Where are the original, dated police reports that confirm this? There’s all kinds of evidence that this investigation, and then trial, became corrupted. Not to mention none of this accounts for the fact that a witness who knew Collins stated he was elsewhere at the time and was hassled by police simply for stating this fact. What’s more, it is simply unbelievable that a guy with Collins background committed this crime yet was not charged with any of the others.
Constructing a time line for the murder of Karen Sue Beineman from the time she left the Wig Shop was important to investigators as they tried to determine whether or not Collins could account for his where abouts. The critical time in question was between about 12:30 and 1:00 pm on Wednesday, the 23rd of July 1969 (the day Karen Sue Beineman went missing).
Investigators interviewed Collins and he stated that he had gone to a cycle shop around 1:00 pm, then to a fast food place and then to his rooming house at 619 Emmet Street, where he spent the rest of the day with his buddies Arnold Davis and Andrew Manuel.
The alibi witness you refer to was Collins' room mate Arnold Davis.
When asked about his recollection of where Collins was that day, Davis told a story of how he, Collins, and Andrew Manuel were together that afternoon and into the evening. Asked about the exact time Collins arrived, Davis initially told investigators that it was "around two thirty".
Andrew Manuel left town very suddenly when he learned that police were interested in Collins. He took a bus to California, pawning a number of stolen items to buy the bus ticket. He admitted to stealing a .22 revolver from Collins with the intention of selling it, but decided instead to dispose of it somewhere between Michigan and California.
When Manuel was captured by the FBI in Arizona, he was charged with two counts of felony theft and returned to Michigan. He agreed to cop a plea in which he would tell all he knew about Collins. Although, none of the information he gave them was used in the trial, there was one critical piece of information he gave investigators. Manuel confirmed Davis' story about the three of them being together the afternoon of 23 July, but he was sure that it was more like 4:30 pm that Collins showed up.
Investigators again interviewed Arnold Davis and questioned him about his "around two thirty" estimate. At that time, Davis stated that he recalled Collins having "suggested" that time to him, and that he thought the time of Collins' arrival home was later.
The time estimate was a critical part of Collin's alibi, because the later time (4:30 pm) meant that he had time to kill Karen Sue between the time she was last seen, and his arrival at 619 Emmet.
Arnold Davis also provided police with information regarding Collins disposing of a box he had kept at the rooming house which contained some articles of women's apparel: a shoe, a purse, and a pair of jeans. It was believed by investigators that souvenirs had been taken from each of the victims, and these few seen by Davis matched what investigators were looking for.
Davis also provided them with a knife Collins had given him, which he took from under the seat of one of his motorcycles and asked Davis to keep for him. The knife had been thoroughly cleaned of all finger prints.
Collins was only charged with, tried for, and convicted of the murder of Karen Sue Beineman. A number of factors probably went into that decision. While Collins was believed by many investigators (and there were several from different jurisdictions) to have committed at least some of the other seven or so, it was very likely rules of evidence which precluded prosecutors from charging him with other murders.
The murder of Roxie Ann Phillips in California on or about 30 June 1969 was likely committed by John Norman Collins, but was not within the jurisdiction of Michigan prosecutors. California wanted him extradited to stand trial for her murder, but Michigan Governor Milliken refused to extradite Collins until all Michigan trials and appeals were complete.
Most of the clues which tended to tie Collins to the other Michigan Co-Ed murders were circumstantial at best. For example;
- he was known to frequent the same apartment complex as Maralynn Skelton,
- he rode his motorcycle on the back roads where Dawn Basom lived,
- he had owned a .22 revolver and both Jane Mixer and Alice Elizabeth Kalom had been shot with one.
- He had been seen by two witnesses with Joan Schell the night of her disappearance.
- Crime scenes had a number of similarities.
Probably the next best Michigan case that Collins could have been successfully prosecuted for would have been the murder of Alice Elizabeth Kalom, who was murdered on or about 7 June 1969.
Arnold Davis stated that he, Collins, and another man (whom he could/would not identify) were driving around in the third man's car (described by others as being red and black in color), when they stopped and broke into the Student Union building to make a phone call. They were seen by a custodian and chased out.
Davis described them next picking up a girl (probably Kalom) at a bus stop, with Collins promising her a ride home. He stated that they all drove back to the rooming house, where he went to bed, the driver of the car departed, and Collins promised to drive the girl home in his own car.
Davis relayed the story that Collins told him the next morning regarding what took place later. When Davis heard of Kalom's death, he mentioned it to Collins and Collins told him never to mention "the coincidence".
