Defense probes investigators in Benzie triple homicide case

Oct. 28—BEULAH — A district court judge has granted a continuance in a lengthy preliminary hearing for an Elberta man who is charged with multiple counts of open murder in the deaths of three members of his family.

Robert Michael Freebold, 59, faces three counts of open murder following a Nov. 20 shooting where his son, Robert James Freebold, Jr., 27, ex-wife, Marilyn Schultz Freebold, 63, and her son Malachi Andrew Maloney, 20, were killed.

The decision by 85th District Court Judge John D. Mead on Wednesday followed testimony by first responders and medical personnel who shared details of the complex and bloody crime scene they encountered at a Grand Street home the night of a shooting.

"It would have been almost impossible to walk through the scene without stepping on something," Lt. Troy Lamerson, a detective with the Benzie County Sheriff's Office, testified Tuesday. "There was blood all over the house."

The continuance will allow Benzie County Prosecutor Sara Swanson and Freebold's defense team time to review court transcripts and access lengthy DNA, blood spatter and firearms analysis data recorded by a Michigan State Police crime scene response team and others.

Freebold was charged after autopsies showed the victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds, some at close range, and the Benzie County Medical Examiner and a pathologist with Western Michigan University labeled their deaths as homicide.

Defense attorneys James Amberg and Jesse Williams honed in on what they characterized as a chaotic crime scene — when responders first arrived, for example, the defendant was found lying halfway out the front door of the home, bleeding from what was thought to be gunshot wound.

Inside the house as many as seven barking dogs were locked in a back bedroom and Robert "Bobby" Michael Freebold Jr. and his mother were deceased, both with multiple gunshot wounds to the head.

Munson emergency room staff later determined the elder Freebold's head wounds were the result of blunt force trauma of unknown origin, records show.

Emergency medical responders discovered Malachi Maloney still had a faint pulse, though before EMTs could provide care, law enforcement first had to secure a handgun found partially underneath his body and covered in blood.

Maloney later died of a gunshot wound, records show.

Defense attorneys pointed to the handgun as an example of how physical evidence in the case might not have been properly preserved — a suggestion Prosecutor Swanson on Tuesday put into perspective.

"When you are on the scene, what is more important, preservation of evidence or preservation of life?" she asked Lamerson.

"Preservation of life," Lamerson said.

Amberg on Wednesday asked Sgt. Cody Kastl, a Benzie County Sheriff's detective Lamerson put in charge of the investigation, whether it was possible the crime could have been a murder-suicide.

Kastl said it was possible.

On Tuesday and Wednesday the defense lawyers referenced what they characterized as Bobby Freebold's drug use and mental health issues.

Dr. Lois Goslinoski, a forensic pathologist who conducted an autopsy on Bobby, testified she found cannabis in his system, as well as a low level of methamphetamine and olanzapine, a prescription drug used to treat schizophrenia.

"What happened inside that house is still today a mystery," Amberg said.

"Well, not a complete mystery," Kastl responded. "There were four people in that house. Three are deceased and one is alive."

Two gun safes, two handguns, 14 spent shell casings, bullet fragments, pieces of lead and a bear claw slipper with blood on the sole were recovered from the scene and analyzed, records show.

Freebold remains lodged in the Benzie County jail; he attended the preliminary hearing, took copious notes on a yellow legal pad and frequently consulted his attorneys, though did not testify.

A charge of "open" murder allows a prosecutor, judge or jury to amend the crimes to first- or second-degree murder. But first the district court judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to bind the case over to circuit court for trial.

The hearing is expected to reconvene next month for additional witness testimony and closing arguments, officials said.