BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – An ex-Marine has pleaded not guilty to charges he killed an Indiana University professor who he claimed sexually assaulted him days before.
Twenty-five-year-old Michael J. Griffin of Bloomington answered “not guilty” Wednesday when a Monroe County judge asked him how he pleaded in the death of 53-year-old Don Belton, an assistant professor of English.
According to court documents, Griffin told police he fatally stabbed Belton during an argument Sunday. Griffin alleged that Belton had sexually assaulted him twice on Christmas Day.
Griffin was ordered held without bond in the Monroe County Jail.
Belton taught at the University of Michigan and elsewhere before joining the IU faculty. His friends scheduled a candlelight vigil in his memory Friday night on Bloomington’s courthouse square.
Source: chicagotribune.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – An ex-Marine has pleaded not guilty to charges he killed an Indiana University professor who he claimed sexually assaulted him days before. Twenty-five-year-old Michael J. Griffin of Bloomington answered “not guilty” Wednesday when a Monroe County judge asked him how he pleaded in the death of 53-year-old Don Belton, an assistant professor [...]
Ryan Cooke didn’t know that his fiancé had been brutally murdered seven hours earlier when he posted on his Facebook page: “HEY…does anyone know where Chris is?” at 10:04am on Sun Oct 18.
Cooke had lost his phone and no one could reach him. Police had been called to the corner of Adelaide St E and Victoria St at 3:05am by several eyewitnesses who had seen Cooke’s fiancé Chris Skinner attacked by a group of men who beat him to the ground then ran over him with an SUV. Skinner was taken to hospital where he died of his injuries.
Friends of Skinner suspect that the killing may have been a hate crime, but police haven’t drawn that conclusion.
“No, there’s not at all any indication that there were homophobic elements to the attack,” says Det Stacey Gallant.
But that doesn’t sit well with Skinner’s friends who are struggling to find a motive for the murder.
“Not a single person who knows him would say that he would cause a ruckus,” says Skinner’s long-time friend Craig Lund, “but he would stand up for himself if he was called on anything. I find that Toronto Police very rarely jump to the conclusion that homophobia exists.”
Skinner, 27, lived with Cooke and they planned to get married next summer. He worked as a graphic designer at Endeavour Marketing. Cooke could not be reached for comment at press time.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Stacy Gallant at 416−808−7410 and Detective Doug Dunstan at 416−808−7406, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416−222−8477
Source: http://www.xtra.ca
Ryan Cooke didn’t know that his fiancé had been brutally murdered seven hours earlier when he posted on his Facebook page: “HEY…does anyone know where Chris is?” at 10:04am on Sun Oct 18. Cooke had lost his phone and no one could reach him. Police had been called to the corner of Adelaide St E [...]
