John Norman Collins was an all-American boy. He was handsome, lived in Ann Arbor, and belonged to a fraternity. But there was a dark side to this young man. The media and others dubbed John Norman Collins "The Michigan Murderer."
In the late 1960s, Collins stalked college-age women like prey. His hunting grounds were near the campuses of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The Michigan murderer terrorized the public.
The media breathlessly reported the latest rape-murders of women near two prestigious Michigan college campuses. John Norman Collins is a suspect connected to seven young women's vicious and heinous murders.
John Norman Collins eventually found his way into a Washtenaw County, Michigan, courtroom. A state prosecutor charged Collins with the first-degree premeditated murder of 18-year-old Karen Sue Beineman, a student at Eastern Michigan University. A jury convicted Collins. The judge sentenced him to a mandatory life sentence.
Author Gregory Fournier was upset because the prosecutor never prosecuted six other rape-murder cases. The Prosecuting Attorney decided not to bring other cases. He was holding off in other murder cases as an "insurance policy" in the event John Norman Collins was successful on appeal. Collins lost all of his appeals as the courts upheld his conviction. Presumably, because Collins faced the rest of his life in prison, the Prosecuting Attorney decided not to spend public resources holding Collins responsible for other alleged murders. Some claim the police investigators had DNA evidence waiting in the other rape-murder cases.
- Fournier shares his extensive findings about these murders in our interview. The book "Terror in Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked" is available at bookstores.
- Fournier, a Detroit native, is one of America's premier true crime authors. He has written several other books, including about Detroit's Purple Gang.
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Obtain a copy of the book "Terror in Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked" by visiting your local bookstore or Amazon Books. To learn more about Gregory Fournier and other published true crime books, visit the Author's Website.
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