Hearing Delayed In Killing Of Elderly Woman

Hearing delayed in killing of elderly woman
LANSING - A court hearing for Michael Harris was delayed to allow psychiatric tests for the 19-year-old man charged with one of five murders of elderly Lansing women and a suspect in two others in Washtenaw County.
Harris was scheduled Monday to undergo a preliminary examination in Lansing District Court to determine whether enough evidence exists for him to stand trial in circuit court for the Nov. 2,1981 strangulation death of 78 year old Ula Curdy.
But his court appointed attorney,
Bernard Finn, asked District Judge Patrick Cherry to delay the hearing until Harris could be sent to the state Center for Forensic Psychiatry near Ypsilanti to determine his competency to stand trial.
Ingham County Prosecutor Peter Houk did not object, and Cherry ordered the psychiatric examination held within 60 days. Cherry said the preliminary hearing would be scheduled as soon as the tests at
Ypsilanti were complete.
Harris, a Muskegon Heights native, is considered a prime suspect in the strangulation murders of 8s5-year-old Margorie Upson of Ypsilanti last September and Louise Koebnick, 84, a week later in Ann Arbor.
Police from both cities have sent evidence found at the two crime scenes to the Michigan State Police Crime Laboratory in Northville for analysis and comparism with material key to the Lansing homicides.
Article
Subjects
Ypsilanti Police Department
Senior Citizens
Muskegon Heights Police Department
Murder Victim
Michigan State Police
Lansing Police Department
Homicide
Crime & Criminals
Courts - Michigan
Ann Arbor Police Department
Old News
Ann Arbor News
Peter Houk
Patrick Cherry
Michael D. Harris
Margorie Upson
Louise Koebnick
Denise Swanson
Bernard Finn