Child porn suspect found dead at home

2-21-17 Michigan:

Arrested last week, Fenton Township man on sex offender registry faced federal charges

A Fenton Township man arrested last week for allegedly having hundreds of child pornography images on his work computer was found dead at his home Monday afternoon.

According to 911 dispatch, emergency responders were sent to Steven Dale Brown’s home at 1:45 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 20. Responders were advised that a 60-year-old male in the garage was in full arrest, possible suicide.

Brown, 60, of Fenton Township was arrested last week and charged in federal court on child pornography charges. His arrest came, according to court records, after a federal search warrant was executed at the home during the early morning hours of Thursday, Feb. 16.

Clare County Jail inmate found dead

1-22-17 Michigan:

State police from the Mt. Pleasant post are investigating the death of a Clare County Jail inmate.

John Engel, 54, of Harrison was found dead in his cell by deputies and corrections staff at roughly 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Clare County Undersheriff Dwayne Miedzianowski said.

It appears Engel committed suicide, the undersheriff said.

Deputies contacted state police and turned the investigation over, Miedzianowski said.

Engel was in jail awaiting transfer to the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center at the state prison in Jackson, where male prisoners are taken before being placed.

State must do more to prevent prison suicides

All suicides mentioned occurred in DECEMBER a bad time for inmates.

1-6-2009 Michigan:

A new administrator charged with improving Michigan's dysfunctional prison health care system has a lot on her plate in 2009, but looking into prison suicides must become an immediate priority.

Three state prisoners committed suicide within one week during late December -- as many as committed suicide in all of 2007. The Michigan Department of Corrections must ensure that prison staff are trained to spot signs of dangerous depression and know when to make appropriate referrals to mental health professionals. Ensuring such training and competence falls squarely on the department's health care quality assurance administrator -- a new position that reports directly to MDOC Director Patricia Caruso.

An estimated one in four of Michigan's nearly 50,000 inmates is mentally ill, increasing the risks of suicide. Those risks naturally increase during periods of stress, including the holidays, parole denials, initial incarceration, or following a return to prison.

Suspect in teenage girl's shooting takes own life in Detroit casino hotel parking garage

1-10-2014 Michigan:

DETROIT — Authorities say a man (Lance Cottrell) who killed himself in a downtown Detroit casino and hotel parking garage was suspected in the earlier shooting of a 13-year-old girl and was being investigated in the reported sexual assault of her 15-year-old sister.

Eastpointe police say the man wounded the younger girl in the leg about 7 a.m. Friday in the community just north of Detroit.

The body of the 32-year-old Waterford Township resident was found later Friday morning atop the elevator control room of the Greektown Casino garage.

Detroit police officer Adam Madera said it appeared the man fell from the 13th floor of the parking structure after shooting himself.

Police in Oakland County's Waterford Township had been investigating the man in the reported sexual assault of a girl he met online. ..Source.. by The Republic.com

Lenawee County Jail inmate died of slashing wounds

11-18-2013 Michigan:

Self-inflicted slashing wounds are the cause of the Nov. 13 death of a Lenawee County Jail inmate, according to a news release issued late Friday by Sheriff Jack Welsh.

A sheriff’s department investigation of the death of Daniel Terry Pitts is ongoing, Welsh stated, but the cause of the 34-year-old Clinton man’s death has been established.

Corrections staff discovered Pitts in the act of harming himself at 12:10 a.m., according the news release.

“He had to be restrained and disarmed by jail staff. He was immediately treated by jail staff and jail medical staff until EMS arrived and took over,” the release stated. Pitts was transported to ProMedica Bixby Hospital where attempts to resuscitate him failed.

“Mr. Pitts was not found dead in his cell,” Welsh stated in the news release. Foul play is not suspected.

Pitts had been in jail since his arrest on Jan. 4 on multiple charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for alleged abuse of a girl in Clinton. He had been scheduled for trial in January. ..Source.. by Daily Telegram staff

Child pornography investigation continues after suspect shoots self

8-22-2013 Michigan:

WAYLAND, Michigan - A child pornography investigation turned deadly Thursday, after State Police say the suspect turned a gun on himself. Newschannel 3 broke the investigation Thursday night at 5:00. State Police say they found pictures of children on 49-year-old Tom Brown's cellphone, but were just beginning their investigation.

They say they interviewed Brown at the Hastings detatchment on Wednesday, then went to follow up at his home in Nashville Thursday morning. Shortly after they arrived, they heard a gunshot. "There was a vehicle in an attached pole barn and when they got out, they heard a shot in the pole barn," MSP Wayland Post Commander First Lieutenant Tom Draves said of Thursday morning's situation.

State Police say they found Tom Brown with a gunshot wound to the head in the pole barn outside his Nashville home. "The troopers tried to do first aid, they provided it until the ambulance got there, but he succumbed to his injuries," Lt. Draves said. They believe Brown was planning suicide after discovering a hose in the exhaust pipe of the car at the scene. State Police launched the investigation on Monday, and spoke to Brown on Wednesday.

"They did an initial scan of the cellphone and found what appeared to be child pornography," Lt. Draves said. They say it's too soon to tell whether Brown took the photos himself or if he simply downloaded them. Loved ones are shocked at the news, saying Brown, a father of five, was the first to help in a time of need, and describing him as 'funny,' and 'a family man.'

State Police will continue the investigation. They've also taken Brown's laptop to see if there are images there as well. Newschannel 3 ran Brown's criminal history Thursday afternoon. Michigan State Police records did not come up with any matches for anything on him. ..Source.. by WWMT.com

Death of Eaton Rapids woman charged with sexual assault still under investigation

10-23-2012 Michigan:

An Eaton Rapids woman charged with sexually assaulting two boys at an Ingham County home for children had met with her attorney the same day she died unexpectedly.

Attorney Larry Nolan said he met with 44-year-old Misty Botke on Saturday afternoon, and she seemed to be fine. She died sometime Saturday night.

“My understanding is that they have not assigned a cause of death,” Nolan said. “Until those reports come back, I can’t tell you if she had a heart attack or any other thing.”

Eaton Rapids Police Chief Paul Malewski said today no final determination has been made about how or why Botke died.

Television news reports initially said police believed Botke’s death was a suicide. But those reports did not cite sources.

In an email today, Malewski said it would be “inappropriate” to comment on the manner and cause of death until the county’s medical examiner has made a determination. Eaton County contracts with Sparrow Health System's forensic pathology department for medical examiner services.

An autopsy has been performed and Malewski said that toxicology tests are pending. Those tests can take several weeks to be completed.

Botke was charged Oct. 16 with seven counts of criminal sexual conduct in Ingham County. Officials said she assaulted two boys over an eight-year period while working at the VFW National Home for Children in Onondaga Township. They were between the ages of 12 and 18, officials said. Botke was released last week on a $15,000 bond. ..Source.. by Kevin Grasha

Home News Former professor kills himself after arrest for sexual abuse

5-14-2012 Michigan:

A Chico State professor emeritus died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Friday after being arrested on suspicion of sexual abuse of a minor two days before.

Robert Britton, 73, shot himself in the head with a .38 caliber handgun in an orchard near Meridian Road after being released from jail on bond, said Lt. Allen Smith of the Butte County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office. Police found his body some distance away from his car with the gun and a suicide note at 3 p.m. Friday.

Britton had been arrested at about 10 a.m. Wednesday, following an interview with police, Chico Police Sgt. Scott Franssen said. Britton was released on bonds Wednesday night.

Franssen declined to comment on other facts surrounding the arrest out of concern for the suspected victim’s privacy.

Britton, a former computer science professor, taught at Chico State until 2008 as a part-time professor in the school’s faculty early retirement program, said Joe Wills, director of public affairs and publications. Wills declined to comment on the allegations against Britton.

Mike Ward, the dean of the College of Engineering, Computer Science and Construction Management didn’t know Britton well during his time at Chico State, he said. Ward only saw Britton occasionally but was upset at the news of his arrest.

“It’s a sad, sad state of affairs,” he said. ..Source.. by The Orion

Cops: Slain teen was to testify against man found dead with her

Posted in Related Deaths

10-29-2010 Michigan:

He had been charged with sexual assault against her

Taylor Manley was found in a minivan with Raymond Bush, 38. The teen was supposed to testify against him Wednesday morning in trial for allegedly sexually assaulting her, but she disappeared before that happened, police and prosecutors say.

Bush died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Taylor's father told the Free Press earlier he believes his daughter wouldn’t have committed suicide. She was afraid of Bush, he said.

Robert Manley said Bush had threatened her against testifying.

Benton Harbor cop charged with sexual assault

1-12-2012 Michigan:

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. - A former Benton Harbor police officer was arrested today and is now facing prison time if convicted of sexual assault allegations.

42-year-old Jared Graves, a 14-year veteran employee of the Benton Harbor Department of Public Safety was arrested at his home today by Michigan State Police.

Graves mostly sat in silence Thursday afternoon over a video transmission from the jail while the judge read off charges. Graves faces felonies: two for criminal sexual conduct, one for misconduct in office and another for delivery of marijuana.

According to charging documents, on October 5th, Graves investigated a reported smell of marijuana at the Harbor Towers apartment complex right across the street from the police station. Graves took the weed from a 24-year-old woman but never busted her.

According to the complaint, two days later he called the woman to the department, took her in a storage room and threatened to arrest her if she didn’t perform sexual acts on him. He gave the drugs back when it was over.

On November 15th Graves called the victim to back to the department and said he could still charge her with marijuana possession if she didn’t have sex with him.
Roger Lange, Director of Public Safety, said he reacted with “disappointment and disgust” when he learned about the allegations. Lange says within hours the department started an internal investigation into Graves.

Lange said video surveillance of the building confirmed the allegations. “These cameras came in very useful in obtaining evidence needed to prove the allegations,” he said. Lange says within 12 hours of the victim coming forward Graves was taken off of patrol work and within days Graves resigned from his position.

Lange says the department moved fast and this type of behavior will not be tolerated. “This department is going to be accountable for its actions and every officer here will be held accountable for their actions,” he said.

According to the documents, Graves admitted most of the allegations except he says the sex with the victim was consensual. ..Source.. by Ryan Klund

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Former Benton Harbor officer accused of wrongdoing found dead from apparent suicide

1-12-2012 Michigan:

BERRIEN COUNTY – The Berrien County prosecutor tells WSBT that Jared Graves was found dead in his home Thursday afternoon from an apparent suicide.

Graves resigned from the Benton Harbor police department last November. He faced drug, misconduct in office, and criminal sexual conduct charges.

Investigators say he threatened to arrest a woman for marijuana possession if she did not perform sex acts in an apartment, and then at the police department last fall. ..Source.. by WSBT

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Accused ex-cop kills himself

1-14-2012:

BENTON HARBOR -- A former Benton Harbor policeman who was in trouble with the law has killed himself.

Jared Graves, 42, hanged himself in his Benton Township home Thursday, police and court officials said.

Graves was accused of forcing a Benton Harbor woman into sex acts with him on two occasions in exchange for his not arresting her on a marijuana charge. A court hearing was to take place next week.

Berrien County Prosecutor Arthur Cotter called Graves' suicide "regrettable."

Graves was arrested last month on four felony counts, including two counts of criminal sexual conduct. He was out of jail on bond and was scheduled for a pre-exam conference today and a preliminary hearing in Berrien County Trial Court on Tuesday. The Tuesday hearing would have established whether there was probable cause to put Graves on trial for the charges facing him.

Benton Township police Detective Lt. Delmar Lange said police and Medic 1 ambulance were called to the Graves home at 1919 Broadway around 1 p.m. Thursday. He said police and paramedics found Joyce Graves in the basement performing CPR on her husband. Graves had hanged himself and was pronounced dead at the scene, Lange said.

Graves was facing two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, a 15-year felony; one count of misconduct in office, a five-year felony; and one count of delivery of marijuana, a four-year felony.

State police investigated the case after a woman came into the Benton Harbor police station in late November and said Graves was forcing her into sex acts.

Benton Harbor Director of Public Safety Roger Lange put Graves on immediate administrative leave, and Graves resigned Nov. 28. He had been a police officer in Benton Harbor from 1994 to '98 and again from 2001 until he resigned. He was a Benton Harbor Police Officer of the Year in 2008.

Graves was also a church pastor. He was appointed pastor of the Franklin African Methodist Episcopal Church in Niles in 2005 and had previously served as pastor of Quinn Chapel AME Church near Cassopolis.

The charges against Graves alleged that on Oct. 5, while still a Benton Harbor patrolman, he forced a 24-year-old woman to perform oral sex on him under the threat that he would arrest her for possession of marijuana, which he had confiscated from her two days earlier.

The woman told police that Graves had called her and insisted that she come to the police station to discuss possible charges. It was at the police station that he told her he would return the marijuana to her if she would perform the sex act, the woman told police.

The woman said Graves contacted her again Nov. 16 at Harbor Towers, where she lives, took her to a police office inside the apartment building and forced her to have sex with him under the continuing threat that he could still charge her with a marijuana offense.

"Based upon the evidence I had in this case, he committed a despicable act, but having known him as a court officer and having some sense of who he was, I don't think that told the whole picture," Cotter said Thursday. "He wasn't beyond redemption. I'm sorry for his family that he decided to do what he did."

Cotter said he saw some good in Graves.

"Based upon what I've learned, he had demons that he was wrestling with when it came to sex, and he had a debt to pay. But at some point when he'd paid that debt he'd have been back with his family," Cotter said. "His family has suffered a lot and I think they'll continue to suffer. This is regrettable for his family." ..Source.. by JULIE SWIDWA The Herald-Palladium

UPDATE: Wallis dead of self-inflicted wound

11-11-2011 Michigan:

(WZZM) -- The Newaygo County Sheriff's Department says Cecil Wallis Sr., 43, a person of interest in the Amanda Lankey murder who was to appear in court Thursday on separate sex assault charges, died in an apparent suicide before his court hearing.

Officials say Wallis' family was reported missing before his scheduled court hearing on sex assault charges.

Deputies found his body in a remote area of Goodwell Township in Newaygo county at 10 a.m. Thursday.

They say their preliminary investigation is that Wallis died of a self-inflicted wound.

Wallis' death is still under investigation pending autopsy results.

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(WZZM) -- Newaygo County workers say Cecil Wallis Sr., a person of interest in the Amanda Lankey murder who was to appear in court Thursday on separate sex assault charges, has died before the court hearing.

The administrative assistant to Sheriff Michael Mercer confirms that Wallis died Thursday. She says county officials will release more information later Thursday afternoon.

Wallis was arrested in late October on charges he sexually assaulted two minors between 1998 and 2002.

Prosecutors say the sex assault charges were the result of leads generated by investigators looking into the cold case murder of Amanda Lankey, but are not part of the Lankey case.

Lankey was last seen at Wallis' house on June 21, 2004. Mushroom hunters found her body weeks later in the Manistee National Forest.

Investigators have said Wallis Sr. and his son, Cecil Wallis Jr., were both persons of interest in the Lankey case.

We have crews working the story, and will have more online and on WZZM 13 News at 6 p.m. ..Source.. by WZZM 13 ONLINE

Man found dead with former Harrison girl faced sex charge in Clare County

Posted in Related Deaths

10-28-2010 Michigan:

A 15-year-old Clare County girl was remembered Thursday as a kind, caring girl who was in Mid Michigan Community College’s Students of Promise program before moving to Osceola County a few weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the 38-year-old Newport man accused of killing Taylor E. Manley before killing himself Wednesday was out of jail on bond after being charged with having sex with the girl in July.

Christy McKinney of Clare said Manley was a friend of her son’s and often spent time at their home.

“She was a great kid,” McKinney said. “She was a very sweet girl.”

Tammy Alvaro, MMCC’s Students of Promise coordinator, said Manley was well known among students and that she was a sweet girl.

Alvaro saw Manley at MMCC’s Fall Festival and Barbecue recently and spoke to her about her plans for college in a few years, offering to help her in any way she could.

Alvaro received calls from students in the program who heard about Manley’s death Thursday.

She comforted the students.

“We’ll help them through it,” Alvaro said.

Clare County Sheriff John Wilson said Thursday that Raymond R. Bush was scheduled to appear in 80th District Court in Harrison Wednesday in Judge Joshua Farrell’s courtroom for a hearing to determine if there was sufficient evidence to be tried on a third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge against Taylor E. Manley, who was found dead with Bush in a van in a cemetery in Monroe County’s Newport.

Prosecutor Michelle Ambrozaitis said the hearing was set for 10:30 a.m.; she had spoken to Manley the day before and said her death is devastating.

Bush didn’t show for the hearing, where Manley was to testify, Wilson said.

Farrell issued a bench warrant after Bush failed to show up at the hearing, Wilson said.

Manley had until recently been a student at Harrison Community Schools and was living with her mother, Mary Beth St. Bernard, in the Dodge City area, Wilson said.

She left home about two weeks ago to stay with her father in Evart, the sheriff said.

State police troopers found Bush and Manley in a van in a cemetery in Newport, located in southeastern Michigan, Wednesday; Manley was shot in the chest, according to news reports.

Manley had been reported missing Wednesday morning, and state police issued an Amber Alert, indicating she had been kidnapped from the Reed City area.

State police also listed Bush as the suspect in the kidnapping, and troopers from the Reed City post notified the Clare County Sheriff’s Department immediately, Wilson said.

Wilson and victim advocates from his department were at St. Bernard’s home Thursday morning as state and national media converged on the community.

Grief counselors were also at Harrison Community Schools on Thursday to help students deal with Manley’s death, Wilson said.

Manley had been a student at Harrison, Farwell and Clare Pioneer High School, Wilson said.

Bush had befriended her family, the sheriff said.

“She looked up to him like a big brother,” Wilson said.

That apparently changed July 24 when Bush, who had Manley’s name tattooed on his neck, was arrested for third-degree criminal sexual conduct against Manley.

He was charged in September and had posted $50,000 bond, the sheriff said.

The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s office ruled Manley’s death a homicide and said Bush died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Bush and Taylor both died from .22-caliber gunshot wounds to the head, and Manley was also shot in the chest, the Associated Press reported.

Bush’s ex-girlfriend told police that he called her late Wednesday morning and said that he killed Manley and planned to kill himself, according to the AP.

Bush later stopped at the ex-girlfriend’s home in Newport, were she saw a young woman’s body in the van, State Police Detective Sgt. George Pratt told the AP.

Manley was staying with her father as a precaution prior to the court hearing.

Her father spoke to her by phone from work at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday but when he got home at about 8 a.m., she was gone, the AP reported.

Wilson said funeral arrangements for Manley are pending at Stocking Funeral Home in Harrison.

Donations to help the family can be sent to Stocking Funeral Home, 165 W. Oak St., Harrison, MI, 48625. ..Source.. by SUSAN FIELD, Clare Managing Editor

Essay: Sex and Justice

Essay: Sex and Justice - 11.16.2010

A recent horrifying case involving teen suicide has gotten wide attention. The case got Michigan Radio’s Political Analyst Jack Lessenberry thinking about the state’s sex offender registry.

If news is what people are talking about, then the big story in Michigan last week wasn’t the budget deficit, or Governor-elect Rick Snyder’s efforts to put together an administration.

No, the big story was a horrifying case where a fourteen-year-old girl killed herself after having sex with an eighteen-year-old boy.

And it ought to make us all think about a lot of things, including whether the Michigan Sex Offender registry makes any sense.

In this tragic case, both teens at first told police the act was consensual, but later the girl appeared on local TV news, and said she had been raped. Following that, the kids in her high school evidently turned on her. Eventually, the child went home and hung herself. This story is distressing on too many levels to count.

Whatever actually happened between the teens is hard to determine, though police say the girl said she told the boy she was eager to lose her virginity. If so, she later had second thoughts. As a journalist, I am appalled that a local so-called news station put this child on TV, identifying her by name, as she talked about her sex life.

Grownups ought to know how cruel the world can be.

But this whole episode really ought to draw attention to an appalling institution called the Michigan Sex Offender Registry.

Since the 1990s, the registry has listed anyone convicted of a so-called sex crime and indicates where they live. The idea was to protect children by allowing families to discover if a convicted sex offender lives in the neighborhood.

That may make some sense in the case of serious pedophiles, though it also could be seen as a dangerous invitation to vigilante action. But the registry also includes those convicted of a wide variety of far lesser offenses, including drunk frat boys who relieved themselves in public. They are on there with the serial rapists.

The main problem is in cases like this one. In Michigan sixteen is the legal age of consent. But in our highly sexualized society, there are many sixteen year old boys who are active with their almost sixteen year old girlfriends. Legally, they are committing a felony.

Stepmother of 38-year-old man accused of shooting teen girl in murder-suicide says he snapped, 'was just a lost soul looking for someone to love him'

Posted in Related Deaths

11-4-2010 Michigan:

MONROE -- Family of 38-year-old Raymond Bush, who police say abducted and fatally shot a 15-year-old Evart girl before taking his own life, defended him today as a good person who simply snapped.

Bush and the girl, Taylor Manley, had been in a relationship for about a year, said Bush's stepmother, Maryann Bush.

"I think he was just a lost soul looking for someone to love him," she said.

Bush was the father of a 17-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son from previous relationships. He bought and fixed-up a van for his daughter, who recently gave birth.

Maryann Bush said her stepson was afraid of going to jail after he was charged with sexually assaulting Taylor.

She is upset that others are portraying Bush as a pedophile.

"We all know that two families are suffering, but people are portraying him like he's a real bad person. But that's not like it was," Maryann Bush said.

She claimed Bush, who was not working, did not have a criminal record.

Oseceola County prosecutors say Taylor planned to testify against Bush at a probable cause hearing Wednesday, but Bush believed she would not.

Bush and Taylor got to know each other because she once lived next door to the grandparents of his son, in the Monroe area.

On Wednesday, Bush talked to his ex-girlfriend on the phone and later stopped at her home. Bush allegedly told the ex-girlfriend he killed Taylor and planned to kill himself because "that was the only way they could be together."

Maryann Bush believes the stress of the criminal charges and being under order not to contact Taylor made him snap. ..Source.. by John Tunison | The Grand Rapids Press

Police Say Molester Committed Suicide

7-16-2010 Michigan:

New information on a car fire that killed a Blackman Township man earlier this week. It happened Wednesday afternoon near US 127 and Reed Road in Liberty Township. Just hours before the fire, 58-year-old Thomas Holdridge was in court. The Jackson County prosecutor says, on Tuesday, he had issued a warrant charging Holdridge with second degree criminal sexual conduct.

On Wednesday morning Holdridge was in court where he lost his parental rights. Later that day, witnesses told police that Holdridge pulled into the rest area, and not long after, they say the car exploded. While police are investigating what happened at the rest stop, prosecutors say their attention is focused elsewhere.

Hank Zavislak, Jackson County Prosecutor: "Not to minimize what occurred to the alleged perpetrator, but our primary concern is with the victim and now the victim has again been victimized yet another time as a result of what apparently transpired."

The prosecutor says he was prepared to take the investigation to court, but now the case is closed. ..Source.. by Brittany Gray

Ionia shooting victims identified; gunman committed suicide in domestic dispute

2-27-2010 Michigan:

UPDATE: Police say Ionia teen was on phone with 911 as former Michigan state trooper shot stepson, her mother, himself

IONIA -- Police have identified the man who shot and killed himself inside his Ionia home today as Bart Cunningham, 37. He is a former state police trooper who pleaded guilty to a sex crime in 2003.

Cunningham shot and seriously injured both his wife, Wendy Cunningham, 42, and her 16-year-old son, police said. The boy's name is Joshua Snyder. Both were in serious condition this afternoon at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital.

The incident started as a domestic dispute, police said.

Bart Cunningham enlisted as a state police trooper in 1996, but resigned in 2004 while assigned to the Kalkaska post.

In 2002, Kalkaska police arrested Cunningham on a high-court misdemeanor of fourth-degree criminal-sexual conduct, state police records show. He pleaded guilty in 2003 to assault and battery and attempted fourth-degree criminal-sexual conduct and was sentenced to 18 months on probation.

In late December 2007, he was arrested in Ionia for domestic violence. He was sentenced to 12 days in jail and 12 months on probation. ..Source.. by Barton Deiters | The Grand Rapids Press

Suspect Emerges in Child Killer Case

12-7-2009 Michigan:

After 33 years, a possible suspect is emerging in the Oakland County Child Killer case.

Could Christopher Brian Busch be the Oakland County Child Killer? He died in 1978, and most of his family members have passed away. So relatives of the victims want to know what’s taking so long for police to finish investigating Busch.

[Barry King/Father of Timmy King] “I can accept Timmy being dead. I can’t accept anyone having him for six days, and keeping him away from his family and torturing him.”

Barry King’s 11-year-old son, Timmy, was the last victim of the Oakland County Child Killer. Between 1976 and 1977, four children were abducted and murdered.

Christopher Busch was polygraphed and cleared by the original child killer task force in the 70s. But a chance meeting by two men (who were neither suspects nor family members of the victims), 2,000 miles from Detroit, helped bring Busch's name to the top of the list of potential suspects.

Suicide at Washtenaw County Jail under investigation

11-24-2009 Michigan:

A man charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct committed suicide Monday at the Washtenaw County Jail, authorities said.

Nicholas John Plennert II, 36, was found by a correctional officer about 4:55 p.m., who reported that Plennert had hanged himself, Washtenaw County sheriff's deputies said.

He was taken to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators have interviewed the inmates on the cell block, said Derrick Jackson, the sheriff's department's director of community engagement. An internal investigation, which is considered routine in such a case, is also under way, Jackson said.

Jackson did not know whether Plennert shared a cell with anyone and did not have details about the charge he was facing. Michigan State Police at the Ypsilanti post confirmed they are investigating the case and arrested Plennert in October, but no further details were available this afternoon.

"There's nothing that would lead us to believe it wasn't a suicide," Jackson said.

Plennert was booked at the jail on Nov. 12 and hadn't been convicted of anything, Jackson said.

Mental health support is being offered to staff and inmates, officials said. ..Source.. by Ann Arbor.com

MI- Inmate dies at county jail

10-27-2009 Michigan:

A St. Joseph man convicted of abusing his 6-year-old daughter apparently committed suicide by hanging himself in the Buchanan County Jail on Saturday.

Sheriff Mike Strong told the News-Press on Monday that the body of inmate Adam R. Lee, 36, underwent an autopsy and the department is awaiting the toxicology report.

“As it stands right now, nothing seems out of the ordinary,” Mr. Strong said. “There was no indication to any of our medical staff that this guy was threatening or going to do this.”

The sheriff added that Mr. Lee’s cell mate had been removed the day before and Mr. Lee was only by himself for a short period of time before the incident happened.

Mr. Lee was sentenced to one year in jail last month by Associate Judge Keith Marquart, who found the defendant guilty of third-degree assault at the conclusion of a court trial in August.

The Class A misdemeanor assault charge stemmed from an incident during which Mr. Lee choked his 6-year-old daughter. His three children were living with a foster family at the time after children’s services removed them from the defendant’s home due to unsanitary living conditions.

During his sentencing, Mr. Lee admitted that he tried to kill himself in jail after his conviction and was depressed. But the defendant testified he was doing much better since starting on anti-depressants.

Carol Jenkins, a friend of Mr. Lee’s from their days at Lafayette High School, said she hadn’t talked to him in quite some time but the news still came as a shock.

“I hate that this happened. He was a good guy. I didn’t know that life was that bad,” she said. “This is going to have an effect on a lot of people.”

Sheriff Strong said the last death in the jail, which occurred about two years ago by his recollection, was due to an overdose.

“I don’t think we’ve had (a suicide) here in the last three, four or five years, but it happens in other institutions,” Mr. Strong said.

The sheriff added that if the department’s medical staff saw indications Mr. Lee intended to harm himself, they would’ve taken him out of his cell, dressed him in special clothing and kept a vigilant watch over him.

“That was not the case on this individual,” said Mr. Strong, who told the News-Press that his staff performed standard checks on Mr. Lee. “This was an isolated incident.” ..Source.. by R.J. Cooper

MI- Probation officer charged with soliciting sex commits suicide

9-26-2009 Michigan:

WYANDOTTE — A 27th District Court probation officer has committed suicide after being charged with soliciting sex from an 18-year-old woman.

Late Thursday afternoon Police Chief Daniel Grant confirmed that the body of Robert Joseph Samson was found in Oscoda County. The 60-year-old Wyandotte resident died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Michigan State Police investigators said Samson had a drug-counseling business on the side, in addition to his job as a probation officer at the court that serves Wyandotte and Riverview.

Samson reportedly encouraged a woman on probation to take his drug program. It was alleged that he would waive the fee for the program if she would engage in various sex acts with him.

Detective Sgt. Kenneth Walker of the Michigan State Police Metro South Post in Taylor said the woman had met with police a week earlier and provided information that there could be “inappropriate and illegal” activity at a drug class held at the Horizon Building in Taylor.

“We took that information and began surveillance,” Walker said.

It’s not clear where the activity was supposed to have occurred, but Walker said it would have been outside of the normally scheduled class. When police believed they had enough evidence, they moved in and arrested Samson.

He was arraigned Tuesday at 23rd District Court in Taylor on four felony counts of soliciting criminal sexual misconduct. Walker said Samson cooperated with the investigation after the arrest. He was released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond.

On Wednesday, Walker said state police still had an active investigation going, believing that other probationers might have received similar propositions.

Detective Sgt. Joseph White of the Michigan State Police Second District headquarters, who was handling the case, said as of Friday morning that he had not received confirmation of Samson’s death. He said he had heard about it only through unofficial channels.

He said he was aware of a couple of people who posted allegations against Samson on a WXYZ TV (Channel 7) blog, but he had not been contacted by anyone other than the 18-year-old woman concerning similar sexual propositions that Samson might have made.

Grant said that when a person dies far from home, it is common for law enforcement agencies to contact police in the victim’s home city. In most cases, it is then up to local police to contact next of kin.

Grant said it is not known why Samson chose to drive to the county in northeastern Michigan. He said it was believed that Samson had a second house in the Howell area, but he had no known connections to Oscoda County.

Ed Pokrzywnicki, Oscoda County undersheriff, said a passer-by came across Samson’s body on Oak Lake Road in an area about 15 miles outside of Mio, near Lewiston.

“It’s a county road — primarily gravel — in a very rural area,” Pokrzywnicki said. “I don’t know why he was here. He might have been to the area before.”

Pokrzywnicki said Samson’s body was found on the ground next to his vehicle, with a rifle next to him.

Natalie Shaul, probation director for 27th District Court, said Samson had been suspended Tuesday morning. The department had a resignation letter that he was asked to sign Thursday, but he never showed up.

Shaul said Samson had been with the probation department since 1983, starting as a volunteer. In 1996 he was hired as a paid part-time probation officer. He worked 24 hours per week, with no benefits.

Samson also served as 27th District Court’s work force coordinator. He is credited with developing the program.

“All of us are shocked,” Shaul said after his arraignment. “I almost fell out of my chair.”

Shaul said she wasn’t aware of what Samson “dabbled in” outside of work, but he appeared to be a good probation officer. She said she never received any calls from probationers with allegations against Samson.

“I had no indication of this,” she said.

Grant said Samson’s suicide was a sad ending to the story.

“It’s unfortunate that there’s no way of telling when someone is that despondent,” he said. “If you knew that, maybe you could get them some help.” ..Source.. by Jim Kasuba