15 Most Cruel Serial Killers in Michigan

15 Most Cruel Serial Killers in Michigan

When we talk about serial killers our minds quickly shift to famous states such as Alaska, Texas, California and Florida. However, you might be shocked to learn that Michigan too, has birthed several serial killers who have continued to cement their place in history throughout the years. Although we continue to have a relentless fascination with them, they seem to have no regard for human life because of the way they commit their murder in a gruesome fashion. They either strangle, poison, molest, stab, poison or shot their victims to death.

These serial killers are also subjects of movies, Tv shows, and podcasts and we can’t seem to take our eyes off the developments of their murder trials. Therefore, today in this article we are going to dive into the most notable serial killers in Michigan.

1. Don Miller

Donald Gene Miller is an American serial killer and rapist who killed 4 women and attempted to sexually assault his fifth victim. He committed this series of attacks between 1977 and 1978. When he attempted to sexually assault his fifth victim Lisa Gilbert, he was arrested and offered a plea bargain in exchange for revealing the location of his previous victim’s bodies. Miller 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 because officials discovered a garrote in Miller’s cell.

2. Matthew Macon

A picture of a crime scene. Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Matthew Macon was a famous serial killer who grew up in Lansing and had an extensive violent criminal record. Between 2004 and 2007, Macon killed seven women; Ruth Hallman 76, Deborah Cooke 36, Debra Renfors 46, Sandra Eichorn 64, Karen Delgado- Yates 41, Linda Jackson 56. After he was arrested, he confessed to killing six women, including the 2005 murder of Carolyn Kronenberg a 60-year-old professor who was beaten, strangled and raped, then found in Lansing Community College Classroom.

Claude McCollum, a Lansing Community College student at the time, had been convicted for the murder of Carolyn Kronenberg and therefore, was exonerated and released from prison. Macon was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole on June 18, 2008.

3. John Norman Collins

John Norman Collins is a notable serial killer, dubbed “The Michigan Murderer.” Between 1967 and 1969 Collin attacked young women between the ages of 13 and 21 by abducting, raping, beating and typically murdering them by stabbing and strangulation. Collins will then dump his victims’ bodies within a 15-mile radius of Washtenaw County. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the final murder which had just happened one week before his arrest. He is currently incarcerated at Marquette Branch Prison.

4. Gary Addison Taylor

A picture of a police car. Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Born in 1936, Gary spent his early years in Florida, launching his first attacks on women there before relocating to Michigan in 1957. While in Michigan, Gary became notorious for “Royal Oak Sniper” shooting women he found on the streets after dark. Luckily, none died and Gary was shuttled from one psychiatric hospital to another.

After eleven years, Gary disappeared from the hospital and it was at this time that he murdered at least four women, a pair of couple and a housewife. On May 20, 1975, Taylor was arrested on a charge of sexual assault and he confessed to four of the murders. He was convicted on the four counts he confessed to and was sentenced to a term of life imprisonment.

5. Aileen Wuornos

Serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Florida Department of Corrections, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1989-1990 Aileen Wuornos was shot dead and robbed of seven male clients while engaging in prostitution. Aileen claimed that the men had attempted to rape her and the murder of the victims was committed in self-defence. On 9,2002 she was executed by lethal injection after spending more than 10 years on Florida’s death row. The 2003 movie “Monster” describes her story from her first murder until her execution.

6. John Eric Armstrong

John Eric Armstrong was born on November 23, 1973, to an abusive father who sexually assaulted Armstrong when he was a child. This might have motivated John’s urge to kill his victims. John a former navy sailor, husband and father of two, killed five female workers in Michigan, but it is believed he murdered at least six more women between 1992 and 1999. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2001.

Read here on the 15 most deranged serial killers from texas

7. Robert Bashara

A picture of a person in handcuffs. NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Robert Bashara also dubbed “Big Bob,” hired a hitman, Joseph Gent to kill his wife Jane Bashara who was a marketing executive and a resident of Gross Pointe Park, Michigan. On January 24, 2012, Jane was found dead in his car. The cause of her death was strangulation. Robert killed his wife so that he could live as a bondage, discipline, and sadomasochistic master and rule over his girlfriend and other women. Robert was sentenced to life in prison in January 2015 after he was convicted of plotting for his wife’s murder in 2012.

8. Andrew Kehoe

This is the deadliest massacre to have been committed by just one person, Andrew Kehoe, in Michigan. Kehoe a former farmer became angry after he lost his reelection as treasurer of the Bath Township school board. As a result of his anger, Kehoe set bombs at the Bath Consolidated school on May 18^, 1927. The bomb ended up killing 44 people while 58 more people were injured. He had previously murdered his wife before the ruthless act. He committed suicide just near the school by detonating dynamite in his truck which explored and killed him together with several other people and some got injured. He also set incendiary devices in his house which ended up damaging his house and farm.

9. The Kalamazoo brothers

Larry Lee Ranes and Danny Arthur Ranes are famous American serial killers who are a rare case of sibling criminals that acted independently of each other. They both committed their crime sprees predominantly in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Larry was suspected to have murdered five people in the 1960s. On October 23, 1964, Larry confessed to four of the murders and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Danny on the other hand was convicted of four sexually-motivated murders between March and August 1972. Danny had an accomplice who was Brent Eugene Koster. On Aug 9, 1973, Danny Ranes was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Koster was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole on July 21, 1975, and he finally got his parole in 2020.

10.Jerald Leroy Wingeart

A crime scene. Kat Wilcox, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Dawn Magyar had been reported missing on January 27, 1973, from her home in Chesaning, Michigan. On March 1973, her body was found in a wooded area in Chapin, Michigan. Forensic evidence later revealed she had been sexually assaulted and shot three times. The murder weapon, a.22 caliber revolver was found in the Shiawassee River in Owosso and it was traced back to Robert Shaw in 1965.

Unfortunately, there was nothing much on the case and it went silent for decades until when it reopened in 1995, with hopes that advancements in DNA analysis technology could provide a match to the sperm specimen collected in her body. The DNA sample did not match Robert Show and he was cleared. In 2001, the police arrested Jerald Leroy Wingeart, who was identified by DNA collected at the Murder scene. In 2002, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

11. Benjamin Atkins

Benjamin Atkins also known as “The Woodward Corridor Killer” was an American serial killer and rapist. Between December 1991 and August 1992, Benjamin murdered, tortured and raped 11 women in Highland Park and Detroit, Michigan. He mostly targeted sex workers and drug addicts, leaving a sock in his victims’ mouths as his “calling card.” He died of AIDS complications in 1997 after being sentenced to life imprisonment.

12. Donald Murphy

A picture of a corpse. The serial killers is said to have killed six people but was convicted for only two of the murders. Ralf Roletschek (FAL or GFDL 1.2), via Wikimedia Commons

Donald is a famous serial killer, sex offender and bank robber who was convicted of murdering two prostitutes in Detroit, Michigan in 1980. At around the same time, several similar murders occurred in the same area, apparently, it might have been done by two or more serial killers operating in the area. Donald confessed to at least six murders but was only convicted of only two of the murders since the evidence was available. He was eventually sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for each murder.

13.Shelly Andre Brroks

Shelly murdered seven women who were sex workers in Detroit, Michigan, from 2001 to 2006. He is suspected to have killed up to 20 people and even more. Shelly was homeless at the time he committed all these murders. He lured unsuspecting sex workers into abandoned buildings and then proceed to rape them, before beating them to death with a stick or rock. He was finally caught after a survivor exposed him and was given multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole after admitting his guilt at his trials.

14. Anthony Guy Walker

Anthony Guy Walker was an American serial killer who was born in 1957, in Adrian Michigan. Between 1975 and 1986, Anthony murdered at least six people in Lenawee County, Michigan. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment after being declared guilty of the brutal murder of two women and an 11-month-old baby.

15. Leslie Allen Williams

Leslie is an American serial killer, rapist and necrophile who was arrested in the kidnapping and attempted rape of a woman in Springfield Township cemetery. He later confessed to the abduction, rape and murder of four teenage girls in Oakland and Genesee counties from 1991 to 1992. William was sentenced to life, without the possibility of parole. However, his case became delicate in that at the time of the murders he was on parole. This ended up bringing fault to the Michigan parole system.

Check out this article on the 15 Deranged Serial Killers who operated in Florida here