Serial killers are among some of the most frightening criminals in history. The embodiment of evil, these vicious killers both fascinate, and horrify us. Here are the most notorious murders and serial killers in Michigan.
Serial Killers In Michigan
When you think of places in the US that are famous for birthing serial killers, you probably think of states such as California, Florida, and Texas. However you might be surprised to learn that Michigan too, has played home to multiple serial killers.
Carl Eugene Watts
Suspected of killing more than 80 women, Carl Eugene Watts, also known as “The Sunday Morning Slasher,” could very well be Michigan’s most prolific serial killer.
Beginning at the young age of 12, Watts began having fantasies about abducting and torturing women. At 15 he acted on those desires, sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman in her home.
Between 1974 and 1982 it is believed Watts abducted, tortured, and murdered, dozens of women.
Carl Watts died of prostate cancer while serving two consecutive life sentences for the murders of Helen Dutcher and Gloria Steel.
Don Miller
Photo: Michigan Department of Corrections
Between 1977 and 1978 Donald Gene Miller, a serial rapist and murderer, killed 4 women, including his fiancé in East Lansing, Michigan. While attempting to sexually assault his fifth victim, he was arrested.
In exchange for revealing the location of his previous victims bodies, Don was convicted of a lesser charge of manslaughter. In 1978 he was sentenced to 30-50 years plus an additional 15 being added in 1979.
John Norman Collins
Photo: Michigan Department of Corrections
John Collins, dubbed “The Michigan Murderer,” terrorized the southeastern areas of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti from 1967 to 1969. Collins preyed on young women between the ages of 13 and 21, abducting, raping, and murdering them, before dumping their bodies near Washtenaw County.
Collins was sentenced to life and is currently incarcerated at Marquette Branch Prison.
Benjamin Atkins
Also known as the "Woodward Corridor Killer," Benjamin Atkins was convicted in the deaths of 11 women in Detroit and Highland Park in the 1990s.
Atkins mostly targeted sex workers and drug addicts, his “calling card” was leaving a sock in his victim’s mouths. After being sentenced to several life imprisonments, Atkins died of AIDS complications in 1997.
Shelly Andre Brooks
Photo: Michigan Department of Corrections
Between 2001 and 2006 it is believed that Shelly Andre Brooks murdered at least seven sex workers in Detroit and Highland Park. Brooks, who was homeless at the time of the murders, would lure unsuspecting sex workers into abandoned buildings and then proceed to rape them, before beating them to death with a rock or stick.
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In March of 2007, Brooks was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. He is currently incarcerated at G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson County, Michigan.
Leslie Allen Williams
Photo: Michigan Department of Corrections
Parolee Leslie Allen Williams was arrested in the kidnapping and attempted rape of a woman in a Springfield Township cemetery, after was discovered in the trunk of his car.
Later, Williams would confess to the abduction, rape and slayings of four young girls in rural Oakland and Genesee counties in 1992. Williams was sentenced to life, without the possibility of parole.
Anthony Guy Walker
Photo: Michigan Department of Corrections
Anthony Walker is responsible for the murders of at least six people in Lenawee County, Michigan between 1975 and 1986. After being convicted in the brutal triple murder of two women and an 11-month-old baby, Walker was convicted and sentenced to life for the crime.
Victor Malone
Photo: Michigan Dept. of Corrections
In 1986, Victor Malone was charged with first-degree murder after he savagely killed a sex worker in Southfield, Michigan. The former social worker had been previously charged for the murders of two other women in Detroit, but had been released.
Malone received a life sentence, however it appears he was released in January of last year.
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Donald Murphy
Suspected of killing at least 5 women, former bank robber Donald Murphy was convicted of murdering two prostitutes in Detroit, Michigan. A slew of similar murders, presumably done by two or more killers operating in the area, occurred around the same time, and Murphy confessed to at least six of them.
However with the evidence that was available, he was convicted of only two of the murders, and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for each one.
Elias Abuelazam
Elias Abuelazam, an Israeli born convicted murderer, is suspected in a string of 18 stabbing attacks in the spring and summer of 2010 which resulted in five deaths.
Most of the attacks occurred in Genesee County, Michigan, particularly in and around Flint. During the investigation, Michigan media dubbed him "The Genesee County Serial Slasher.”
Abuelazam was convicted in 2010 of the murder of Arnold Minor. He is currently serving a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the crime.
Unsolved Michigan Murders
Perhaps even more frightening still, are the Michigan crimes that have yet to be solved. Unsolved cases like that of the Oakland County Child Killer, and the mystery of the missing Skelton brothers, leave Michigan residents to wonder if there is a murderer walking amongst them.
The Oakland County Child Killer
Between February 1976 and March 1977, at least four children in Oakland County, Michigan were murdered. The victims, two boys, and two girls, all between the ages of 10 and 12, were abducted and later found dead in nearby public places.
12-year-old Mark Stebbins did not return home from an American Legion Hall on February 15, 1976. Four days later, his body was found lying in a snowbank in the parking lot of a local office building. He had been strangled to death.
Following an argument with her mother, 12-year-old Jill Robinson left her home on December 22, 1976. Four days later, Jill’s body was found alongside Interstate 75. She had been shot in the face with a 12-gauge shotgun.
After failing to return home from a trip to a 7-Eleven gas station, 10-year-old Kristine Mihelich was reported missing on January 2, 1977. 19 days later, Kristine’s body was discovered along a rural road in Franklin Village. She had been smothered less than 24 hours earlier.
11-year-old Timothy King went missing after a trip to the local drugstore on March 16, 1977. On March 22, his body was found by two teenagers in a shallow ditch. Like Kristine, Timothy had been smothered less than 24 hours earlier.
Over the years police have had several suspects, however no charges have ever been filed, leaving folks to wonder, who is The Oakland County Child Killer?
The Missing Skelton Brothers
On Thanksgiving Day, 2010, three brothers, 9-year-old Andrew, 7-year-old Alexander, and 5-year-old Tanner, were taken by their father from his home in Morenci, Michigan during his holiday visitation.
Investigators say on that night the boys’ father, John Skelton, took the boys in the midst of a heated divorce and custody battle with their mother, Tanya Zuvers. Using phone records, police tracked John’s movements that morning.
According to the cell phone records, he traveled 25 miles away to nearby Holiday City Ohio. It is believed that the boys were still alive during this trip, however after that day, they have never been seen again.
John Skelton was arrested and charged with unlawful imprisonment of his three sons. He is currently incarcerated at Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility in Iowa, however he has never revealed the location of the missing brothers.
If you are addicted to true crime as much as us then check out our serial killer merch, then read about the famous case of Jack the Ripper, or these creepy serial killer quotes.
1 comment
Sarah
Don’t forget that Nevaeh Buchanan’s murder still isn’t solved according to many Michiganders in Monroe County.