'Devastated,' accused nonprofit embezzler denies wrongdoing
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A former executive at a Grand Rapids nonprofit is denying accusations she embezzled from the organization. "I worked for that agency night and day," said Sharon Killebrew,...
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Detective sued for $100 million by exonerated man says, 'Come on with it'
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — One of the two retired cold case detectives named as defendants in a $100 million wrongful conviction lawsuit filed by Jeff Titus is defending his work on the case. "If they...
View ArticleGrand Rapids nonprofit closes, citing 'brazen' embezzlement
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Blaming former administrators for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars and claiming one of them, its founder, has fled the country, a Grand Rapids nonprofit says it...
View ArticleLocal programs regroup amid nonprofit scandal, shutdown
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — On Grand Rapids' southwest side Thursday afternoon, a classroom of carefree 4-year-olds scampered and squealed on a well-groomed playground. The Early Learning Center on...
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Alleged serial killer set for trial Monday in '96 murder of GR woman
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Jury selection is set to begin Monday morning in the murder trial of Garry Dean Artman, a long-haul trucker charged with killing two women in two separate states a decade...
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Trial begins for man accused of 1996 rape, murder
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A jury was seated Monday morning in the trial of a man accused of killing a woman and dumping her body along a metro Grand Rapids road nearly 27 years ago. Garry Artman,...
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Knives, women's underwear found after 1996 murder suspect arrested
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Detectives on Tuesday listed a number of unsettling items found after the arrest of a long-haul trucker accused of murdering a woman in metro Grand Rapids in 1996. Kent...
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Jury views autopsy photos in day 3 of 1996 murder trial
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Jurors on Wednesday were shown autopsy photos of a woman who was strangled to death in 1996 as the man accused of killing her stood trial. Sitting in the gallery, Sharon...
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'Evil on earth': Long-haul trucker convicted of 1996 rape, murder
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — It took investigators about 26 years to arrest a suspect after Sharon Hammack was raped, murdered and left along the side of a road near Grand Rapids. It took a jury about...
View ArticleJudge: Families can’t directly address offenders at sentencing
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Kristine Young thought the text was a scam. “This is not even funny,” she responded to News 8’s text. “Find someone else to scam.” It wasn’t a scam. News 8 reached out...
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Mom of Jodi Parrack has message for cleared murder suspect: 'I'm sorry'
CONSTANTINE, Mich. (WOOD) — For years, Jodi Parrack's mom was certain that a longtime acquaintance, Ray McCann Jr., had murdered her 11-year-old daughter. That, she now realizes, was based on repeated...
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Suspicion of murder made him a pariah. Now exonerated, village says he's...
CONSTANTINE, Mich. (WOOD) — Long before he left Constantine, before Jodi Parrack's murder in 2007, Ray McCann Jr. was a welcomed customer at Meek's Mill, the only breakfast joint in a town with more...
View ArticleOwner of torched White Cloud restaurant warned of arson days before
WHITE CLOUD, Mich. (WOOD) — Four days before a fire destroyed a landmark restaurant in White Cloud, one of the owners warned local police that somebody might try to burn it down, court records show....
View Article'Horrific' shutdown of GR trucking firm costs 90 jobs, say workers
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Grand Rapids trucking company owned and operated by a name well-known in the industry has abruptly shut down, according to frustrated truckers who worked for Sunset...
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Long-haul trucker convicted of 1996 rape, murder sentenced
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Sharon Hammack's sisters just wanted to know why. "I want answers," Terri Navitskas said as she stared down Hammack's killer in a Grand Rapids courtroom Thursday morning....
View ArticleCold case murder suspect who died in jail had writings on forgiveness
THREE RIVERS, Mich. (WOOD) — On a table in the South Carolina jail cell where cold case murder suspect Robert Waters died by suicide, guards found Bible-based pamphlets about creation and forgiveness:...
View ArticleMuskegon Co. detective accused of relationship with woman he was investigating
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — A former Muskegon County sheriff's detective is charged with misconduct in office after prosecutors say he had a sexual relationship with a woman he was investigating. Darric...
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Prosecutor: Case against Muskegon Co. detective exposes loophole in sex...
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — The Muskegon County prosecutor said he's frustrated that state law would not allow him to charge a recently fired sheriff's detective with a sex crime over an alleged...
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Gym-hopping suspects targeted Planet Fitness locker rooms, say police
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A trio of alleged crooks engaged in a scheme targeting Planet Fitness facilities in West Michigan, according to a police task force that focuses on pattern crimes in metro...
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Woman: 'No choice' but to submit to detective who was investigating her
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — A woman under investigation for fraud said she felt she had no choice but to submit to the sexual advances of the Muskegon County detective investigating her. That detective,...
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