GUILTY MI - Florence Unger, 37, murdered, Benzie County, 24 Oct 2003

[Bobbisangel]

In my opinion visitation with the killers parent or parents depends on one thing.....will that grandparent put the children and what is best for them first and formost? If the grandmother doesn't believe that her son committed the murder and she is hell bent on convincing the boys that he didn't do it then she would not be thinking about what is in the boys best interest.

I'm sure that the boys have been in therapy. If the grandmother really wants what is best for the boys she will spend some time with their therapist and ask the therapist to help her understand how to interact with the boys where their father and the murder are concerned. Therapist work with truth. If the therapist and Flo's parents are being honest and up front with the boys about what happened but Marks mother has another story and is set on making the boys believe that it was an accident then she shouldn't see the boys. She would only confuse them and mess with their heads. They don't need that.

If Mark's mother really loves the boys and their emotional and mental health comes first then I think she should have visits with them. Kids need all the love and support that they can get.

 

[Bobbisangel]

Guilty. Finally this case is over. Why cant people just get divorced these days with out killing thier spouse? I would let him walk away clean even convicted if I could just have my sister back. The divorce would be done by now. They would have both bought houses nearby each other to share custody, slowly started a new life for both of them. Instead, mark, his family, and a few of his friends (Mort Meisner:furious: ) in their denial have shown what evil lurks in the hearts of people, shame on them. I am sick that my sister ever married him , and sick that my sisters last few years of her private life got to get re-hashed over and over again for all to see.:sick:. I hope mark enjoys the alternative live he chose:behindbar at least his family can visit him I have to visit my sister in a cemetery

I'm sorry that your beautiful sister ever married him too. I also will never understand why some people can't just walk away when the marriage has gone beyond being mended.

I know that it is hard when your sister ends up being victimized again throughout a trial. It isn't fair or right but it always happens. The defense, it seems, trys to justify why the murder took place when in fact it has nothing to do with anything that your sister did or didn't do. It was a choice that her husband made. Did he really think that he was going to get away with it!!

My daughter was murdered by her ex-husband of two months. He is in prison now but I hate the fact that he is still alive and she isn't. He ran after the murder and was gone for 8 years before he was caught. During that time I would catch myself thinking "when they catch Mike then Shelley can come back home." I wish that is the way that it really worked. I don't know what these guys think they gain by killing their wives or ex-wives. They end up in prison which isn't much of a life. My daughter's killer was in Mexico...he remarried and had a year old baby boy when he got caught. He had moved on with his life. Why couldn't he have done that without murdering my daughter? I'll never understand the thinking of these guys. They just refuse to let go.

I'm so glad that the jury found Mark guilty and I still believe that Flo's attorney should be slapped for advising her to go away with him for the weekend. I will never understand what in the heck he was thinking.

Now it is up to you and your parents to give Flo's boys the best life possible. They will have problems throughout their lives and will need loving support and people to talk to. I think it is the hardest on the kids who are left with no parents. My grandaughter was almost 5 when her dad murdered her mother. She was in therapy for years. She has mixed feelings about her dad.
I guess that is normal.

There is no such thing a closure but we did get some justice for our loved ones. I guess we have to be satisfied with that. Take care

 

[NoraLee]

Detroit Free Press -- July 12, 2006

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060712/NEWS11/60712012

"Unger's mother may use state law to seek visitation of grandsons"

>>But Oakland County Family Court Judge Linda Hallmark ruled Rosenthal, who lives in Florida, will have to wait until after a trial is held to terminate Mark Unger's parental rights to his sons, Max, 13, and Tyler, 10. That trial date is set for Aug. 28.<<

 

[NoraLee]

WXYZ-TV Detroit June 18, 2006
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/UPDATE/607180412

>>Tuesday afternoon, Mark Unger was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of his estranged wife Florence Unger at a northern Michigan resort in 2003.
During sentencing Unger maintained his innocence and called the verdict "ridiculous."<<

Story earlier in the day from Detroit News:
"Unger sentencing moved after storms disrupt power:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/UPDATE/607180412/1361

 

[NoraLee]

Detroit News -- Tuesday July 18, 2006

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/UPDATE/607180422

>>Mark Unger, 45, spoke for the first time since his trial began April 26.
"I am wrongfully convicted of this crime," said a gray, weary-looking Unger. "I am innocent. I know it, and I am confident that our appeal will overturn this wrongful conviction. I am hoping I will one day be able to hold my children in my arms again."<<

 

[rayray]

This was featured on Dateline last night... He seemed really convincing.. until I realized his sorrow was probably for himself. Those poor babies.

 

[nanandjim]

This was featured on Dateline last night... He seemed really convincing.. until I realized his sorrow was probably for himself. Those poor babies.

I just watched Dateline as I had taped the show. He didn't seem convincing to me.

 

[rayray]

Ugh.. I think I was just fooled by the crying and carrying on.. It only lasted a few minutes.

 

[nanandjim]

Ugh.. I think I was just fooled by the crying and carrying on.. It only lasted a few minutes.

You were right in your previous post. He was just crying for himself. My opinion, of course.

 

[lisafremont]

My knowledge of this case comes primarily from the DATELINE show from the other night called "Lady in the Lake" and featuring interviews with Mark Unger. If you missed the show you can go to the Dateline web site and access videos of this.
Most of his snivelling seemed feigned with only one occasion when he actually squeezed out a tear. Most of the boo-hooing was strictly of the dry-eyed variety. Seen it before!

Perhaps someone who followed the trial on a daily basis could answer my question, raised by something MU said on the web site video, and not included in the tv show, something which went to the heart of the matter, IMO.
MU said that he and Flo took CANDLES AND A BLANKET down to the deck that night.
That would seem like a sensible thing to do, especially for a woman who was afraid of the dark.
He said she was "comfortable" on the deck and didn't want to go in yet when he went to "check on" the boys. He made it sound like he didn't know why she stayed, which is strange to me because if it happened as he claimed, I can't imagine she wouldn't have said something on this subject.

But here's my big problem:
Mark claims he went back to the deck after 15 mins. and "Flo was gone."

WHAT ABOUT THE CANDLES AND BLANKET?? If she "fell" off the deck as the defense claimed, wouldn't they still be there? Wouldn't that have sounded an alarm to him? If she had gone off to the Duncans' wouldn't she have taken them?

Was anything said about the candles and blanket???

 

[Bellgardin]

Was anything said about the candles and blanket???

Hi! I know it's been a long time since you posted this question, but I've been looking for the answer and it's been driving me crazy!!! I didn't know about this case until the Dateline episode and then I saw the thread on WS, and read the whole thing.

Anyway, about the comforter, the only thing I could find in reference to it was on the Dateline reporter's blog and the message board for that story, someone stated that the comforter was found with her in the water and was soaked with blood-a lot of blood. This was introduced at the trial as evidence, but not mentioned on Dateline. However, I can't find news report where it was mentioned or anything like that. Obviously they can't show the whole 9 week trial (or however long it was) in an hour, so it wasn't addressed by Dateline. I personally think this was a huge oversight on the part of Dateline because from what I've read, people point to the small amount of blood on the concrete as swaying them to the fact that she did somehow get into the water on her own. However, if the comforter was "soaked" with blood, then it makes sense that the comforter absorbed most of it and that's why only a small "stain" was on the concrete. I still find it very hard to believe that she got herself into the water with a fractured skull and a fractured pelvis. I would imagine it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible to crawl let alone stand with a broken pelvis and severe head trauma.

 

[JerseyGirl]

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a man's efforts for a new trial after he was convicted of killing his wife by dragging her into a northern Michigan lake.

The court on Tuesday denied Mark Unger's petition to review a lower court's ruling.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/lo...nger-petition-wife-florence-death/2915176002/

 

[CastlesBurning]

THe murder of Florence Unger | Already Gone Podcast – True Crime