William (Al) Grant father of recently convicted murderer Stephen Grant
Chris
By AMBER HUNT . Free Press Staff Writer . June 13, 2008.
The father of Stephen Grant -- the Washington Township man who made national
news for killing and dismembering his wife -- died today of a self-inflicted
gunshot wound to the head, St. Clair County Sheriff Dan Lane reported.
William (Al) Grant, 66, called 911 at about 1:40 p.m. today, identified
himself and said he wanted to report a suicide. When asked whose suicide he
was reporting, Grant replied his own, a source close to the investigation
told the Free Press.
A deputy who arrived a short time after the call at a home in the 3000 block
of Connors Road in Emmett Township heard a single gunshot. The deputy found
Grant inside a detached garage, where he had shot himself in the head, Lane
stated in a prepared statement.
Grant, who was still alive, was transported to Port Huron Hospital by TRI
Hospital EMS. While being treated at the hospital, he died at 4:20 p.m.,
Lane reported.
Daniel Spitz, who serves as medical examiner for St. Clair and Macomb
counties, said Grant died of a single gunshot wound in an apparent suicide.
Family members have been notified and were cooperating with investigating
detectives, Lane stated.
Stephen Grant, 38, was convicted in December of second-degree murder for
strangling his wife, 34-year-old Tara Grant. He then dismembered her in his
father's Mt. Clemens tool-and-die shop and stored her torso in a bin inside
the shop for about a week without his father's knowledge.
Stephen Grant had claimed his wife had left home in a huff after an argument
Feb. 9, 2007. His story unraveled when police conducted a search of his home
a month later and found his wife's torso -- moved the previous day from his
father's shop -- in the couple's garage. He was sentenced to 50 to 80 years
in prison and is currently serving time at the Bellamy Creek Correctional
Facility in Iona County.
William Grant did not speak publicly about the allegations against his son,
nor did he attend Stephen Grant's highly publicized trial. He rarely visited
the Macomb County Jail during Stephen Grant's nearly year-long stay there.
He and Stephen Grant's mother divorced years ago.
Workers in businesses neighboring the elder Grant's tool and die shop said
he was a hard-working man who liked working alongside his son.
Kelly Utykanski, Stephen Grant's sister, couldn't be reached for comment
today.