MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan appeals court has affirmed the conviction of a man in the disappearance and death of a gas station clerk in western Michigan.
Some evidence found at Jeffrey Willis’ home should have been excluded at trial, the court said, but it doesn’t outweigh other “strong untainted evidence” that showed he was responsible for Jessica Heeringa’s death.
Heeringa, 25, disappeared in 2013 while working at a gas station in Norton Shores in Muskegon County. Her body hasn’t been found.
The appeals court last Thursday found no problem with prosecutors telling jurors about Willis’ connection to the death of another woman, Rebekah Bletsch.
Bletsch, 36, was fatally shot while jogging in 2014. Willis, 49, is serving life sentences for both deaths.
Willis was arrested in 2016 when a teenager said he tried to kidnap her. The arrest jump-started investigations of the Bletsch homicide and Heeringa’s disappearance.
- Posted December 31, 2019
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Michigan appeals court affirms conviction in gas station clerk's murder
headlines Oakland County
- Historical: Circuit Court judge has made indelible mark
- ABA amicus brief supports noncitizens’ right to a bond hearing when detention becomes ‘unreasonably prolonged’
- Nessel secures full victory in lawsuit challenging administration’s attack on fair housing protections
- Whitmer announces new automotive jobs, investment in Oakland County
- AG pushes federal government to strengthen rules to combat illegal robocalls
headlines National
- Lindsay Clancy trial shows how hard it is to prove intent retroactively
- Is there a religious right to abortion? State supreme court will weigh in
- Harvey raises $550M in latest round of funding
- Vanderbilt law students will gain access to AI-powered deposition simulations
- Federal judges’ interns may accept stipends from law firms, ethics panel says
- Former lawyer who pulled gun on ex-wife in restaurant convicted of attempted murder
