Post by Scumhunter on Oct 10, 2021 3:03:10 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: themorningsun.com)
From themorningsun.com:
Five years after John Erskin was brutally beaten and killed in his Seville Township home his murder remains unsolved even though police believe they know who did it.
Erskin, 67, operated a legal marinjuana growing operation. When police arrived at his house on Oct. 7, 2016, they found his body and signs that a struggle had occurred.
In addition, officers discovered that security cameras and footage, as well as marinjuana plants, were also missing.
Autopsy results showed that Erskin was beaten to death with a blunt object and had likely been dead for several days before his body was discovered.
The lack of closure has frustrated local law enforcement officials.
At that time current Gratiot County Sheriff Mike Morris was the lead detective on the case.
“We’re positive we know who did it,” he said. “We just can’t prove it.”
Authorities believe someone knows something about the case and have offered a $2,000 reward to anyone who has criditable evidence regarding the murder.
According to Morris, the investigation remains ongoing and solving it is still a priority for his department.
“We’re going to put a fresh set of eyes on it and see if we can come up with something new,” he said.
Those “fresh set of eyes” belong to Undersheriff Steve Sopocy, a lifelong Gratiot County resident who was appointed to the post by Morris in September 2019, after retiring from the Ingham County Sheriff’s Department where he had worked for 25 years.
“Steve has experience working cold cases in Ingham County and he’s going to review the entire case,” Morris said. “We will put out any new information he finds after he’s done that.”
The year before his murder sheriff’s deputies had responded to three marijuana plant larceny complaints and other calls at Erskin’s home.
Several times during the past few years police have gathered evidence that looked promising at the time only to hit a dead end.
In November 2017, a dive team pulled objects from a pond in Pine River Township near Erskin’s home. The items were sent to the Michigan State Police Crime Lab but did not reveal any evidence to help the investigation.
Police have also interviewed and collected DNA samples from a number of possible suspects.
But still no one has been charged with the crime.
Prosecutor Keith Kushion has also reviewed the case with investigators but hasn’t found enough evidence to make an arrest, Morris said.
“We’re going to see if we can figure out anything new,” he added.
A niece, Melissa Martin, told the Morning Sun in a 2019 interview that she also believed she knows who killed her uncle.
Erskin, who “didn’t believe in banks,” had kept a large amount of money hidden in his home, which was also taken, Martin claims.
“Only a few people close to him knew that,” she said. “I feel a lot of people know something that would lead to an arrest but they are afraid to say anything.”
Anyone who may have any information about the case is asked to call the sheriff’s department at 989-875-5214.
www.themorningsun.com/2021/10/06/five-years-later-gratiot-murder-remains-unsolved/
Thoughts? It seems like there is a known likely suspect but unfortunately there is currently not enough to charge them and police need that final piece to the puzzle. Hopefully police can provide it to them.
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