Student Film Leads to Solving of 1979 Brutal Murder
cro...@earthlink.net
slaying of Hope College student and hotel clerk Janet Chandler baffled law
enforcement officials.
As the case grew colder with each passing year, it became less likely that
whoever was responsible would be brought to justice.
Then, a few years ago, a film class at Hope produced a documentary about the
unsolved mystery that sparked new interest in the case. After the film aired
on a Grand Rapids television station in January 2004, investigators started
getting tips again.
Following up on the new information, they arrested Robert Lynch, 66, of
Three Oaks, in February of this year and charged him in connection with the
1979 homicide.
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox announced Wednesday that five more
arrests had been made, including four men and a woman who was the victim's
roommate and boss. They were taken into custody Monday and Tuesday in
Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
"It has always been the mission of all parties involved in this
investigation to ensure that the family of Janet Chandler sees justice. That
day is now coming closer," Cox said during a news conference.
The five men, including Lynch, were working as security guards for the same
company at the time of the killing and were in Holland because they were on
assignment at a local labor strike.
The victim's parents, James and Glenna Chandler, of Muskegon, attended the
news conference but declined to speak to reporters.
Authorities said Janet Chandler was working her job as a clerk at the Blue
Mill Inn on January 31, 1979, when she was kidnapped by the six suspects and
taken to a house where she was beaten, raped and strangled.
A snowplow driver discovered her body a day later about 35 miles south of
Holland in a wooded turnaround on Interstate 196.
Cox identified those arrested this week as: James Cleophas "Bubba" Nelson,
59, of Rand, West Virginia; Arthur Carlton "Carl" Paiva, 54, of Muskegon;
Freddie Bass Parker, 49, of Powellton, West Virginia; Laurie Ann Swank, 48,
of Nescopeck, Pennsylvania; and Anthony Eugene Williams, 55, of Boscobel,
Wisconsin.
Parker's sister Annette Bennett said her brother had left Michigan a day or
two before Chandler was killed and was in West Virginia when it happened.
"My brother is innocent. My brother would not hurt a flea," said Bennett,
41, of Belle, West Virginia.
Nelson's attorney, public defender Ronni Sheets, said she had not met with
him and had no comment. Attempts to reach the other suspects' attorneys or
relatives for comment were unsuccessful.
Holland police Chief John A. Kruithoff said all five were taken into custody
in their hometowns. Like Lynch, the five new suspects were arrested on
warrants charging each of them with three counts of first-degree murder.
Each person is charged with premeditated murder and committing a murder
during the commission of two other felonies, which in this case included
kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct.
While authorities declined to rule out the possibility of more arrests,
Kruithoff said they were "confident we have identified those responsible for
Janet's death."
FragileWarrior
news:iMxQg.403$o71...@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net:
> HOLLAND, Michigan (AP) -- For more than a quarter century, the brutal
> sex slaying of Hope College student and hotel clerk Janet Chandler
> baffled law enforcement officials.
>
> As the case grew colder with each passing year, it became less likely
> that whoever was responsible would be brought to justice.
>
> Then, a few years ago, a film class at Hope produced a documentary
> about the unsolved mystery that sparked new interest in the case.
> After the film aired on a Grand Rapids television station in January
> 2004, investigators started getting tips again.
[..]
How wonderful. Hopefully these young filmmakers will earn some awards for
this, too. Maybe they'll start careers in doing this sort of thing.
JessicaG
<cro...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:iMxQg.403$o71...@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> HOLLAND, Michigan (AP) -- For more than a quarter century, the brutal sex
> slaying of Hope College student and hotel clerk Janet Chandler baffled law
> enforcement officials.
To summarize, 5 out-of-towners and the victim's roommate/boss raped and
murdered the roomate and they never blabbed about it for 27 years. I hope
that's the way it happened but I'm thinking something's not right about
this.
JessicaG
> slaying of Hope College student and hotel clerk Janet Chandler baffled law
> enforcement officials.
More details:
http://www.crimeandjustice.us/forums/lofiversion/index.php?t7628.html
cro...@earthlink.net
"Pneuma Cheney" <fr...@frank.spama> wrote in message
news:nus6h2dpo614o7a8u...@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 21 Sep 2006 14:58:22 GMT, <cro...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>>HOLLAND, Michigan (AP) -- For more than a quarter century, the brutal sex
>>slaying of Hope College student and hotel clerk Janet Chandler baffled law
>>enforcement officials.
>
>
> Always post the original web address with any stories you post.
>
> TIA
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Iraq Body Count: http://icasualties.org/oif/
> Ava Lowery http://www.peacetakescourage.com/whatwillyoudo.html
> The Power of Nightmares - The Rise of the politics of Fear
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0430484/
JonesieCat
"JessicaG" <jjj...@jotjail.com> wrote in message
news:RoCQg.18$p53...@newsfe11.lga...
Oh, I'm thinkin somebody certainly did blab somewhere along the line. Which
is why LE now has alleged perps in custody. jc
Jacque1in
although I now live on the East Coast. Suspect Paiva lives a couple
blocks away from my old upper in Lakeside, judging from his address.
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1158851840290580.xml&coll=8
Investigators say Muskegon woman died after brutal, planned gang rape
Thursday, September 21, 2006
By John Tunison
CHRONICLE NEWS SERVICE
As their anger and jealousy mounted toward the pretty night clerk at
the Blue Mill Inn, a group of security guards living there plotted to
"teach her a lesson," court documents show.
That lesson would include a night of rape, torture and murder, an
evening that remained a secret for 27 years as those responsible
scattered to other states and went on with their lives, police said.
The disturbing scheme -- set against a backdrop of sexual promiscuity
among guards, inn employees and female industrial workers -- is
outlined in an affidavit that details what police say is the
long-unknown motive for Janet Chandler's murder 27 years ago.
"It was known by most, if not all, that Janet was not going to be
coming back," Michigan State Police Detective David VanLopik said of
the planning among guards, their female friends and Chandler's female
work supervisor.
VanLopik's 10-page affidavit exposes a world of seedy sexual exploits
at the Blue Mill Inn that culminated in the calculated killing of the
23-year-old Hope College student on Jan. 31, 1979.
The document was used to obtain arrest warrants this week for five
people who have tried to lead normal lives in four states, but who
harbored a secret, police and witnesses say.
Charged with murder are former Blue Mill Inn manager Laurie Swank, 48,
and four guards: Arthur "Carl" Paiva, 54; Anthony Williams, 55; Freddie
Parker, 49; and James Nelson, 59.
Paiva, in a Wednesday interview, denied allegations he raped Chandler
and told her "You're going to die."
Police however, claim Paiva and other guards were among those at a
"planning session" at the Blue Mill Inn office on U.S. 31. There they
allegedly hatched a scheme to abduct Chandler from the inn, take her to
a guest house on Chemtron property, and gang-rape and kill her. Swank,
Chandler's supervisor, is accused of being an instigator.
According to the affidavit, Chandler was "intimate" with some of the
Wackenhut Security guards who were staying at the inn while working at
the strike-bound Chemtron Corp. in nearby Holland Township. In fact,
several guards had relationships with inn employees and female Chemtron
employees that were "nonmonogamous," the affidavit states.
It has been learned that in the process of these relationships, there
grew intense anger and jealousy toward Janet Chandler, by the guards,
which also was driven by other females who were associated with this
group of security guards," according to the court document
Chandler's nude body was found dumped in a snowbank in the I-196 median
near Covert in a crime initially thought to be a robbery and abduction
at the inn.
But after a two-year probe following a filmed documentary by Hope
College students, a team of "cold-case" police investigators began
exposing details behind her death with the February arrest of former
guard Robert Lynch, 67, of Three Oaks.
Swank lived with Chandler at a house on Holland's north side, but was
not a Hope College student. She allegedly verbally berated Chandler as
she was sexually assaulted and physically beaten with a belt, according
to the affidavit.
The affidavit says Chandler was abducted by trickery after Nelson and
Lynch told her they were having a surprise party for her. Suspects and
witnesses said there were several planning sessions for Chandler's
abduction.
Some even stood on an outdoor hotel balcony and watched Chandler,
apparently handcuffed, being led to a car on the night of her death,
authorities allege.
"In addition to watching out of interest, their job on the balcony was
also to act as lookouts," Van Lopik, the state police detective,
testified in the affidavit.
Once at the house on Chemtron property, Chandler's mouth and eyes were
taped shut and her hands bound, according to the affidavit.
Paiva, a guard supervisor, lived at the home where a party attended by
15 to 20 people, including about six women, spiraled into torture and
murder, the affidavit said.
The 23-year-old was repeatedly raped and choked with a belt by numerous
guards, the affidavit said.
"Laurie Swank has admitted to investigators she was present at the
guest house during the incident and that she verbally assaulted Janet
as she was being beaten and raped," according to the affidavit. "Laurie
admitted that she knew Janet was going to be killed and was present
when Janet died."
The affidavit identified witnesses who saw Nelson, known as "Bubba,"
raping and beating Chandler. The other arrested guards -- Paiva,
Parker, Williams and Lynch -- are also accused of participating in the
beating and raping of Chandler, records show.
Lynch was choking Chandler with a belt when she died, according to the
affidavit.
State police Lt. John Slenk, supervisor of the cold-case collaboration
between the state police and Holland police, described the situation
among guards at the inn and female staff as "a sordid affair, and it
just went bad from top to bottom."
"You have dozens of guards in and out of the hotel. There was a lot of
alcohol and quite a bit of drugs," he said.
The Chemtron strike ended two weeks after Chandler's death. Threats
against anyone who talked about the murder kept the slaying a mystery
for decades as the guards scattered to other states, police say.
"I have never investigated a case like this where this many people knew
and kept it silent," Slenk said.
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1158851757290580.xml&coll=8
A look at the suspects in the 27-year-old crime
Thursday, September 21, 2006
CHRONICLE NEWS SERVICE
Can someone participate in a depraved act of group rape and murder and
then go on to live an ordinary life?
If you believe the police, who have arrested six people for the 1979
slaying of Janet Chandler, a Hope College student from Muskegon, the
answer would be "yes."
A Muskegon man, Arthur Carlton Paiva, was arrested Tuesday in the
27-year-old crime. Paiva, a security guard supervisor at the time,
denies any involvement, although witnesses have implicated him.
Here's a look at the other suspects in the 27-year-old slaying.
Laurie Ann Swank
She is a mother, a nursing assistant and a good neighbor in the small
town of Nescopeck, Pa.
Now, police say Laurie Ann Swank was an instigator in a slaying nearly
three decades ago.
Swank's mother said she is reeling from the arrest of her daughter in
the 1979 Janet Chandler slaying.
"The only thing I have to say is that Laurie has been a good daughter,
a good mother, a faithful worker," said Helen Swank, of nearby
Bloomsburg, Pa.
Swank, now a 48-year-old single mother, was 21 when she worked as
manager of Blue Mill Inn in Holland, where Chandler worked the night
shift. Swank also was Chandler's roommate, police said.
It isn't clear when Swank left Michigan. Court records show she has
lived in Pennsylvania for 20 years; she has no criminal record there.
For 10 years, she has worked as a nursing assistant at Geisinger
Medical Center in nearby Danville, Pa., where police arrested her.
Robert Lynch
Seven months have passed since police swooped into nearby Three Oaks
and arrested Robert Lynch in the 1979 murder of Janet Chandler, sending
shivers through these two small Berrien County communities. The shock
has yet to subside as residents, co-workers and friends realize they
crossed paths nearly every day with an alleged killer.
"It's still startling and people are still talking about it," said
Darryl Schlipp, who runs a pharmacy here and read about the arrests in
the local newspaper.
The 67-year-old Lynch had a handyman business and has three adult
children with his wife, Melanie.
Melanie Lynch still comes in to Schlipp's shop. She is treated no
differently than before it was revealed her husband could have taken
part in a brutal slaying.
"Think about what she's been through," Schlipp said. "It's unfortunate
and you wonder how she deals with it."
James Cleophas Nelson
Bryan Smith believes someone has to pay for Janet Chandler's death --
even if it's his friend, James Cleophas Nelson.
But he's having a hard time believing Nelson, who spent most of his
time caring for two autistic teenage sons, participated in gang rape
and murder 27 years ago.
"If he did do it, if he's guilty, he needs to face the music, of
course," said Smith, 35. "If he's not (guilty), it needs to be
straightened out."
Before his arrest, Nelson, 59, lived in Rand, W.Va., a small, rural
town outside Charleston. Despite Nelson's imprisonment three decades
ago in an abduction, friends and relatives cannot imagine he would kill
anyone.
Friends wonder whether Nelson's sons, now staying with relatives, will
be OK.
"He was always right there with them," Bryan Smith said. "He took them
to school, and done everything with them. He's got a daughter and two
autistic boys, and he's a real good dad."
Freddie Parker
Every day after school, the 7-year-old grandson of Freddie Parker wants
to go see his "Paw Paw."
Nobody knows what to tell him.
The child's 49-year-old grandfather, who lives in Powellton, W.Va.,
awaits extradition to Michigan in the 1979 killing of Hope College
student Janet Chandler -- a thought his family finds unimaginable.
"That's my dad. ... I gotta believe he didn't do it. He told me he
didn't do it," Jason Parker said Wednesday.
His father spent most of his life in Powellton. He had worked as a
technician at the hospital in Charleston, until he suffered a severe
workplace injury and went on disability.
His sister, Annette Bennett, insist he is innocent, saying her brother
arrived home before Jan. 31, 1979, and there is proof of it.
Anthony Robert Eugene Williams
Anthony Robert Eugene Williams, one of six suspects in the Janet
Chandler murder, was living in a small town in Wisconsin, but he hadn't
done much to avoid police.
In fact, he has a long criminal history.
Williams, 55, was 28 when Chandler was killed in 1979.
In Wisconsin, his history of arrests and convictions dates to at least
1991, mostly for drunken driving or driving with open alcohol
containers, state records show.
He also has been convicted of shoplifting, possession of drug
paraphernalia, shining for wild animals and resisting police, records
show. At the time of his arrest, he was awaiting trial for drunken
driving in his hometown of Boscobel, Wis.
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1158851704290580.xml&coll=8
Muskegon suspect: 'I don't have a clue what happened to Janet'
Thursday, September 21, 2006
By Heather L. VanDyke
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER WITH CHRONICLE NEWS SERVICE REPORTS
Arthur "Carl" Paiva of Muskegon has lived the past 27 years like a man
with nothing to hide.
But his Tuesday arrest in the 1979 slaying of Janet Chandler says
something very different about the quiet local man who claims no
involvement in her death.
The 54-year-old divorced father of two ran unsuccessfully for the
Muskegon County Board of Commissioners in the early 1980s, wrote
letters to the local newspaper and made a life for himself in West
Michigan near the crime scene.
Paiva didn't exactly go into hiding after Chandler's death.
On Wednesday, he was charged with first-degree murder in Chandler's
slaying, which law enforcement officials say occurred at a Holland
Township house where Paiva was living at the time, while he was working
as a supervisor for a national security firm.
Police say they have sufficient "probable cause" to file murder charges
against Paiva and have testimony that conflicts with his version of
events. But he denies any involvement in the death of the young woman
he says he dated casually and was even intimate with.
He said he even attended her funeral.
"I don't have any clue of what happened to Janet," said Paiva, speaking
to a Chronicle reporter by phone from the Allegan County Jail. "If I
had known anything, I would have reported it."
His link to Chandler's slaying dates back to January 1979 when he and a
group of men were on assignment as security guards for strikebound
Chemtron Corp. in Holland Township.
Around 2 a.m. on Jan. 31, Chandler, a Muskegon native, disappeared from
her job as a desk clerk at the former Blue Mill Inn, where the security
guards were staying at the time. She was later found strangled along a
highway.
Paiva, one of the security guards' supervisors, stayed in a
Chemtron-owned guest house where police say the murder took place.
Police first believed Chandler's death was the result of a robbery and
abduction. But now authorities believe, and court testimony has
supported, a different theory in which one of the guards spearheaded
the events that led to her death. That man, Robert Michael Lynch, 67,
of Three Oaks, was arrested in February, 27 years after the slaying.
"I remember getting a call the next morning that she had disappeared
from the hotel," Paiva said. "I couldn't believe it. The assistant
(Holland) chief of police contacted me and wanted a roster of all the
guards. I gave them all the information they needed. I did everything I
could."
Five new suspects, including Paiva, were charged Wednesday, along with
Laurie Ann Swank, 48, of Nescopeck, Pa., who was Chandler's supervisor
and roommate at the time. Her alleged role in the case has not been
disclosed by police.
According to testimony, Lynch and another guard took Chandler under the
guise of throwing her a surprise party to the guest house where she was
raped by several guards and choked with a belt until she died. Lynch
then dumped her body in a snowbank in the wooded median of I-196 near
Covert, according to police.
Police have since sought murder warrants on three other suspects:
Anthony Robert Eugene Williams, 55, of McFarland, Wis.; Freddie Bass
Parker, 49, of Powellton, W. Va.; and James Cleophas Nelson, 59, of
Rand, W.Va.
Lynch, set for trial in January, has fingered Nelson as the main person
in the death. Patty Ward, Paiva's girlfriend at the time, testified
during a probable cause hearing for Lynch she saw Nelson hit Chandler
with a belt and push her around the house.
Ward testified she was dating Paiva in January 1979 and she was at the
Jan. 31 party where police say Chandler died. She said Paiva was with
her, but disappeared into other parts of the house during the evening.
Paiva was arraigned on the murder charge Wednesday in Holland District
Court and has since been transferred to Allegan where he awaits a
preliminary examination.
Paiva has lived alone in an upper-level apartment at 1905 Miner in
Muskegon for the past several years, unemployed since August, battling
a 25-year addiction to prescription painkillers with doses of
Methadone.
Ward testified that Paiva later warned her to lie to police about her
whereabouts or she might end up dead.
Other witnesses at the hearing also identified Paiva as being at the
party.
Paiva claims he was staying elsewhere that night, but can't recall
where.
"I can't really remember where I was. It was (27) years ago," he said.
"I think someone has it in for me.
"I can't believe that everyone that was supposedly there would say I
was there. But someone must have."
Holland police Capt. Matt Messer would not disclose the exact evidence
detectives have against Paiva.
"All I can say is we have enough probable cause to obtain an arrest
warrant for him. Obviously, the truth will come out at either the
probable cause hearing or trial," he said.
n n
Paiva, originally from Massachusetts, said the Chemtron strike ended in
February, a few weeks after Chandler's death. Paiva stayed and worked
various jobs in Holland for a while and later in Muskegon, most
recently as an attendant at the BP gas station in Muskegon's Lakeside
district, until it closed in August.
His former employer at BP, Laureen Samples, owner and manager of
Lakeside Emporium, 1929 Lakeshore, said Paiva worked for her since 2002
and was "an extremely kind man."
"This is a tremendously painful time for us. This is a heartache for
us," Samples said of Paiva's arrest.
When asked if she believed Paiva was capable of having any involvement
in the crime, she said: "We're hoping that wasn't the case."
Paiva said his arrest Tuesday, and the arrest of the other guards
involved, came as a surprise. He said he took a DNA test years ago and
passed a polygraph test weeks after the slaying occurred.
"I always wondered what happened to Janet," he said. "I saw a
documentary (about Chandler's killing) on television and was happy they
were reopening the case. I never in all this time thought the guards
were involved."
But Paiva admits that when asked by authorities who among the guards he
supervised was most likely to commit the crime, Lynch came to mind.
"Once he was arrested, I thought it was certainly a possibility," Paiva
said. "Lynch was weird when he drank. He didn't like me at all. He
blamed me because he didn't get promoted (in the security position)
fast enough."
Paiva recalls one particularly strange night when he and some other
guards were drinking with Lynch.
"He was so drunk he could barely talk. He pulled two razor blades from
his mouth, one from behind each cheek, and looked at me with this crazy
smile. It was almost demonic. He put them back in his mouth and began
grinning," Paiva said.
He now believes Lynch may have implicated him to authorities.
"If I knew anything about it, I would have reported the information
right away. I was at management level. I wasn't part of the crowd," he
said.
Paiva doesn't deny knowing Chandler. In fact, he said, he knew her well
and even took her out on a couple of dates.
Paiva said their last date was in December, a month before she died.
"That was the last time I talked to her," he said. "She was a real nice
girl. She was a pretty girl."
He claims the two were intimate on their dates, but that they didn't
continue their relationship.
"She had a very religious upbringing, but when she went on her own she
may have partied a little too much. That's what I hear," he said.
Paiva said he only recently learned that the slaying may have taken
place at the guest house. He claims he hadn't heard that theory until
recently.
"I was surprised because no one was supposed to be allowed in the
house. No one should have been there," Paiva said. "I still had a hard
time believing that there was even a party there. It doesn't make sense
to me."
Paiva said he does recall returning to the guest house the following
day and finding nothing unusual.
"I got back the next morning and didn't notice anything. Not even a
cigarette smell to it," he said. "There was nothing in the house that I
noticed was odd."
Michael Snyder
Hello?
It was known by most, if not all, that Janet was not
going to be coming back", [VanLopik] said of the
planning among guards, their female friends, and
Chandler's female work supervisor.
What -- half the staff AND THEIR GIRLFRIENDS were
all involved in planning to rape and murder a co-worker?
I just don't believe it.
"Jacque1in" <jacq...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1158932581.0...@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
FragileWarrior
news:4513f7cd$0$96223$742e...@news.sonic.net:
> I'm sorry, but this just reads like bad fiction. Motel Hell?
> Hello?
>
> It was known by most, if not all, that Janet was not
> going to be coming back", [VanLopik] said of the
> planning among guards, their female friends, and
> Chandler's female work supervisor.
>
> What -- half the staff AND THEIR GIRLFRIENDS were
> all involved in planning to rape and murder a co-worker?
>
> I just don't believe it.
>
I shall endeavor to mask my surprise.