Hide Article Text (OCR)
Man#IMILWAUKEE (AP) - Thevictims, six of them, livedwithin a few blocks of eachother on the city's North SideAll of them were killed in theirhomes, during burglaries.between last summer and this springThe first to die was Della Mae Liggins, 69, stabbed to death last July 19.After the attacks on Florence Burkard. 78, killed Aug 10, Helen Wronski. 79. slain Nov. 9. and Charles Golston, 63, who died last month of injuries suffered in aJan 25 beating, police began to believe that the same person was responsible for all the killingsTheir theory was reinforced by the March 3 bludgeoning of Bernard Fonder, 49, and the fatal beating of Helen Bellamy, 30, on April 25 Again, it was in the same general neighborhood, and there were similarities in the killings.“The killer had a pattern, said Detective Lt. Carl Ruscitti “He used whatever was handy to kill and left it at• *Killing.......A'. . I\YV ■the scene— a tire jack, an ice pick, a claw hammer and the knives We believed it to be the same man.”Last week. Ruscitti and Detective Roosevelt Harrell decided that they had their man, and they went to District Attorney E. Michael McCann with their information On Monday, David A Van-Dyke. 21, was charged with killing the six people and trying to kill another The Milwaukee man appeared before Circuit Judge Rudolph Randa on six countsof first degree murder, one of attempted murder and one of robbery. Randa set bond at $400,000 and scheduled a preliminary hearing for June 10.Randa denied a request from defense attorney Stephen Glynn to ban cameras and tape recorders from the courtroom for VanDyke's appearance. Glynn contended that the resulting publicity might have a detrimental effect on the outcome of thecaseDuring the investigation ofthe killings, Ruscitti and Harrell had partial fingerprints to work with, found at the homes of two of the victims They began checking them against those of known burglars, at first with no successThen VanDvke w as arrested May 23 for an attempted' burglary, and police said his prints matched The detectives interviewed him at length, and ultimately the district attorney’s office prepared the charges against him during the weekend The attempted murder charge accuses VanDvke of beating and choking Sandra Ellis. 28. at her home on April 14“He left Sandra Ellis for dead, he beat her so hard with an ash tray. said a police officer He wanted to kill her We know the same man had to be resDonsible for the killingsinMilwaukeebecause of the brutal way they were done ”Miss Ellis, who was robbed of $118. moved away from Milwaukee as soon as she was well enough, but she returned here last Friday to view a lineup Police said she identified VanDvke as the man who at-tacked herMiss Ellis said a man came to her house, saying he wantedto buv one of her cars. Thev * *had talked about it before, she said“We went upstairs and I turned to get the titles and suddenly he grabbed me around the mouth and throat,” she said “He tried to throw me down, he tripped me and he started stomping on my face Somehow 1 got up and I had this huge ashtray and he hit me in the head with it She said he began cutting her with pieces of glass from the ashtrav and a wine IxittleShe was able to run out. going first to a nearbv home w here aWwoman closed the door on her, then to a tavern where she got helpVan Dyke had been placed on probation last year after a burglary conviction, but Margaret Bruetzmann of the Division of Correct ions said he had stopped reporting to his probation officer after a few months “He didn't report and we were unable to locate him, she said.Van Dyke had been raisedby his grandmother, until she died when he was 6 His mother, who died in 1974. had told welfare officials she couldn't control him, and he spent time living in several foster homes There were frequent problems A police report saidthat VanDyke wouldn’t go to school, broke windows and beat smaller children in thehome.A hospital social worker said he was resentful at not getting more affection from his motherWhen punished and frustrated and unable to faceup to bigger kids, he takes out his anger on those children much smaller and weaker than himself,’’ a court-appointed pyschiatrist reported in 1972.Police said that Edna Kelly, who was a toster parent for VanDvke. told them she took' whim to Milwaukee County General Hospital two years ago for an evaluation of his behavior.She said a doctor there told her there was nothing wrong.” a police officer saidIronwood Daily Globe, Tues., June 3, 1980PAGE 3
Newspaper Details
Ironwood Daily Globe
Ironwood, Michigan, US
Tue, Jun 03, 1980
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Tttt T.
NA, 12 Mar 2023
Other Publications Near Ironwood, Michigan
Daily Globe
Ironwood Daily Globe
Ironwood Gogebic Advocate
Interstate News Record
Ironwood Inter State News
