48 Hours - The Mystery Of Jane Mixer

Episode Date: January 11, 2026

In 1969, Jane Mixer was attending the University of Michigan Law School when she was found dead just miles from her dorm. She had been shot twice in the head and strangled. Jane was the third of seven young women to be found dead in the area within two years. Investigators believed John Norman Collins was the serial killer responsible for several of the murders but couldn't prove he killed Jane. The case went cold until 2001 when the investigation was re-opened by testing DNA evidence collected more than 30-years earlier. “48 Hours" Correspondent Maureen Maher reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 3/24/2007. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

She had been shot once in the front and once in the back of the head. Here is just where he dumped her on a night of cold rain. Jane was a silent but very strong presence growing up. I had a lot of unanswered questions both about Jane's murder, about who she had been. I look back to 1969 to find out. She was bright and articulate and consistent. articulate and concerned and empathetic. I mean, she stood up for what she thought was worth saying.

One of the first women admitted to the University of Michigan Law School. Very promising future ahead of her and her life was stolen. She was on her way home for a weekend. She was picked up supposedly at 6 o'clock by someone who's going to give her a ride to Muskegon, Michigan. She gets into the vehicle with him, expecting to head west. And we've got a certain number of hours where Jane's basically missing. In the early morning hours, March 21st, 1969, Jane's body was discovered in the Denton Road Cemetery.

My aunt was shot twice in the head and strangled. My name is Barbara Nelson and my sister was Jane Mixer. I think I didn't want to even get close to what had happened to her. At the time of Jane's death, there were a whole series of murders of young women. murders of young women. They did arrest a man for the murder of one of the young women. And he was tried and convicted. For many years, most people thought my aunt was a victim of a serial killer.

When I did my research, I was not convinced that Collins killed my aunt. Jane's case was just too different. The fact that she was placed in that cemetery with her belongings, very unlike the other cases. There were many mysteries. I had reasons to think that somebody was still out there. I certainly felt that someone had gotten away with murdering Jane. I never in my wildest dreams thought things

would happen as they did. Never, ever. Deadly Ride. Jane was both an inspiration of many things I wanted to be, driven, disobedient, brilliant, independent. And I also knew that she was. She died horribly. Jane Mixer was murdered in Ann Arbor, Michigan in March

1969. She was 23. About the same age her niece, Maggie Nelson was, when she resolved to learn all she could about the aunt she never knew. I didn't feel as though I could ask anyone in my family the details about Jane's murder. What was it that you wanted to know, that you needed to know?

The questions weren't so much. I mean, they were like who was she? Who was she? How did she die? But they were really also, why does the story haunt me so much? We didn't talk about what had happened to Jane. Maggie's mother, Barbara, Jane's older sister by two years, admits there was a pall of silence.

Why do you think that is? One, it was painful, and it seemed almost lurid to think about it or talk about it. But Maggie felt compelled to unravel the mystery surrounding Jane. I was often called her name, but I didn't know much about her. She went to the public library and poured over old newspaper reports, finally learning the details of her aunt's death. Back home, she dug up some of Jane's diaries and began to read. This is from Jane's Journal in 1966. You know, for a world that demands direction, I certainly have none.

Will I be a teacher? Will I go to France? Really, I don't know how smart I am. And that, above all else, keeps me working and working hard. Maggie discovered that Jane was high school valedictorian. Over the objections of school officials, she had given a fiery graduation speech, calling for social justice.

She went on to the University of Michigan and was committed to changing the world. If it was civil rights, that civil rights laws had to change, and she was going to do something about it. Maggie also tracked down Phil Whiteman, one of the people closest to Jane in 1969, when she was one of just 37 female law students in a class of 420. Whatever she got involved in, she was extremely passionate about. She was most passionate about Phil, and early that spring they were ready to make a big announcement.

We decided to get married, and Jane said that she wanted to go home and talk with her parents. and felt that she could convince them that this was a good thing. Jane planned to go there first with Phil following a few days later. So she posted a note on a college ride board, looking for a lift from Ann Arbor to her home in Muskegon. No one thought anything of it because everyone did it. Phil says she found a ride with a man named David Johnson. We talked on the telephone, and I thought she should come with Phil.

She told me that she thought that it would work out better if they came independently. And I said it seemed like it wasn't the right thing to do. And she said, trust me. And those are the last words she ever said. Jane had told her parents she'd be leaving Ann Arbor around 6 p.m. They expected her to arrive home around 9.30. As the time ticked by and Jane didn't show up, her father grew concerned. Finally, around 11 p.m., he simply couldn't wait around anymore.

He got very nervous, so he set out looking for her, driving in his car. There's only one freeway, really, between Ann Arbor and where my grandfather lived. The idea that he could just encounter her on the road wandering somewhere, needing help. So he drove, you know, several hours just looking on the road to see. to see. Sometime that night, Jane was killed. Jane Mixer's body ended up here in an old out-of-the-way cemetery, 14 miles from Ann Arbor. Her killer left her out in the open, atop a grave, just steps from the gate. It wasn't until the next morning that a woman in a nearby home noticed the body and called police. When we arrived there, it was 10.30 in the morning, and it was a cold, crisp morning.

Detective Donald Bennett, now retired, was sent to investigate. We saw what appeared to be a body of a woman lying underneath some clothing on top of a grave. We first lifted off the uppermost piece of clothing, which was the raincoat. You could very quickly see that she'd been shot in the head, and then around her neck we could see a nylon hose, so she'd been strangled also. There was no apparent sexual assaults, but Jane's panty hose had been pulled down. During the autopsy, Bennett scraped a single drop of blood off Jane's left hand. Well, I probably grabbed my attention because it was a singular round spot of blood dried.

I didn't know what it meant, so I thought, well, we'll find out later. Three decades later, that tiny drop of blood would become a controversial piece of evidence. But back in 1969, there was little the police could do with that. So they searched for other clues. On the night of the murder, a green station wagon was seen careening away from the cemetery, but that was never tracked down. Police searched Jane's dorm room and found a phone book that had a mark next to the name, David Johnson.

But that David Johnson, a University of Michigan student, had an iron-clad alibi. He was acting on stage the night of the murder and said he never offered. Jane arrived. The cops checked out other David Johnson's in the area, as well as Jane's acquaintances, including her fiancé. I was too numb to really care. I was much more concerned about dealing with the death of someone I was about to get married to. For the third time in the past two years, the body of an Ann Arbor Ibsaladi Coed has been found. The girl brutally murdered. Police were stymied and concerned. This crime seemed to to fit a disturbing pattern.

Jane Mixer was the third young woman in the area to turn up dead in the past two years. And four days later, the pace picked up when a fourth body was found. By the end of July, there were seven victims. Most were brutalized before they were killed. You would see these photographs, each time a body was found, all lined up

with dramatic headlines. headlines. Catherine Ramsland teaches and writes about forensics. This is one of the better maps of where each of the murder victims have been found. Her latest book is about serial killers. Back in 1969, she was living near Ann Arbor. They have young women being murdered and nobody can find the guy and stop him. That's just something that had never happened here. Karen Sue was dead. The victim in the seventh unsolved murder of college coeds. As body after body was recovered, the mixer family retreated.

We were buried within our own little worlds of pain and didn't talk about what was really going on. But the community was clamoring for action. We're afraid we might be the next one. You never know. He's out there. He's a monster. He's a madman.

How long can you have young women being killed before the pressures become so great because you as the police can't solve this? Mary Pleasure had been stabbed several times. 20-year-old Joan Shell, she'd been sexually molested, and her throat had been slashed. The body of an Ann Arbor Ibsaladi Coed has been found brutally murdered. It was shock and horror and being scared. Barbara Nelson says the murder of her little sister Jane left her numb.

And it just seemed to me that how could life get any worse? Within a month, two more women would die. This is the original police sketch. Forensics expert Catherine Ramsland says back in 1969, the killer seemed unstoppable. We did not know much about serial killers in those days. We didn't even use the word serial killer. It wasn't until the seventh victim was found that police finally got a break in the case.

When they made the arrest, it was a real shocker. We wanted to announce that one John Norman Collins has been charged with the murder of Karen Sue Bynumann. John Collins was an education major at Eastern Michigan University. He was level-headed, smart on the honor roll, and he had no known criminal record. He played baseball, he was the tri-captain of the football team. A witness claimed she had seen Collins with Karen Byneman shortly before her death. And while it was widely assumed that he was responsible for all of the men, he was responsible for all of her. all seven murders, Collins stood trial for just one, the Byneman homicide.

He was convicted of first-degree murder. Pretty much all they had against him was circumstantial evidence. I think when you put together the fear at that time and the need for the police to resolve it, I don't think there was going to be any other verdict than that one. Although John Collins maintained his innocence in Byneman's murder, he was sentenced to life. And he has never been charged with the murders of any of the other six victims. Still, back in 1969, people here in Michigan breathed a collective sigh of relief. Investigators gave the media the sense that even if we can't prove he killed all of them,

we know he did. The Mixer family came to accept that Collins killed Jane. The murders stopped. So there was this sense of relief. I mean, I think that's what made so many of us think that, yeah, they got the man. They stopped. Still, Barbara harbored a deep-seated fear from those days, and years later, her daughter Maggie, would pick up on it. There was a lot of hysteria when I grew up.

There's a lot of barricading of the doors. Hysterical fear, you know, a kind of fear that just doesn't feel like it's going to do you any good to hold on to it. But that fear only feels. She ruled Maggie's curiosity about her Aunt Jane's short life. Were you surprised or concerned when Maggie started asking questions? Absolutely. It felt like it was a book that shouldn't be opened and then also wanted to say, yes, Maggie, yes, go for it, you know.

And Maggie, a professor of writing, went for it in a big way. Her research would eventually become a book. It has poetry, prose, newspaper, articles, journal entries. A book about Jane's life. She writes, I am happy. Tomorrow I may not be. Yesterday I wasn't. But I am now.

And that's all that matters. It would also deal with the impact Jane had on other people, including Maggie herself. Her grave has no epitaph. I found her in the wild. Her name was Jane, Plain Jane. Maggie began to understand how strong the bond. were between her mother and her Aunt Jane. This is from Jane's journal in 1966.

She writes, to Barbara, Here's to the hope that you'll never stop growing up. Not only for what you are, but what I am when I am with you, myself. Gratefully, your sister, Janie. By the time we were both in college, we were extremely close. I would say she was actually my best friend. Dealing with Jane's death was extraordinarily painful. painful. I don't think there are any words that can really capture it.

After the horror, Barbara got on with her life, but there were still unanswered questions. No one has known what happened to Jane that night for 36 years. Jane's case became inactive in 1970 when John Collins was convicted of Karen Bynumann's murder. He thinks there was a miscarriage of justice. Ramslin, who's been researching the case, has been corresponding with Collins. He's been in a state prison now for the last 35 years. Has he ever denied or admitted to anything? He consistently denies that he has ever killed anyone.

Including Jane Mixer. Including Jane Mixer. On that one point, at least, Ramsland tends to believe him. The Jane Mixer murder was so different from the others. She's never been convinced that John Collins killed Jane. Her murder just did not have the brutality about it that some of the others did. The killer had taken the time to cover up Jane's body and carefully arrange her belongings around her. And she had also had a raincoat pulled up over her face to protect her from the elements,

very unlike the other cases. Detective Eric Schroeder is one of many investigators who also believe Jane's case stands alone. She was found fully clothed. She was not a victim of any blunt force trauma. For years, Jane Mixer's murder has bothered him. A homicide case is a homicide case. They're never closed. Detective Schroeder was convinced that Jane's case should be taken out of cold storage.

At the same time, Schroeder and his colleagues began to quietly re-investigate Jane's murder, Maggie was still writing her book and struggling. It was scary, very, very gruesome. It was a terrible book to write. I had terrible nightmares. I mean, many times I thought I should abandon ship. Those nightmares began to haunt her. I had this phobia that Jane's killer might be alive and free.

Little did she know. We had no idea that this person even existed. I've never been involved in a case disencompassing. This is the turtleneck shirt that Jane Mixer was wearing. This is her jumper dress. This case got to me. Michigan State Police Detective Eric Schroeder was deeply touched by the story of Jane Mixer. This case had kind of fallen through the cracks.

I just didn't feel that we could give up on it. This was tied around her neck as a ligature. So in 2001, when Schroeder was put in charge of cataloging evidence from old cases, he jumped at the chance to finally do Jane justice. Jane Mixer deserved to have some answers. He hoped to find new evidence. This is all the evidence that was collected during the investigation. Evidence that could not be detected in the 60s.

DNA. These are the pantyhose that were on her body. We took these to the lab. The forensic scientists took the cuttings from the areas that they located with the possible staining and did the DNA analysis. The lab also looked for tell-tale details. tell-tale DNA on Jane's clothing, the ligature, and a bloody towel found under her head. It took about a year for the scientists to give me a call.

They called with startling news. The lab did find incriminating DNA. But that DNA did not match John Collins, the man who had been blamed for the murder for more than 30 years. Now there was a new suspect. I was dumbfounded. It's still an open case. Detective Schroeder telephoned Jane's sister, Barbara Nelson. There would be no reason to think it would be closed, but I had no idea that there were people that were actually aware that it was an unsolved case. Maggie Nelson was just finishing her book about Jane.

Were you shocked? Oh, yeah. Very shocked. It definitely was beyond the realms of anything I could have ever imagined. The lab found that the DNA on Jane's pantyhose matched this man. 62-year-old Gary Leiderman from Goebbels, Michigan, a husband of nearly 28 years, father of two children now grown, and a retired registered nurse. We decided to just go ahead and contact him directly. When police came knocking on his door in November 2004, he says he thought nothing of it.

You were leading a pretty normal life. I would say so, yes. Thoughts went through my mind. Perhaps there was some problems in the neighborhood. but maybe somebody had something stolen. After questioning Lighterman for more than three hours, the detectives dropped their bombshell. They told him his DNA was found on crime scene evidence

that had been sitting in storage since 1969. What was your reaction? I was incredulous. What would he mean my DNA? Back when Jane Mixer was murdered, Lighterman was 26 and single. He had served four years. in the Navy and lived in a town about 20 miles from Ann Arbor.

Did you know Jane Mixer? No, I did not. Although the police kept grilling Lighterman, he stuck to his story. Why didn't you believe him? Primarily the DNA. The police lab could not pinpoint where the DNA came from, but said it was not blood and not semen. It might be something like sweat, saliva, or skin cells.

It was enough for police to accuse Lighterner of murder, a 35-year-old murder. What went through your mind? They were wrong. I did not do this. My concerns for my family and what this was going to do to them. Just the accusation is horrible. Lighterman was taken into custody.

Detective Schroeder had put me on the phone with my wife where she was in the car. I could hear the anguish, the terror in her voice. At the time, Lighterman's wife was too distraught to speak with us, so their close friend Rachel Kuby stepped in to talk about the man she is known for three decades. I believe they've got the wrong man. It just isn't, it isn't Gary. And the Gary I know wouldn't have done this.

Leiderman had never been accused of a violent crime before. My personal life was pretty much wrapped up with my family, taking vacations with him, dragging the kids along to Civil War battlefields. But he did have one scrape with the law in 2001. when he was caught writing himself fake prescriptions. He had become addicted to painkillers during a bout with kidney stones. He was ordered to a treatment program, which he successfully completed. But his DNA was put in a database.

And that is how he now finds himself accused of murder. Did you kill Jane Mixer? No, I did not. Did you take her body to the cemetery and dump her there? Were you with anyone who did that? No, I was not. No, I did not. No, I did not. Did you have anything to do with the murder?

Nothing. Prosecutor Stephen Hillard doesn't buy that and believes Leiterman should pay for this crime. What would be the motive for him to kill a woman? The fact that her panty hose had been taken down, her jumper had been pulled up so that her genitals were exposed. I think that it's fair to conclude that the motive was sexual assault. But there was no physical evidence of sexual assault. And that is just one of the many. challenges killer faces in this old case.

We had missing evidence. We had lost evidence. People's memories fade. We didn't have the murder weapon. The state's biggest challenge may be that Gary Lighterman's DNA isn't the only DNA that was found on Jane Mixer. Remember that tiny drop of blood scraped from Jane's left hand back in 1969? Well, the state's own lab says the DNA and that matches another man. A convicted killer named John Ruellis.

But the prosecutor insists he is absolutely sure that Ruellis did not murder Jane, for one simple reason. He was four and a half at the time. Four and a half. Four and a half years old. Four and a half year old didn't put a gun to Jane Mixer's head and pull the trigger, put it to her head again and pull the trigger. Not a stocking around her neck and drag her body into the cemetery and arrange her clothes around her. So how did a four-year-old's blood get on Jane Minster's? mixer's hand. The Ruellas and mixer cases were processed in the lab around the same time,

raising the issue of contamination. But Hiller says that didn't happen. All right, please. As he'll explain in court when he tries Gary Leiderman for murder. Unlike John Rullis, Gary Leiderman was perfectly capable of having committed this murder. I think I'm a kind and gentle person. I've never been abusive to anybody. I'm fortunate to have the love and support of my family and their prayers. All right. But Lighterman is feeling the stress.

I'm as confident as you can be that I'll be acquitted, but no one ever knows for absolutely sure. And in this case, even the victim's family has doubts. I wasn't sure they had the right man. There are enormous mysteries that remain in this case. Do you have a dark curiosity? Heart starts pounding, horrors, hauntings, Mysteries is a weekly podcast hosted by me, Kailen Moore. Each week, I'll take you on a dark journey

through terrifying true urban legends, bizarre true crime cases, chilling tales of backwoods horror and more. So if you're looking to join a passionate community of The Darkly Curious, check out Heart Starts Pounding on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And remember, stay curious. Harry Leiderman got away with murder for 36 years. Jane Mixer's death remain unsolved until August of 2004. A lot of the evidence was saved from this crime scene, correct? We got lucky. Now in 2005, Lighterman is on trial for the

1969 murder of Jane Mixer. I'm innocent. His friends and family are standing by him. I talk to my wife three or four times a week. I know they pray for me. Jane's sister, Barbara, and her daughter Maggie, vowed to be here every day and weigh the evidence themselves. I wanted to bear witness to Jane's life, you know,

and this is in some sense, you know, a part of her life. I couldn't not be here. Just couldn't. I'd had to be here. Come forward. Jane's father is the first witness called. Well, they took us to the morning, they exposed the body, and it was my daughter.

daughter Jane. Was there any question? No? No questions. I could not think of a more terrible and sad and horrifying feeling being told that your daughter is never coming home again. You sound me swear it were from... David Johnson, the man who was acting in a play the night of the murder, testifies he never spoke with Jane. Did you ever know a person named Jane Mixer?

I did not. Did you ever agree to take Jane Mixer to Muskegan? No. What's your theory in? what happened in March of 1969. I think that Gary Leiderman called Jane Mixer in response to her ad for a ride to Muskegon and represented himself as David Johnson. Hiller believes that Jane got into Lighterman's car and sometime that night he made a sexual

advance that ended in murder. Ultimately that night he put a gun to her head twice, pulled the trigger. Lighterman, an avid hunter, did own a 22-caliber handgun, but there is no proof that it was the gun that killed Jane. It's a picture of the body lying inside the fenced area of the cemetery, covered with the yellow raincoat. I had not known exactly how my sister died, and the trial certainly made that very clear. The old detectives do their best to recall the case. You recall the morning of March 21st, 1969. Uh, yes, to a degree.

Evidence they found. A small portion of a fired bullet. Evidence they lost. Do you recall a cigarette butt? Yes, I do. Do you know what happened to it? No, I don't. I wish I could answer you, sir.

But the crucial issue here concerns evidence they didn't even know existed back then. Are these the panty hose that were removed from Jane Mixer's body then? Yes, they are. DNA. The person whose DNA you took, do you see him in the courtroom? Yes. Would you point to him, please? He's seated here.

The new investigators who took over the case testify about the three distinct spots of DNA on Jane's Pantyhose that clearly match Gary Leiderman. Here, here and here. That is correct. And they say DNA in other places is a partial match. A4 would be right there. Those places include three additional spots on the patty hose, spots on the bloody towel found under Jane's head, and spots on the nylon stocking that was tied around her neck. This is the leg opening of the stocking.

Hiller says that is a lot of DNA, and proof that Lighterman was there when Jane was murdered, perhaps sweating as he moved her body. Lighterman denies that. But you can't think of any physical contact that you had with her? No, I cannot. We also don't know when that stain came in contact with that panty hose. Yeah. Defense attorney Gary Gabri says he can imagine some possibilities.

I believe there's innocent explanations in which the DNA could have been on there. Such as. Such as having contact with the panty hose in a laundromat. Sir, face the clerk. Or as his expert testifies, DNA could have been have been transferred in a public place with a chance encounter like a sneeze. Material that's ejected during a sneeze certainly has an abundant amount of DNA associated with it. Hiller dismisses that, saying there is just too much DNA to explain a way.

It was in places where it would not have resulted from casual contact. There is no innocent explanation for Jane Mixer's Pantyhose to have Gary Leiderman's DNA on them. But he cannot so readily dismiss the crime lab's finding that a spot of blood on Jane Mixer's hand matches the DNA of a convicted felon who was only four years old when Jane was murdered. Certainly we had to consider how to handle John Ruelas' blood.

In 1969, young John Ruelas was living in downtown Detroit, about 40 miles away from where Jane's body was found. Investigators could not connect Ruellis to Gary Leiderman or to Jane Mixer. But remember, the Mixer and Rueheles cases were in the lab around the same time, which begs the question, did something go wrong in the lab? Would you agree that human beings make mistakes? Yes, they do.

If a mistake was made with Rueheles, Gabri says the evidence against Liderman cannot be trusted. It's going out on quite a little. to say, well, there's contamination in this part, but there's not contamination in this part. Michigan State officials would not allow 48 hours or any other outsiders inside the lab. This is their video. But Hiller insists he can show that nothing went wrong there. And he calls witness...

All the guidelines were followed in this particular case. After witness. We wear gloves on our hands that we change between every item that we test. who described the great pains taken at the lab to keep all evidence separate, to prevent and catch errors. We have a separate laboratory where we analyze bulk evidence. Lab supervisor Jeffrey Nye says he retraced every step. In this particular case, you don't believe there's any issue of contamination. That's right. No issue whatsoever.

That means that John Roulas is around this young lady. who is ultimately found dead and bleeds on her. How does that happen? How that happened, the prosecutor says, is lost to history. But he insists the evidence clearly shows that somehow, some way, four-year-old John Ruelas was there. So you honestly believe that John Ruelas was somehow

in the vicinity of Jane Mixer back in 1969, that his blood, it's actually John Rueless's blood. His blood was on her. His blood was on her. No question. Not in my mind. With Hiller's case hinging on DNA, defense attorney Gabri highlights other evidence that points away from Gary Leiderman.

There were no fingerprints that have been associated with Gary Leiderman. Is that correct? That's correct. Leiderman's fingerprints do not match any of the prints still unidentified in the case. Nor did Leiderman own a car anything like the one seen speeding away the night of the crime. It was a lime green 68 Chevy station wagon. Leiderman does not take the stand. Two weeks after opening arguments, the jurors begin deliberating.

Leiterman's close friend Rachel Kuby says the case against him seems weak. I don't believe that Gary did this. There were way, way, way too many unexplained things. Still, his family is worried. And even the mixer family feels sympathy towards them. Gary Lighterman is a loved person by many people. If he's found guilty, that will be a very deep tragedy for his family. You know, I try to put myself in their position, and I say my heart goes out to them.

Even so, Barbara and Maggie have come to believe that the state has proved its case. He's seated here. What do you think then is the most incriminating piece of evidence? It's got to be the DNA. But has the state won over the jury? Gary Lighterman's fate is in their hands. Parallel to the highway there runs a narrow gravel road that used to be a lover's lane.

The cemetery opens out to grass, then the highway. Maggie Nelson ends her book at the place where Jane Mixer's murder investigation began. So much talk about the possible significance of the name on the headstone where her body was found. But here is just where he dumped her on a night of cold rain, and where my mother and I stand today listening to the birds. Long before there was a suspect, Maggie brought her mother here.

I did it because she asked me, and I think because I knew that it was time. It was a healing experience. It was an extraordinary healing experience. Now, five years later, they wait anxiously to hear whether a jury believes Gary Laii Lai. Leiderman killed Jane 36 years ago. It was just pure stress. I think for each one of us, our stomach's turned over. I do have a note from the jury indicating that they have reached a decision.

Leiderman's family also waits, hoping it will be the end of their ordeal. Counsel and defendant please rise. The jury is swift. It has taken only four hours for them to determine Leiderman's fate. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty signed by the jury for a brief. Thank you. There was just this kind of stunned silence.

I felt like I was sort of numb. Is this and was that your verdict? Juror number 264, chair number one. Yes. Is this and was that your verdict? Juror number 218. It was just very emotional to think that these 12 people were saying, we believe this person killed your relative.

Is this and was that your verdict, jury number 335, Chair 6? I think when it became a reality to me is when I turned to my father and my father began sobbing. And I knew then that this was a huge thing, a huge thing. He was much more emotional than I've ever seen him. At a certain point, he just completely had to say, I'm never going to know what happened here. And I just don't think he thought at 91 he'd be hearing a jury read a guilty verdict. Sentencing will be August 30th at 1.30. What did you think when you heard the verdict?

First thing I went to my mind was, did I hear that correctly? Did it sink in because you really had no reaction at all to it? Yes, I was devastated. What would be wonderful would be to have Gary Leiderman actually say, I did it. And as long as he doesn't say that, there'll always be this just nagging doubt about what really happened. Mr. Leiderman, you have been convicted of first-degree murders. Anything you'd like to say to the court?

Six weeks later at his sentencing, Leiderman speaks out in court for the first time. He expresses sympathy for the mixers. It was probably an awful time with her lives back in 1969 to know that they lost her daughter and their sister. And she's appeared to be a lovely young lady. But he steadfastly denies having anything to do with Jane's murder. But I also want to say that I am innocent of this crime. Under Michigan law, his sentence is mandatory. It is the sentence of the court that you serve the rest of your natural life in the Michigan

Department of Corrections without the possibility of parole. Even with his fate now sealed, Letterman still finds it hard to accept the jury's verdict. I wish I could say benevolent things about them and about the decision they made, but I'd simply have to deal with it. move on. So have you just accepted it and that's the way it's going to be? I haven't accepted it. It's not the way it's going to be, hopefully.

You're fighting? Yes, we are. It will be an uphill battle. But Leiderman's new attorney, Mark Satawa, feels he has a shot. The fact that there is not just some biological material, but a blood drop from a person who was four years old at the time, I think it calls into question the entire reliability of the testing in this case. Stephen Hiller believes justice was served.

Gary Leiderman deserves to pay the price for what he's done. And he'll do that. After a long journey, Maggie Nelson may have found some peace. Are you still haunted by any of the questions from that night? I think I'm less haunted now. Her search for answers has finally brought Jane Mixer home. The horror of Jane's death made her a forgotten person. It was too hard to look at it.

And in some strange way, she's come back to life. My family got to remember how much they loved her, you know. Gary Lighterman died in prison in 2019. He was 76 years old.