Homicides spike in Benzie, state, nation

Oct. 17—BEULAH — Benzie County Prosecutor Sara Swanson hadn't worked a murder case since 2013.

Then COVID-19 hit, people's social and professional lives contracted inward and in 2020, homicides spiked in this small rural county of 18,000.

"There was no time away, no break," Swanson said of the forced togetherness resulting from shut down orders and quarantines. "I can't say for sure our two cases were related to the pandemic. They could have been."

Swanson prosecuted Taylor Manol, 24, for drinking a fifth of bourbon on April 5, 2020, shooting into his neighbor's home and killing him, records show. A jury found Manol guilty of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to life in prison.

Months later in Elberta, a tiny village of 372 tucked between Betsie Lake and Lake Michigan, a calamitous crime scene awaited responders to a 911 call made last year.

Dispatchers heard only ragged breathing, as previously reported, but the line stayed open long enough for officers to identify a street address.

Marilyn Schultz Freebold, 63, and one of her sons, Robert James Freebold, 27, had been shot to death and officers found Marilyn's younger son, Malachi Andrew Maloney, 20, mortally wounded, reports show.

Marilyn's ex-husband, Robert Michael Freebold, 58, has since been charged with three counts of open murder. A preliminary hearing, adjourned in June, is scheduled to resume later this month.

The increase in homicides in Benzie County last year mirrors what the Federal Bureau of Investigation found nationally and statewide, recently released data shows.

Homicides in Michigan surged 35.5 percent in 2020, the highest one-year percentage increase since 1980 — the earliest year for which the FBI's data is available.

In 2020, there were 660 homicides in Michigan — up from 487 in 2019, the FBI found.

Nationwide, homicides rose 29.4 percent, FBI data shows.

Area officials remarked on what they say is not only a rise in incidents of domestic violence but also in the severity of harm inflicted on victims.

While neither Kalkaska, Leelanau or Grand Traverse counties recorded a single homicide in 2020, officials there said they investigated crimes which showed an alarming level of brutality.

"Assaults were often overly violent and strangulations were up, almost double," said Leelanau County Assistant Prosecutor Tristan Chamberlain.

Capt. Chris Clark, head of Grand Traverse County Sheriff Office's road patrol division provided data that showed officers spent 2,441 hours investigating assaults in 2019, and 2,788 hours in 2020.

There were 438 assault cases in 2019 and 554 in 2020, a 30 percent increase, GTSO information shows.

This increase in attacks and the severity of violence inflicted on victims increased the workload of staff with the Michigan State Police crime labs.

"We're feeling that," said Inspector Ryan M. Larrison, MSP crime lab's manager for quality assurance. "We've had just a huge influx of violent crime cases — and those are the ones we prioritize for public safety. We tend to throw those on the front burner of the stove."

Larrison said staff with MSP's seven crime labs spread throughout the state, and its CODIS, or Combined DNA Index System lab in Lansing, have all seen a jump in caseloads.

The MSP's crime lab in Grayling, which Swanson said the county utilized in both the Manol and Freebold cases, specializes in latent prints, serology — blood evidence analysis — crime scene processing and firearms toolmarks.

The preliminary exam in the Freebold case was adjourned, at least in part, to give the MSP crime lab staff adequate time to analyze evidence, court records show.

Larrison and Swanson both declined comment on specific evidence, citing the case's ongoing nature, Larrison said turnaround time for processing is generally 30 to 45 days, though staff must prioritize accuracy over expediency.

"It's important that we have productivity and expectations, but we also don't want to put pressure on staff for getting something done," Larrison said. "This is someone's life at stake, their freedom."

The preliminary exam in the Freebold open murder case is scheduled to resume Oct. 26 in 85th District Court. Freebold is being represented by Benzonia attorney Jesse Williams.