Delayed Justice

Christopher Wayne McMillan will be in Eaton County Circuit Court April 19 (scheduled for 8:30 a.m.) for a status conference. This may be routine, but one never knows. According to his attorney, John Deming, he is unlikely to be there to allocute.

Mr. McMilland is accused of murdering (homicide–open murder), conspiring to murder, and mutilating the body of Roberto Higüey Alejandro Caraballo on or about May 7, 2002. His bail was set at $1 million and he is now in the custody of the Eaton County Jail. He is changed with co-defendants Beverly McCallum and her daughter Dineane Ducharme. Ms. DuCharme is being extradited from a jail in Texas. Ms. McCallum is in the wind, perhaps in Pakistan, according to Sheriff Tom Reich in his presser of April 4.

Mr. McMillan comes to circuit court after waiving his right to a preliminary hearing in district court.

The arrest warrants for the three were issued November 7 of last year. How long has he been in custody? The officer at the booking desk in the county jail indicates that he has been there since November 8, the day after the warrants were issued. So, about five months, a long time. And it wasn’t until a reporter for the Lansing State Journal, Kara Berg, came across the case, that the matter was brought to light, perhaps as a result of her noting that on March 26 the court scheduled the status conference in a murder case, previously unremarked.

There is a notice on his arrest complaint that his DNA is on file from a previous case. I am sure all that will be forthcoming.

So, this Friday is Good Friday.