MI MI - Jeffrey Willis - Suspected SK in Muskegon County, MI

stillwatersc

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http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2016/05/sheriff_details_what_led_inves.html

suspicion of involvement in the Jessica Heeringa disappearance and Rebekah Bletsch homicide

Police seized his 2006 Dodge Caravan, and found inside it several syringes, handcuffs, rope, chains, a mask, rubber gloves, batting gloves, a bar with wrist restraints, a ball gag, and photos of females chained and bound, according to a court document. They also found a .22 caliber semiautomatic handgun and ammunition.

Horrors! :tears::tears: No bail please.
 
http://woodtv.com/2016/05/25/abduction-suspect-to-be-charged-in-rebekah-bletchs-murder/

" Ballistics testing links Jeffrey Willis to 2014 murder"

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Prosecutor Hilson:
“Besides being a sick individual, I don’t know. I don’t know what his motive was,”

Willis also faces four felony counts of using a computer to commit a crime and four felony counts of child sexually abusive activity for incidences authorities uncovered during the investigation. The charges are tied to evidence found on a hard drive at his home, court documents revealed.
 
Hilson said he and the Bletsch family consider the teen who escaped Willis a "hero" and say her actions set these latest findings into motion.

Same link as above.
 
Thanks for making this. I didn't wanna clog up the thread dedicated to Jessica with posts about this guy, but it seems there's a lot worth talking about.

Profiler sees predator traits in Muskegon suspect - May 25

Retired Central Michigan University Sexual Aggression Services Director Steve Thompson studies and profiles sexual predators. He says the box with handcuffs, a gag, gloves, a rope and restraints police say they found in the van Willis was driving suggests he was prepared to take a prisoner. And if that is true, Thompson says the teenager probably wasn’t his first. It would just be the first time he was caught.

"The thing that struck me is he is fairly old to have just begun this kind of crime," explains Thompson. "I suspected this wasn’t this person’s first time, because it’s rare to start doing something like this at age 46."
 
Task Force Hunts Possible Serial Killer of 11 Women - November 10, 1996

Just browsing about unsolved crimes in the area and came across this. Willis would have been in his early/mid-20s. Any thoughts?

The first victim, Lesa Otberg, 25, of Grand Rapids, was discovered in March 1994 in nearby Muskegon. Eight months later, another body, still unidentified, was found in neighboring Ottawa County.

The others have been in the Grand Rapids area, including four in October. The latest was Victoria Moore, 29, whose decomposed body was spotted by a squirrel hunter two weeks ago 20 miles north of the city.

"I'd be really surprised if it wasn't a serial killer," Dalecke said. "It's too much to be a coincidence."
 
Task Force Hunts Possible Serial Killer of 11 Women - November 10, 1996

Just browsing about unsolved crimes in the area and came across this. Willis would have been in his early/mid-20s. Any thoughts?

Hmm, interesting. I live in Grand Rapids and at first couldn't recall these murders but it came back to me when I read your link and saw "prostitutes". I have a vague memory of an arrest associated with that slew of killings but don't know if anything came of it.

This guy, Willis, has to have killed before. I agree with the profiler. That doesn't seem like rocket science, either. You don't just start driving around with a serial killer kit in the van in your forties and he probably acquired his preferred objects out of experience. It was 20 years ago he was fired for viewing *advertiser censored* on school computers so he was a freak at least that long ago. Obviously, a guy who has done what we know he's done (the 16 year old and Rebekah Bletch) had to be deranged since he was very young (or even born). He's lived his life in the area, so every unsolved female murder around here from the time he was a teenager on should be looked at.
 
It seems like Muskegon county may have been is comfort zone, as all three known victims weren't that far away from his home. I hope LE is looking into other cases in that general area, and other areas he may have lived in/visited in the past. It'd be nice to know what the teenage victim looked like, to see if Willis preferred any particular type of victim. Heeringa/Beltsch doesn't look too similar so I wonder if it he would've taken any female that came across his path.
 
Here's a link with information on Jeffrey Willis.

It gives his current and past addresses. From Jul 1993 - Jul 1996 he lived at 4754 Heights Ravenna Rd, Fruitport, MI 49415, but it doesn't say where he was living in October of 1996.
 
He seems to commit his crimes in a small area near where he lives. Wonder if he spent any time in Ohio :

a ohio.jpg
 
So, about the Grand Rapids murders...

While the fist was found in Muskegon county (which adjoins Kent County, where Grand Rapids is), the rest were found in Kent county and Grand Rapids (as I understand) and they were prostitutes. Does it often happen that a serial killer switches from prostitutes to women and girls who are not? Heeringa, Bletch, the 16 year old who got away, and the 15 year old from 1996 are were not prostitutes. Certainly Willis is sex obsessed (as all serial killers are in one way or another) but I thought a killer who kills prostitutes usually stuck with that type of victim.
 
I would be very surprised if he were not involved in other murders. I just cant believe he started this 'hobby' a few years ago. Its possible there are girls who were considered runaways etc who were never reported 'missing' who are amongst his victims. One does not just drive around with the stash of bondage equipment in his van for years hoping some day some how to have a use for it. I am sure it is being tested for DNA. As for the pics of women tied up etc... is it possible he was meeting women with an interest in bondage on Craigslist?
 
So, about the Grand Rapids murders...

While the fist was found in Muskegon county (which adjoins Kent County, where Grand Rapids is), the rest were found in Kent county and Grand Rapids (as I understand) and they were prostitutes. Does it often happen that a serial killer switches from prostitutes to women and girls who are not? Heeringa, Bletch, the 16 year old who got away, and the 15 year old from 1996 are were not prostitutes. Certainly Willis is sex obsessed (as all serial killers are in one way or another) but I thought a killer who kills prostitutes usually stuck with that type of victim.

I've seen it happen before, but not sure if this is actually common or not. I'm thinking the prostitutes make an easier target as they willingly will get into a vehicle and accompany the perp to a secondary location. There was one case out of Florida iirc where the victim, a mother and not a prostitute, was buried with other victims who were prostitutes.
 
It isn't unheard of for serial killers to start out killing prostitutes and graduate to more "respectable" victims as they gain more confidence. I honestly can't think of any examples (since it seems to me, most prostitute slayers stick with prostitutes since they have a steady supply of easy victims), but many FBI profiles have come out and said that in the past.

Is there more information on the Grand Rapids murders online? I can't find much information. I also wonder how much he was traveled outside of Michigan, since he seems to have stayed in or around Muskegon county for most of his life.
 
It isn't unheard of for serial killers to start out killing prostitutes and graduate to more "respectable" victims as they gain more confidence. I honestly can't think of any examples (since it seems to me, most prostitute slayers stick with prostitutes since they have a steady supply of easy victims), but many FBI profiles have come out and said that in the past.

Is there more information on the Grand Rapids murders online? I can't find much information. I also wonder how much he was traveled outside of Michigan, since he seems to have stayed in or around Muskegon county for most of his life.

I had actually forgotten about those murders until I saw them brought up here. I haven't seen but a couple of articles and a Google search is the only way I would know of finding any more.

There's a main drag in Grand Rapids where prostitutes hang out and it has close freeway access. It would only be a 30-40 minute drive from where Willis lived so he could have easily made the trips. The thing is, I would be inclined to think he would have dumped the bodies in his own stomping grounds, not Grand Rapids.
 

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