Michael Darnell Harris

Serial Killer

Michael Darnell Harris: Michigan Serial Killer

Overview

Michael Darnell Harris, born March 7, 1963, in Muskegon Heights, Michigan, is an American convicted murderer and rapist whose crimes centered on elderly women in Michigan during the early 1980s. Harris was ultimately convicted of four murders as well as the violent sexual assault of a surviving woman. He was also investigated in connection with several additional killings that shared important similarities with the crimes for which he was convicted. His cases involved Lansing, Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, and Jackson and became particularly significant years later when advances in DNA testing allowed investigators to reexamine evidence preserved from the crime scenes. The victims were generally elderly women who lived alone. Several were attacked inside their own homes, and the convicted murder cases showed a disturbing pattern involving forced entry or unauthorized access, sexual assault, physical violence, and strangulation. Because some additional Michigan murders were never prosecuted against Harris, it is important to distinguish the four killings for which he was convicted from other deaths in which investigators considered him a suspect.

The Lansing Murders

Two of Harris's murder convictions arose from killings in Lansing in 1981. Ula Curdy was killed in her home on November 2, 1981. Investigators eventually focused on Harris, and evidence presented in the case included a palm or fingerprint associated with furniture at the scene. Harris was tried for Curdy's murder in 1983 and convicted. The case later became controversial when modern DNA testing of evidence produced complicated and disputed results, prompting additional investigation and litigation decades after the original trial. Less than a month after Curdy's death, Denise Swanson was killed in Lansing on November 30, 1981. Her death was investigated as part of the same disturbing series of attacks on elderly women in the Lansing area. Harris was also prosecuted for Swanson's murder and convicted in 1983. He received another life sentence. ...

Confirmed Victims: (4)

Margorie Upson Age: (85), Date of Death: 1982-09-29

Suspected Victims:

Edna Ryckaert Age: (77), Date of Death: 1980-10-18

Edith Crossette Age: (83), Date of Death: 1981-02-14

Florence Bell Age: (91), Date of Death: 1982-01-08

Michael Darnell Harris - Wikipedia