Conlin ordered a plea of not guilty entered on his behalf.  At this hearing, Collins' court-appointed attorney, Richard Ryan, challenged the validity of the physical evidence and the credibility of the circumstantial evidence before formally requesting the case against his client be dismissed and the evidence seized from his rooming house and vehicle suppressed upon the grounds Collins had not consented to a police search of his property. Ryan further stated at this hearing he was "undecided" as to whether the upcoming trial be held away from the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti district due to pretrial publicity, and this final motion was held in abeyance until an impartial jury could be selected.
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.
Independent polygraph test
In November, Ryan, in an effort to determine the most effective defense strategy, persuaded Collins to undergo a private and independent polygraph test. Prosecutor William F. Delhey agreed to a proviso that the test be conducted off the record and its results remain confidential.  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. Mrs. Collins, incensed at the implication, immediately dismissed Ryan from the case.
In January 1970, Neil Fink and Joseph Louisell, partners at one of Detroit's highest-priced law firms, agreed to take over Collins' defense.  Mrs. Collins reportedly remortgaged her home to secure their services.  Judge Conlin set a trial date of June 1.

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