Kalamazoo: City to consider property sale to land bank
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — Kalamazoo city commissioners will consider a plan calling for the sale of 78 properties to the Kalamazoo County Land Bank Authority for $1.
The proposal goes before commissioners Monday.
County Treasurer Mary Balkema chairs the Land Bank Authority. She says an approved sale would allow land bank officials to sell the properties to private owners and get them back on the tax rolls.
Houses on some of the lots could be rehabilitated or demolished for new construction and development.
The authority was created in 2009 to manage and sell properties in foreclosure on property taxes.
Remus: Slaying suspect kills self, leaves no suicide note
REMUS, Mich. (AP) — A man sought in the slaying of his girlfriend didn’t leave a suicide note or speak with authorities as he lay bleeding to death in a remote Michigan hunting trailer from a self-inflicted stab wound to his chest, officials said.
Police tried to treat Sean McLafferty and called in paramedics to help, but the 32-year-old was pronounced dead in the mobile home near Remus, Mecosta County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Mohr told the Morning Sun in Mount Pleasant for a story Friday.
A knife was found in the trailer.
McLafferty had been wanted in connection with the death of 34-year-old Kristie Rae Purcey, whose body was found Monday in a garage at her Grand Rapids apartment complex.
Police have said Purcey and McLafferty were in a relationship. He had been her supervisor at direct-selling giant Amway Corp., a company with headquarters in Ada, east of Grand Rapids. McLafferty resigned on Nov. 8.
Both were getting divorces from their spouses.
Mohr said he didn’t know what took place between McLafferty and Purcey.
Police began searching the Remus area, about 50 miles northeast of Grand Rapids, after spotting McLafferty Tuesday night near a rental car he had been driving. He was carrying a shotgun when he ran across a field, police said.
The area around the mobile home was checked Wednesday afternoon. Officers returned that evening and noticed a broken window.
Officers went inside and found McLafferty. No gun was found.
West Bloomfield Township: Murder trial in woman’s death adjourned
WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The trial of a West Bloomfield Township man charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his wife last August has been delayed.
Forty-seven-year-old Ellery Bennett’s trial was scheduled to begin Monday in Oakland County Circuit Court.
The Detroit Free Press says prosecutors need more time for DNA testing on blood spatters found in Bennett’s suburban Detroit home. They also are awaiting forensic results on two computers.
Lisa Bennett was stabbed four times in her shoulder, back and neck.
Ellery Bennett said he was acting in self-defense. He remains held without bond in the Oakland County jail. Police say his wounds were self-inflicted.
Lisa Bennett had filed for divorce, and the couple had debts tied to failed businesses.
