Comic Bookstore Killer Case

In a Macomb County courtroom not far from his old comic book store in a Clinton Township strip mall, Michael George finally stood trial for killing his wife and business partner, Barbara.

George was long remarried, and using the insurance money from his wife's death, had opened a new comic book store on the east coast.

This was a cold case trial. A new unit had pursued twenty such cases under the leadership of Steve Kaplan, an aggressive prosecutor. This case had nothing but circumstantial evidence to offer.

An irony here was that George's attorney, Carl Marlinga, was the former chief prosecuting attorney for Macomb County. He had left office to run for the Senate, been defeated, and returned to private practice.

The case can be found in detail on the DATELINE website since it was a two-hour DATELINE episode last year. But briefly. George was eventually convicted of killing his wife while she worked alone in the stockroom of their comic book store. She was shot from above. The theory went, he had opened a sklylight and shot her from the roof.

The police chief at the time of her murder was the father of the current chief prosecuting attorney, Eric Smith. So this case was a very personal one. George was eventually convicted. The case goes to the Michigan Appellate Court today.

My son, an appellate prosecutor, will try to keep George behind bars. Stay tuned.

288032

PEOPLE OF MI V MICHAEL RALPH GEORGE
Attorneys:
PL-AT JOSHUA D ABBOTT Oral Argument Preserved
DF-AE MARK J KRIGER Oral Argument Preserved
DF-AE CARL J MARLINGA Oral Argument Preserved