GUILTY MI - Shannon Siders, 18, raped & murdered, Newaygo County, 18 July 1989

[OkieGranny]

http://fox17online.com/2014/06/24/brothers-arrested-in-cold-case-killing-of-newaygo-teen/#axzz35cXVgz00

Twenty-five years after the murder of a Newaygo teenager, state police and the state attorney general believe they have those responsible in custody.

Shannon Siders disappeared in July 1989; her body was found three months later in the Manistee National Forest. Investigators determined she was murdered. For decades no arrests were made, until now...

In 2012, the cold case team exhumed Shannon’s body in the search for more clues, part of an investigation that led to Tuesday’s charges.

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2014/06/2_brothers_arrested_in_connect.html

It was a bittersweet day for Robert Siders who for years heard the names of brothers Matthew Jones, 44, of Grant, and Paul Jones, 42, of Newaygo tossed around as possible suspects in his daughter's death.

Shannon Siders, then 18, was last seen alive on July 18, 1989. Her badly decomposed body was found on Oct. 15, 1989 in the Manistee National Forest off M-82 and Thornapple Road in Newaygo County's Brooks Township.

Both brothers have been charged with premeditated first-degree murder in the death of Siders. A press release issued Tuesday indicates the case will be jointly prosecuted by Attorney General Bill Schuette's criminal division and the Newaygo County Prosecutor's Office.

 

[fran]

Court documents detail witness accounts of Shannon Siders' murder

The documents read, "Investigators were able to determine that Shannon Siders on July 17th (1989), had met up with Norm Shelds, Billie Shields, Clint Guthrie, Ricky Gomez, Michelle Burns, Darrin Sackett, Paul and Matt Jones. On July 18th (1989), at 1:30 a.m., a witness reported that Shannon stopped by her house to pick up a cassette tape. Also on July 18th, Shannon was last seen riding with Matt and Paul Jones, leaving the Grant area, headed toward Newaygo."

A witness also reported that they saw the Jones vehicle turning eastbound on 88th from M-37, which is the direction which Shannon's body was recovered, the documents read.

read more ............... http://www.wzzm13.com/story/news/cr...ness-accounts-shannon-siders-murder/11378421/

 

[fran]

Detective: Witnesses saw 2 brothers with 'limp,' bloody Shannon Siders, 1989 murder victim

WHITE CLOUD, MI – Two witnesses allegedly told police they saw Paul and Matt Jones standing over Shannon Siders, "limp and with blood on her face," in the woods a short distance from where her body was later discovered.

One of those witnesses allegedly saw Paul Jones grab the young woman and "drag her back towards their vehicle."

An autopsy determined she died of blunt force trauma to the head, and she had multiple other injuries. Her death was ruled a homicide.

read more ...............http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2014/06/detective_witnesses_saw_2_brot.html

 

[Frigga]

Those men had a long time to be free. I hope justice is served for poor Shannon and her loved ones. What a long time to wait for answers. God speed to the courts~ Frigga

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2014/09/first_testimony_in_hearing_on.html

Bob Siders choked up and had to stop talking when he remembered the call telling him that the body of his daughter, Shannon Siders, had been found. "After 25 years I still have trouble with this," the emotional father said on the witness stand in Newaygo County 78th District Court.

Bob Siders testified Wednesday morning, Sept. 17, at the probable-cause hearing for two brothers charged with first-degree murder in his 18-year-old daughter's 1989 beating death: Matthew Wayne Jones, 44, and Paul Michael Jones, 42. The hearing is scheduled to last for three days.

At the end of the hearing, visiting Judge Brad Lambrix will decide whether the case against the brothers is strong enough to bind them over to Newaygo County Circuit Court for trial.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.wzzm13.com/story/news/lo...thout-bond-in-shannon-siders-murder/15898193/

A Newaygo County district court judge Friday afternoon ruled there was enough evidence to send two brothers to trial in the 1989 murder of Shannon Siders.

The judge also denied a bond request by Matthew and Paul Jones' attorneys, who argued they could better prepare for trial if their clients were out of jail...

There was testimony from the former Newaygo County medical examiner, who said 17-year-old Shannon's bra was found around her neck and her underwear around her ankles. He said she had two broken ribs, a fractured shoulder bone, a broken nose, and was missing part of her skull. He testified Siders' body was bruised from injuries that occurred while she was alive.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2014/09/judge_finds_probable_cause_new.html

Shannon Siders' father, interviewed after the hearing, was satisfied with the judge's ruling...

The Jones brothers have been potential suspects from the start, he said. "I wasn't surprised at the people who were arrested," Siders said...

Siders said he could understand why several crucial witnesses, immature teenagers at the time of the homicide, waited more than 20 years to come forward to police. He believes they're telling the truth.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2014/10/brothers_face_same_trial_separ.html

The Newaygo County brothers charged with murdering 18-year-old Shannon Siders in 1989 will face separate juries at the same trial, scheduled to start April 20, 2015...

Both brothers are charged with first-degree murder, which is punishable by a mandatory sentence of life in prison without chance of parole.

 

[Forager]

JT's pretrial for the child charges has been rescheduled to May 15th at 9AM. His lawyer is defending a suspect in a cold case murder trial in western Michigan. It's the Shannon Siders case. She was murdered in 1989! Not sure if this case was ever discussed on WS.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...-charged-with-murder&highlight=Shannon+Siders

I noticed this today on the Julia Niswender thread.

 

[byo]

The fate of the brothers accused of the sex murder of Shannon Siders in 1989 is in the hands of two separate juries.

Paul Michael Jones, 43, and Matthew Wayne Jones, 45, are charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the summer 1989 beating death of Siders, an 18-year-old Newaygo resident. Jurors are also being allowed to consider an alternative, lesser conviction of second-degree murder.

 

[luckyseven]

Brothers guilty of 1st, 2nd degree murder in Siders death
2:15 p.m. EDT May 8, 2015

snipped

Two juries in Newaygo County have found brothers Matthew and Paul Jones guilty of murdering Shannon Siders in 1989.

The first jury found Matthew Jones guilty of first degree murder.

The second convicted Paul Jones of second degree murder.

Sentencing is set for June 16.

Both brothers stood silently as the verdicts were read just after 1:00pm. The trial lasted almost three full weeks as prosecutors called dozens of friends, family and acquaintances of the brothers and Shannon Siders, who recalled what they remembered from the July night in 1989 when Shannon was killed.

 

[bessie]

Interesting article about the investigation.

Anatomy of a cold case: 'Hardy boys,' beauty of hindsight and jailhouse bombshell
By Heather Lynn Peters
September 22, 2015 at 10:51 AM, updated September 23, 2015 at 9:20 AM

NEWAYGO COUNTY, MI –The Shannon Siders case, rooted in Newaygo County, is a twisting, turning, heart-wrenching tale of a beautiful young lady brutally beaten, sexually assaulted and killed in the middle of the Manistee National Forest.
For more than 20 years after a startled hunter discovered a body in the woods, no related arrests were made and the case went cold.

[...]
The cold case team consisted of Michigan State Police troopers Mike Stephens and John Forner, longtime Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Scott Rios, Newaygo County Detective Sgt. Adam Mercer and Newaygo County Sheriff Pat Hedlund. Rios was appointed the team leader.
Here is their story.

[The Jones brothers were arrested in the summer of 2014.]

[...]
In the meantime, more information was trickling in. Perhaps the biggest breaks in the case came toward the end, "right before trial," Mercer recalled.

A relative of the Jones brothers came forward. He told investigators working the cold case that the two brothers came over to his house shortly after the 1989 homicide.
"They had made full disclosure that they had raped and killed Shannon," Mercer said.

Once the Jones brothers were arrested, their uncle, Ron King, told cold case investigators that he had come forward early on in the investigation, years and years ago, but somehow his call got lost in the shuffle. There was no documentation of that 1989 call he said he made to police, Forner said.

King's statement to investigators was that the brothers said they thought they had gotten away with Siders' murder, stating that had Siders "given them what they wanted" then they wouldn't have killed her. Authorities maintain that Siders rebuffed their sexual advances, and that's why the Jones brothers killed her.

much more at the link

 

[marble]

interesting article about the investigation.

anatomy of a cold case: 'hardy boys,' beauty of hindsight and jailhouse bombshell

a relative of the jones brothers came forward. He told investigators working the cold case that the two brothers came over to his house shortly after the 1989 homicide.
"they had made full disclosure that they had raped and killed shannon," mercer said.

Once the jones brothers were arrested, their uncle, ron king, told cold case investigators that he had come forward early on in the investigation, years and years ago, but somehow his call got lost in the shuffle. There was no documentation of that 1989 call he said he made to police, forner said.

King's statement to investigators was that the brothers said they thought they had gotten away with siders' murder, stating that had siders "given them what they wanted" then they wouldn't have killed her. Authorities maintain that siders rebuffed their sexual advances, and that's why the jones brothers killed her.

Much more at the link

bbm unbelievable.

 

[Tulessa]

1989 Shannon Siders murder, solved by cold-case team, subject of national TV show.

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2015/12/1989_michigan_sex_murder_solve.html

 

[byo]

Court to rule on brothers' appeal of convictions for 1989 sex murder case
By Stephen Kloosterman | sklooste@mlive.com
on December 21, 2016 at 7:40 AM, updated December 21, 2016 at 7:41 AM

NEWAYGO COUNTY, MI - A jury found his client guilty of Shannon Siders' 1989 murder, but State Appellate Defender Peter Van Hoek said he's prepared to appeal the case as high as the Michigan Supreme Court.

The brothers filed appeals of their cases, and Van Hoek, who represents Paul Jones, participated in oral arguments Dec. 6 before the Michigan Court of Appeals. He said it could be anywhere between one week and two months before the court rules.

At the heart of the appeal, is testimony from the brothers' uncle. . . .Van Hoek is arguing that the uncle's testimony should never have been included in the trials.

Van Hoek said that if the appeal is denied, there's a "100 percent guarantee it'll go to the Michigan Supreme Court."

 

[byo]

Appeals court rejects claims by brother convicted of 1989 murder
Posted 2:15 PM, February 10, 2017, by Bob Brenzing

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Michigan Court of Appeals has denied an appeal by two brothers convicted of a 1989 murder in Newaygo County.

(. . .)The appeals were based on the defense claims that some of the testimony admitted as evidence was “hearsay.” The appeals court rejected that claim.

Matthew Jones is serving a sentence of life in prison. Paul Jones is serving 30-75 years in prison.

 

[Spartygirl]

I had not heard of this case before and it is on Lifetime right now, so I searched here on WS and found it !!!

 

[CastlesBurning]

Ex-ME’s daughter crafts novel based on Michigan cold case

 

[Clair Louise]

Interesting article about the investigation.

Anatomy of a cold case: 'Hardy boys,' beauty of hindsight and jailhouse bombshell
By Heather Lynn Peters
September 22, 2015 at 10:51 AM, updated September 23, 2015 at 9:20 AM

NEWAYGO COUNTY, MI –The Shannon Siders case, rooted in Newaygo County, is a twisting, turning, heart-wrenching tale of a beautiful young lady brutally beaten, sexually assaulted and killed in the middle of the Manistee National Forest.
For more than 20 years after a startled hunter discovered a body in the woods, no related arrests were made and the case went cold.

[...]
The cold case team consisted of Michigan State Police troopers Mike Stephens and John Forner, longtime Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Scott Rios, Newaygo County Detective Sgt. Adam Mercer and Newaygo County Sheriff Pat Hedlund. Rios was appointed the team leader.
Here is their story.

[The Jones brothers were arrested in the summer of 2014.]

[...]
In the meantime, more information was trickling in. Perhaps the biggest breaks in the case came toward the end, "right before trial," Mercer recalled.

A relative of the Jones brothers came forward. He told investigators working the cold case that the two brothers came over to his house shortly after the 1989 homicide.
"They had made full disclosure that they had raped and killed Shannon," Mercer said.

Once the Jones brothers were arrested, their uncle, Ron King, told cold case investigators that he had come forward early on in the investigation, years and years ago, but somehow his call got lost in the shuffle. There was no documentation of that 1989 call he said he made to police, Forner said.

King's statement to investigators was that the brothers said they thought they had gotten away with Siders' murder, stating that had Siders "given them what they wanted" then they wouldn't have killed her. Authorities maintain that Siders rebuffed their sexual advances, and that's why the Jones brothers killed her.

much more at the link

The first incels. She should have given us what we wanted and were entitled to, being men.

 

[CastlesBurning]

Newaygo native authors fiction book about the real-life Shannon Siders murder case | wzzm13.com

Newaygo native and author Jennifer Dornbush grew up fascinated with the Shannon Siders murder case. She recently wrote a book about it.