Michigan murders
| John Norman Collins | |
|---|---|
| Born |
John Norman Chapman June 17, 1947 Windsor, Ontario, Canada |
| Other names | The Co-Ed Killer The Michigan Murderer The Ypsilanti Killer The Ypsilanti Ripper |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment |
| Conviction(s) | First-degree murder |
| Killings | |
| Victims | 1-7+ |
|
Span of killings
|
July 9, 1967–July 23, 1969 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) |
Michigan: 1 (convicted); 5 (alleged) California: 1 (alleged) |
|
Date apprehended
|
July 30, 1969 |
| Imprisoned at | Marquette Branch Prison |
The Michigan Murders were 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.
All the victims of the Michigan Murders were young women between the ages of 13 and 21 who were abducted, raped, beaten and murdered—typically by stabbing or strangulation—with their bodies occasionally mutilated after death before being discarded within a 15-mile radius of Washtenaw County. The perpetrator, John Norman Chapman (then known as John Norman Collins) was arrested one week after the final murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for this final murder attributed to the Michigan Murderer on August 19, 1970, and is currently incarcerated at Marquette Branch Prison.
Although never tried for the remaining five murders attributed to the Michigan Murderer, or the murder of a sixth girl killed in California whose death has been linked to the series, investigators believe Chapman to be responsible for all seven murders linked to the same perpetrator.
The first known victim linked to the Michigan Murderer was a 19-year-old Eastern Michigan University accounting student named Mary Terese Fleszar, who was last seen alive on the evening of July 9, 1967, by a neighbor walking towards her Ypsilanti apartment. 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 shook her head and walked away from the car. Her nude body was found by two 15-year-old boys on an abandoned farm in Superior Township on August 7, and was formally identified via dental records the following day.
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Wikipedia