Two guilty in murder-for-hire plots
A 26-year-old Ray Township woman and 31-year-old Oak Park man were found guilty by a jury Tuesday for their roles in two attempts to try to kill an Armada Township woman engaged in an acrimonious divorce.
Christina “Chrissy” Sears, who had been free on bond, was immediately escorted to the Macomb County Jail as she likely faces at least 15 years in prison on convictions of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and solicitation of murder, both punishable by up to life in prison.
David A. Clark, who was being held on bond, was convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree degree murder and home invasion, and also likely faces 15 years or more.
The pair were the third and fourth defendants of five who were arrested one year ago this month for hatching two plots to kill Jessica Sears, 32, who was in the midst of a divorce with Kevin Sears.
Assistant Macomb prosecutor William Dailey has tried four defendants in three trials.
“Thanks to law enforcement doing good and thorough investigative work and acting quickly — they jumped on it fast — a woman’s life was saved,” Dailey said. “These people were determined to have this woman murdered.”
The verdicts arrived after more than four hours of jury deliberations over two days and a week-long trial in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens.
After the jury read the verdict, Dailey was hugged by Jessica Sears’ father. The approximately one dozen supporters of Christina Sears were visibly shaken by the verdict. Sears, who has seven siblings, comes from a close-knit family.
“There wasn’t any verbal outbursts, but there was some crying and sobbing,” Dailey said.
Dailey acknowledged all of the convicted defendants face long prison terms despite nobody being harmed or killed, but he noted that if they had been successful and convicted, they would be facing sentences of life without parole.
Sears’ attorney, Ben Gonek, could not be reached for comment.
Clark’s attorney, Michael Dennis, said after the verdict that his client did not receive a fair trial due to the all-white jury, a situation that may be argued on appeal. His motion for a new trial based on that argument after the jury was selected was denied by Judge John Foster. Dennis noted there was only one black juror among the pool of 65 prospective jurors from which the panel was chosen. Clark is black.
“If we have 8 to 10 percent of Macomb County black, why can we only get one juror in the pool?” Dennis asked.
Dailey said Dennis failed to show bias. “His motion showed no systematic discrimination,” he said.
Another potential appeal issue is the judge denying Dennis’ request for the jury to consider that Clark “withdrew” and/or “abandoned” his plan to kill, Dennis said. But Dailey noted that the conspiracy charge only required that Clark agree with the plot. In fact, the withdrawal defense requires the defendant to take steps to prevent the plot from progressing.
“He could have went to police and told them, ‘There’s people that are trying to kill this lady,’” Dailey said.
Sears was involved with co-defendants in the hiring of Clark, who along with Jorden Powell was paid $1,000 by convicted codefendant Mallorie Wilson-Strat and was to receive another $14,000 from life insurance proceeds.
Clark and Powell broke into Jessica Sears’ home March 23, 2011. Clark walked up to her bedroom door and reached out, but said he changed his mind and pulled back his hand, although Dailey argued that Clark turned the knob but was thwarted by a child safety device on the handle.
“Why would you reach for the door handle” if he had changed his mind?” Dailey said.
Sears’ solicitation charge resulted from contributing $400 of the $500 down payment made to undercover sheriff’s Sgt. John Glass posing as a hit man. She met with Glass twice at the Comfort Inn Suites hotel in Warren, where she worked, once with Wilson-Strat and once with her friend and codefendant, Bashar Mansour, the fifth defendant who faces a May 8 trial.
Both Sears and Clark’s involvement were backed by their own statements and text messages. In her written statement, Sears said the plan elevated from harming to murdering Jessica Sears.
“Her written statement said, ‘It turned to killing,’” Dailey said.
Clark’s incriminating text messages were made from his girlfriend’s phone, but Dailey attributed them to him.
Although Kevin Sears has not been charged, Glass testified that the case is still under investigation.
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Last updated: 1/25/2012
2012 News
Detroit man convicted of all charges in Warren murder
Published: Thursday, March 15, 2012
By Jameson Cook
jamie.cook@macombdaily.com; @jamesoncook
A 20-year-old Detroit man was convicted of all charges Wednesday by a Macomb County jury for fatally stabbing a Warren man 132 times in his condominium in November 2010.
A jury deliberated two hours before convicting Andrew T. Clark of first-degree murder, felony murder, arson, larceny and unlawfully driving away a vehicle for the death of Robert Miller, 57. Clark will be sentenced to life in prison without parole at his April 24 sentencing by Judge James Biernat Jr. in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens.
The verdict produced tears and hugs among about 20 extended family members of Miller in the courtroom. Most of them attended all or most of the trial.
“We’re just really ecstatic the jury came up with the right decision, the proper, a quick and just decision, and that this defendant will get what he deserves,” said Carl Territo Jr., Miller’s nephew, moments after the verdict surrounded by family and relatives outside the courtroom. “His actions have affected not only our family but his family and has destroyed two lives.
Territo said the verdict is particularly vindicating for Miller’s two adult daughters, Meredith and Mallory Miller, who testified.
“The release of emotion is a year and a half of waiting for vindication for my uncle,” he said. “We’re grateful … that we’re able to move on to this point onto which we can now have closure. Rather than rehash this on a daily, weekly basis. We can move on and remember all the fun and good times we had.”
Clark and Miller first made contact through www.megamates.com, an internet and telephone dating service about two weeks before the Nov. 23, 2010, slaying.
Assistant Macomb prosecutor Chad Davis said Clark never intended to date Miller but plotted to rob and kill him, “preying on” Miller’s perceived weaknesses as a homosexual by pretending to be gay himself.
“The defendant initiated the contact with Mr. Miller and basically groomed him,” Davis said. “He found out he had a nice condominium, a nice car, nice things.
“I believe he is a cold-blooded killer who showed no remorse throughout this process. After the murder, he acted as if nothing happened. He called his girlfriend. He went to school. He had Thanksgiving dinner.”
Davis and Clark’s attorney, Randy Rodnick, agreed a key in the case was a jailhouse conversation Clark had with his brother that was recorded and played for jurors. Clark admitted to his brother he planned to rob Miller.
Rodnick in arguing for second-degree murder contended that Clark didn’t premeditate the slaying but angrily reacted to Miller making a pass at Clark because Clark expected women to be at the home.
But Davis rejected that and said he believes Miller likely was attacked as they entered the condominium and may have been tortured in a chair.
Miller left his job at The Home Depot in Madison Heights and picked up Clark at or near his home on Orleans Street before returning to his Miller’s home at Maple Lane Condominiums at 14 Mile and Hoover roads.
Clark said he had to kill Miller or Miller would retaliate, he told his brother. Clark said Miller begged for his life and asked that he not take his car, a new 2010 Nissan Maxima.
Clark left a note that said, “He said tell the Family he loves them. Sincerely(sic), the Killer.”
Miller’s car was found in flames 24 hours later in Detroit. Clark also stole two rings, which he pawned for $100, a cell phone that was found a garbage truck in Detroit and a computer that burned with the car. The condominium’s upstairs was ransacked.
Warren Detective Robert Eidt said another key was a garbage truck driver finding Miller’s cell phone on top of a trash load. Warren police detectives detected more than 40 calls between Miller and Clark’s landline phone.
A fingernail found at the scene was matched to Clark, and Miller’s earrings were found in Clark’s home.
A notepad in Miller’s residence had a list of names, with “1060 Andre,” Clark’s megamates names, last on the list.
As poverty worsens in Macomb County, child abuse, neglect rise
Published: Monday, January 23, 2012
By Maryanne Kocis MacLeod
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
Child abuse and neglect cases jumped 27 percent in Macomb County during the past decade while about 40 percent of K-12 children qualified for free and reduced prices lunches, according to the latest Kids Count in Michigan report.
“The findings show that kids in Macomb County and across the state are still suffering the fallout from our long recession,” said Jan Zehnder-Merrell, the Kids Count in Michigan director at the Michigan League for Human Services. “Poverty in Michigan is as big a threat to our children as polio was to a previous generation. We know that when poverty increases, child abuse and neglect increases, especially neglect. There is a direct link between poverty and neglect.”
The Kids Count report is released through a collaboration between the Michigan League for Human Services and Michigan’s Children, nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organizations, dedicated to the well-being of children and families.
“Things have gotten so bad economically, there’s a rising frustration in the home, due to unemployment, inability to pay heat and electric bills and increased substance abuse,” said assistant Macomb County prosecutor John Ange, a former St. Clair County assistant prosecutor, who’s spent the better part of the last two decades prosecuting childhood abuse and neglect cases. “A lot of times what we see is that negative behavior replaces what was once positive behavior (employment).”
Since his election eight years ago, Prosecutor Eric Smith has expanded his department’s focus on child abuse and neglect, Ange said, by making it easier to report possible violations by improving access to the case reporting form, by prominently posting a reporting link on the department’s website.
“Practically the whole website is dedicated to child abuse and neglect,” said Ange, who added that Smith’s commitment to the cause prompted him to join the department. “I personally have received calls from members of the community who wanted to report a case because of the website.”
Ange said he’s also provided expanded training to Department of Human Services staff, and that DHS has increased the number of case workers who address abuse and neglect.
Karen Olsen, Great Start Collaborative Coordinator at the Macomb Intermediate School District also pointed to the increased poverty rate as factor. The poverty rate in Michigan has increased by “at least 50 percent since 2006.”
“As a state we have seen an 11% decrease in the median household income,” which out of 50 states, means Michigan has experienced the second highest drop, Olsen explained.
Statewide ”the most common form of abuse and neglect is physical neglect,” Olsen continued. “More families are living with less money and families are doing all they can to keep their home and provide for their children.”
The Macomb Great Start Collaborative and the Great Parents, Great Start, encourages families, regardless of income, with children ages 0-5 to utilize its toll-free hotline (866) 462-2662 to connect with local resources and support.
“Connecting families to programs and supports ... reduces stress and encourages positive relationships through social connections,” said Jo Anne Elkin, Early Childhood/Early Literacy Consultant with the MISD.
The Great Start Parent Coalition, which meets in Clinton Township, New Baltimore and Warren, also addresses need. For more information, call (866) 462-2662.
And Michele Corey, vice president for programs at Michigan’s Children talked about how “Children in poverty often experience hunger, abuse or neglect, extreme stress, depression or anxiety, and other issues impacting their overall health, as well as their ability to learn and grow into successful adults.”
“The best public policies, “Corey went on to say, “must address the whole child from cradle to career, and this data can help guide these policies.”
The report ranks counties on 16 indicators of child well-being (with No. 1 being the best), though data is not available to rank smaller counties on all 16. Trends over time are available for 15 indicators, with nine indicators improving and six worsening. Macomb County ranked No. 7 of 34 counties for child deaths (ages 1-14) with a rate of 14.6 deaths per 100,000 compared with the statewide rate of 17.4 per 100,000.
The county’s worst ranking was No. 69 of 81 counties for low-birthweight babies (born weighing less than 5.5 pounds) with 8.7 percent of Macomb babies being born too small compared with 8.5 percent statewide.
Sheriff's sergeant guilty of accessing LEIN, gets $300 fine, delayed sentence
Published: Wednesday, January 25, 2012
David Willis was fined $300 and given a deferred sentence by a judge Tuesday after a jury convicted the deputy sheriff of illegally accessing the Law Enforcement Information Network.
Willis, a sergeant in the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office, was convicted of the misdemeanor for checking the criminal record of a county employee in 2010 and passing the information to a supporter who worked for his mother.
Willis, 44, agreed with District Judge Carrie Fuca’s suggestion for an immediate sentence, and Fuca issued the fine and offered the delayed sentence in which the charge could be dismissed in one year.
“I think the court saw a lot of the wild accusations from the county and realized that at best this was a technical violation of the law,” said Willis’ attorney Mark Porter.
At the start of the trial and out of the presence of the jury, Judge Fuca said from the bench that Willis had a “good chance” of being acquitted.
Assistant Macomb prosecutor Gordon Hosbein didn’t oppose the $300 fine without jail time but objected to the delayed sentence.
“I don’t believe that after the jury convicted him that he deserves to have it come off his record,” Hosbein said afterward. “The jury went through the process of the conviction. It’s almost taking it out of their hands.”
He said he was satisfied with the conviction.
“It’s a sad day for everyone when a police officer is convicted of a crime, but it shows that no one is above the law,” he said. “The jury convicted him because he violated the law.”
The verdict followed a trial that lasted more than seven hours over two days in front of a six-person jury and Fuca in 41B District Court in Clinton Township. The jury deliberated about two hours.
David Willis was fined $300 and given a deferred sentence by a judge Tuesday after a jury convicted the deputy sheriff of illegally accessing the Law Enforcement Information Network.
Willis, a sergeant in the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office, was convicted of the misdemeanor for checking the criminal record of a county employee in 2010 and passing the information to a supporter who worked for his mother.
Willis, 44, agreed with District Judge Carrie Fuca’s suggestion for an immediate sentence, and Fuca issued the fine and offered the delayed sentence in which the charge could be dismissed in one year.
“I think the court saw a lot of the wild accusations from the county and realized that at best this was a technical violation of the law,” said Willis’ attorney Mark Porter.
At the start of the trial and out of the presence of the jury, Judge Fuca said from the bench that Willis had a “good chance” of being acquitted.
Assistant Macomb prosecutor Gordon Hosbein didn’t oppose the $300 fine without jail time but objected to the delayed sentence.
“I don’t believe that after the jury convicted him that he deserves to have it come off his record,” Hosbein said afterward. “The jury went through the process of the conviction. It’s almost taking it out of their hands.”
He said he was satisfied with the conviction.
“It’s a sad day for everyone when a police officer is convicted of a crime, but it shows that no one is above the law,” he said. “The jury convicted him because he violated the law.”
The verdict followed a trial that lasted more than seven hours over two days in front of a six-person jury and Fuca in 41B District Court in Clinton Township. The jury deliberated about two hours.
A panel of command officers has recommended five days of unpaid suspension.
Willis could appeal the departmental discipline through his union, and could appeal the criminal conviction.
Willis has said that the charge was politically motivated.
“I don’t know who in the county, but the county machinery went after him,” Porter said.
Hosbein countered that the sheriff’s office was mandated to present the case to prosecutors or could lose its state LEIN privileges.
“Had we not dealt with this issue, the sheriff’s department could be sanctioned and could have the LEIN system taken away,” Hosbein said. “We had to do something.”
Liz Canfield, an analyst in LEIN field services for the Michigan State Police, testified she asked the sheriff’s office to investigate and reiterated that a police officer cannot reveal LEIN information to a nonoffical.
Wickersham said his department pays close attention to LEIN use.
Jury convicts man for choking 3-year-old stepson; he claimed the devil made him do it
By Jameson Cook
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
He claimed insanity, said devil made him do it
A 36-year-old Warren man was found guilty of attempted murder and child abuse Tuesday for choking his 3-year-old stepson and leaving him in a snow bank last winter.
A jury rejected an insanity defense and deliberated about three hours before convicting Randall Caballero following a four-day trial in front of Judge Mary Chrzanowski in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens.
The attempted murder charge is punishable by up to life in prison, but a preliminary review of sentencing guidelines show a general range of about 10 to 20 years in prison.
Assistant Macomb County prosecutor William Cataldo said he proved that Caballero faked mental illness for several years. The jury also discarded the potential verdict of "guilty but mentally ill," which would have mandated psychological treatment in prison.
The case pitted two experts against each other. Psychologist Jean Kanitz of the State Center for Forensic Psychology in Saline testified that Caballero pretended to be crazy, while Caballero's treating psychiatrist, Dr. Mamoun Dabbagh, insisted the defendant was insane.
Caballero's attorney, Kendall Sailler, said Caballero has been diagnosed as bipolar for which he has been hospitalized at least four times since 2007.
But Cataldo noted that Dabbagh's place of employment, the Behavioral Center of Michigan in Warren, determined in an evaluation following Caballero's four-day stay in January 2010 that he was a "drug-seeking malingerer."
Caballero's ex-wife, Spring, testified that her ex-husband researched psychological disorders at the library in order to fake mental illness so he didn't have to work and could collect disability funds.
Cataldo said Caballero was angry at his wife at the time and took it out on the child.
Caballero was caring for several children about 10 p.m. Dec. 17, 2010, when he took the lightly dressed boy from their home on Arden Drive near 14 Mile and Ryan roads and walked about a quarter-mile to Dowland Street, where he choked him and pushed him in a snow bank.
The coat-clad Caballero crossed 14 Mile to Crestwell Street in Sterling Heights, where he knocked on a door and told Skirus Yousiff that he was afraid he would injure himself or someone else.
A police officer, responding to a whimpering sound, found the boy on Dowland Street with a body temperature of 79.5 degrees.
Meanwhile, Caballero told police Detective Ken Mercer, "I strangled my 3-year-old stepson and left his body on Dowland." He added that the "devil made" him do it.
The boy, now 5, has recovered from his physical injuries and receives counseling. He resides with his father and twin brother in Madison Heights as well as with his mother in Sterling Heights.
