Charges in Wayne County against a Detroit-area man accused of moving the bodies of four women linked to online ads for adult dating services were dismissed Wednesday. However, prosecutors in Macomb County said they would be filing new charges against 24-year-old James Brown.
Brown was supposed to appear in Detroit’s 36th District Court for a preliminary hearing, but the court decided to change jurisdiction from Wayne County to Macomb County.
Police have called the Sterling Heights man the “main culprit” in an investigation into the slayings.
He will now be housed in the Macomb County Jail.
---Home searched in Sterling Heights in connection with murder of 4 Detroit women
IMAGES:Police search home in Sterling Heights
The bodies of Demesha Hunt and Renisha Landers were found December in car trunks in Detroit. Six days later, the bodies of Natasha Curtis and Vernithea McCrary were found in a burning car. Three of the women had placed ads for escorts online. Authorities say they believe the women were killed outside Wayne County and dumped in Detroit. Brown was arrested May 1.
The dismissed cases are:
Dead Bodies-Disinternment (10 years) in connection with the homicides of Demesha Hunt, 25, and Renisha Landers, 24, both of Detroit. On December 19, 2011, at approximately 4:35 p.m., the women were found lifeless inside the trunk of a car abandoned in rear of a location in the 14400 block of Promenade in Detroit.
Brown was also charged with Arson Dead Bodies-Disinternment (10 years), Arson of Real Property (10 years) and Arson of Personal Property - $1000 or more but less than $20,000 (10 years), in connection with the homicides of Natasha Curtis, 29, and Vernithea McCrary, 28, both of Detroit. On December 25, 2011, at approximately 1:30 a.m. the lifeless bodies of two women were discovered by Detroit police officers severely burned inside a vehicle in the rear of a location in the 14900 block of Lannette in Detroit.
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About Backpage.com
Backpage.com, like craigslist.com, is an Internet bulletin board with listings for everything from child care to auto parts and forums on numerous topics. Craigslist.com took down its "adult services" section after several widely publicized cases, including the so-called “Craigslist Killer” case, in which Phillip Markoff was charged with the armed robbery and murder of a masseuse he had hired through the web site, and the armed robbery of two other women he also found through the site. Markoff committed suicide in jail awaiting trial.
