Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Comic Bookstore Killer Case



In a Macomb County courtroom not far from his old comic book store in a Clinton Township strip mall, Michael George finally stood trial for killing his wife and business partner, Barbara.

George was long remarried, and using the insurance money from his wife's death, had opened a new comic book store on the east coast.

This was a cold case trial. A new unit had pursued twenty such cases under the leadership of Steve Kaplan, an aggressive prosecutor. This case had nothing but circumstantial evidence to offer.

An irony here was that George's attorney, Carl Marlinga, was the former chief prosecuting attorney for Macomb County. He had left office to run for the Senate, been defeated, and returned to private practice.

The case can be found in detail on the DATELINE website since it was a two-hour DATELINE episode last year. But briefly. George was eventually convicted of killing his wife while she worked alone in the stockroom of their comic book store. She was shot from above. The theory went, he had opened a sklylight and shot her from the roof.

The police chief at the time of her murder was the father of the current chief prosecuting attorney, Eric Smith. So this case was a very personal one. George was eventually convicted. The case goes to the Michigan Appellate Court today.

My son, an appellate prosecutor, will try to keep George behind bars. Stay tuned.

288032

PEOPLE OF MI V MICHAEL RALPH GEORGE
Attorneys:
PL-AT JOSHUA D ABBOTT Oral Argument Preserved
DF-AE MARK J KRIGER Oral Argument Preserved
DF-AE CARL J MARLINGA Oral Argument Preserved


16 comments:

Deb said...

I just saw this on one of those cold-case shows. Call me cynical, but whenever a wife is murdered and her husband has a perconstructed alibi for the very narrow wedge of time in which it is assumed she died, I'm always suspicious.

YA Sleuth said...

These cases are always a good reminder (to me, anyways) that the stuff we write about happens in real life, with real life consequences for all involved.

pattinase (abbott) said...

And especially when he'd just taken a big insurance policy out.
Unfortunately yes. And this is far from his worst case. He also is handling the case where the guy chopped his wife up and put her in the freezer while his kids slept.

Steve Oerkfitz said...

I can never understand how someone will kill their spouse just after taking out a large insurance policy. Talk about a red flag.

Richard Robinson said...

I'm immediately reminded of Richard Lupoff's book THE COMIC BOOK KILLER, though the plot of the book is not the same.

Richard Robinson said...

I sure hope no one ever kills my wife. I never have an alibi.

"Uh, well I was just at home, by myself, reading a book... no one saw me, I can't prove it..."

Richard Robinson said...

Oh, and congrats to Megan on her nomination for a Hammett Award!

Anonymous said...

Hello! pattinase (abbott)
I just read this great news about author Megan Abbott.
Congratulation! goes out to her...for receiving this award.

2010 Hammett Prize Award

pattinase (abbott) said...

The Dateline thing was pretty amazing. So many nuances with the case.
Thanks on behalf of Megan!

Anonymous said...

Patti - Please stop by my blog. Something awaits you there : ).

Evan Lewis said...

Tsk, tsk. This guy was reading the wrong comics.

Charles Gramlich said...

I saw the cold case file about tihs too. Interseting.

Anonymous said...

"Oh, and congrats to Megan on her nomination for a Hammett Award!


Oops! I think that I misread the article. Megan, was just nominated for the award.
Oh! well,I still want to congratulate her on being nominated for the Hammett Award!

As for the--"Comic Bookstore Killer Case"
When will people learn that you can't escape the "long arm of the law" and get away with "foolish" crimes.

I'am sorry for "flying" anon(ymous)... because I'am kind of bashful!

Thanks,

vacations said...

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keep going thanks.

the walking man said...

what is he basing his appeal on. i must be reading the wrong papers because I thought this one was settled.

Bob R. said...

As someone who did business with this "person" back when he was in Michigan, I can say that his behavior both before and especially after the murder was very suspicious.

For those that wonder, the appeal is based on alleged prosecution misconduct and alleged evidence regarding a "suspicious person with an alleged fake beard" seen near the store before the murder.

However go to the Dateline site and they should have the crime scene photos posted:

1. No forced entry from the front
2. No broken windows
3. The backdoor can only be opened from the outside with a key, no forced entry from that.
4. The front display cases containing valued collectibles was untouched
5. The register containing about 400-700 dollars was untouched.
6. Barb still had her wallet and jewelry on.

Sure doesn't look like a "robbery gone bad" does it?