Going West: True Crime - Shannon Siders // 205

Episode Date: June 1, 2022

In July of 1989, an 18-year-old Indigenous woman in Michigan went missing after a night out with friends. Shortly after her disappearance, the local police received a disturbing call where a frantic man confessed to her murder. Years passed after the discovery of her body, and police continued to question people in and out of her circle. But it wouldn’t be until 22 years later that movement finally came to her case. This is the story of Shannon Siders. BONUS EPISODE patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. WZZM13: https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/crime/shannon-siders-book-jennifer-dornbush-newaygo-bob-siders/69-e867902d-dc01-4228-a62d-b12f9fa6b383 2. The Herald-Palladium:https://www.newspapers.com/image/366382155/?terms=shannon%20siders&match=1 3. Cold Case Files Episode: https://www.hulu.com/watch/2c89168e-ca8d-4de9-9be1-11d5e80c1716 4. Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/193669362/mary-christine-siders 5. M Live: https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2022/02/convicted-in-teens-1989-killing-brothers-seek-review-by-conviction-integrity-unit-after-witness-recants.html 6. Sault Saint Marie Chippewa Tribe: https://www.saulttribe.com/ 7. M Live: https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2021/12/i-was-lying-inmate-recants-testimony-that-helped-convict-brothers-of-michigan-teens-grisly-1989-murder.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on True Crime fans? I'm your host Tith. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Thank you so much everybody for tuning in to yet another episode of Going West. Here we are. Are you guys sick of Daphne saying that? I do. I say that every time. I think it's every time. I don't know what else to say. That's your tagline though. Yeah, it is. You're right. It's when you tagline. And thank you to Brittany in particular for recommending this case that we have for you guys today. As many of us know, there is an epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and people and girls. And we always want to bring awareness to their cases whenever possible. So we really appreciate you sending this one to us, Britt, so we can share it with everybody

else. Yes, thank you so much, Brittney, for recommending this case to us. Also if you want to suggest a case, make sure you send us an email at goingwestpodcast.gmail.com. That's where we're going to respond, and that's where we're going to see your suggestions. Yes, on social media, we do get a lot of DMs. I know you guys send DMs, but we don't check them very often because we get a lot. So, so sorry about that, but just make sure you email us instead because we do check all of those. All right, guys, this is episode 205 of going west, so let's get into it.

In July of 1989, an 18-year-old indigenous woman in Michigan went missing after a night out with friends. Shortly after her disappearance, the local police received a disturbing phone call, where a frantic man confessed to her murder. Years passed after the discovery of her body, and police continued to question people in and out of her circle. But it wouldn't be until 22 years later that movement finally came to her case. This is the story of Shannon Siders. Shannon Marie Siders was born on March 31, 1971 Shannon Marie Ciders was born on March 31, 1971 to Robert or Bob and Mary Ciders in Big Rapids, Michigan.

Her mother Mary was an indigenous woman from Maconaw Island and belonged to the Su-Saint Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians, part of the greater group of a nation-abey indigenous peoples, which spans much of the Great Lakes and Canada. This particular chapter of the Chippewa tribe encompasses seven counties and has over 44,000 tribe members today, and Shannon's mom Mary eventually became an elder of this tribe. But when Shannon was just four years old, her parents' bob and Mary divorced, and her

father bob gained full custody of her. And as an only child, Shannon really was the light of his life. He said of her childhood that she'd been a healthy, beautiful, tiny baby who thrived in his care and grew into a gifted and promising teenager, but really seemed like he was such a great dad. Yeah. When Shannon was young, she and her dad relocated to Newago, Michigan, on the western side of the lower peninsula, just about a 40-minute drive from her hometown of Big Rapids, Michigan.

Newago is a small city that at this time hosted only about 1,500 residents, situated 30 miles or 48 kilometers from the shores of Lake Michigan. It was settled around 100 BC and was known for hunting, trapping, and fishing by indigenous tribes including the Peoria and Adawa, which eventually became the name of Canada's capital city of Ottawa. Shannon grew into a sweet, caring young woman and a great friend. According to her close friend, Julia, you could tell her anything without fear of judgment and everyone liked her.

In the summer of 1989, when this story takes place, Shannon was newly 18 years old. Her dad had recently taken a job with Pepsi Cola, working the third shift from midnight to 8.30am, and anyone who's ever worked this shift knows how rough it can be to maintain like a normal life balance. And I actually do know what that's like. Yes you do. So on July 17, 1989, around 10.30pm, Bob was getting ready for work and Shannon had

just gotten out of the bath. Afterwards, she came out of the bathroom and swept pants with a towel on her head. Bob told her that he was leaving for work and that he loved her and kissed her on the forehead before she went upstairs to get ready to go out with some friends. And sadly, that would be the last time that he would ever see his daughter in a situation that was so normal to their routine. When Bob returned home from his shift the following morning, Shannon still hadn't come home. He knew she'd gone out, of course, but expected to find her home and sleeping by the time he got back.

And it was so unusual that she wasn't quite home yet that Bob started walking around the neighborhood shouting for her, wondering if maybe she was at a neighbor's house. But when there was no sign of her, he called the police. And like you said, Heath, this was not normal. So much so that he almost immediately called the police after noticing that she hadn't been home, which really tells us that she wasn't the type of young woman to be out all night, even though she could, because she was 18. You know, especially without telling her dad who she was so close with. Yeah, definitely.

So Newago is the kind of town where everyone knows everyone, and things like this just don't happen, especially because their population at this time was only around 1500 people, like I mentioned. And because the town was so small, word about Shannon's absence spread quickly. And police soon received a tip that there was a woman named Shannon hiding out in one of the known dope houses in the area. When they went to check it out, it was a different young woman named Shannon, which made sense because this tip didn't sound like it would be Shannon's Ciders anyway. That summer, a 15-year-old girl named Amy Bonner was working at

the police station as a receptionist, and she received a terrifying phone call shortly after Shannon went missing. When Amy answered this call, a man who sounded very frantic stated, quote, I just killed Shannon Siders, and then he abruptly hung up. Amy was obviously very unsettled by this call, especially since she was so young. Yeah, only 15. Yeah, and she became determined to find out where the call came from. But the problem was, the call was so short and sudden that police were unable to trace it.

Over a Labor Day weekend of 1989, so a month and a half after Shannon had gone missing, two men found two identification cards of Shannon's loose in some brush near a place called The Whole in the Woods, which was a well-known local party spot for teenagers, located in the 500,000-acre Manesty Forest that surrounded Newago. These men also found a pair of blue jeans nearby, but it was unclear if they were what Shannon had been wearing or not, because remember, her dad Bob had last seen her in sweatpants as she was getting ready that night.

And Bob himself searched the area extensively as well, willing his daughter to lead him to her, but he turned up nothing. Another month went by with no more clues as to where she was or what had happened to her, totaling the search to almost four months. But then, on October 15, 1989, a deer hunter in the Manesty Forest stumbled upon a gruesome scene. He reported what he'd found to the state police in Newago who went out to investigate right away.

And around midnight, Bob was called into the station and was told that what was feared was true. In the same area that Shannon's IDs were found, Shannon's body was found. Meaning if Bob had walked just a little bit farther when he was out searching for her in September after the IDs were discovered, he would have stumbled upon his daughter's body. That's so, that's so like upsetting to know that he was in that area where the IDs were originally and that she and so was she she was so close yet so far away. So within days in autopsy was performed and it confirmed that Shannon had died of blunt

force trauma to the head. She had also been sexually assaulted and when she was found, her pants were off and her underwear was around one ankle. And horrifically, her genitals had been cut after she had been killed. With that, the police felt strongly that whoever did this to her knew her personally in some way, but Bob was sure of it. So sure that he said he had to be careful who he asked her Paul Bears to be. Worried that a male friend or classmate and attendants might have done this to his daughter? Instead, he asked Shannon's female cousins to carry her. And I do wonder why he was so sure. Like, if he knew that she had some shady or bad male friends, because just with the information we have on her autopsy, my mind wouldn't go

to, oh, this is someone she knew for sure, you know, because usually for my mind to go there, it's a very intimate and violent attack that feels personal. And not that her attack was violent because it absolutely was. But either way, it was good of him to be cautious, and you guys will see why in a bit here. Yeah. And I mean, it's hard when you live in such a small town to think that it could be an outsider, but we're going to get to that. Oh, yeah.

Almost Shannon's entire high school came out to her funeral, because again, she was very beloved. And at the funeral, many different friends wrote various letters that they dropped into her grave next to her. While the town was grieving, investigators were getting to work to find her killer. And like you said, knowing this town is so small, too, probably made them

want to solve it even more because if it was one of the 1500 people amongst them, they needed to find that person quick. Absolutely, because they could have a killer on the loose. Yeah, and in such a small group of people. So the Michigan State Police Behavioral Analysis team in Lansing built a profile for the person or people that they thought might have killed her. They agreed that it was likely someone who knew Shannon that it was probably sexually motivated and that drugs and alcohol were a factor. Because of the nature of the crime, it's also likely that it was more than one person,

which is even more terrifying. And as you can guess, this had shocking fallout for the small community of Nuego. Bob said he looked for his daughter's killer everywhere he went, knowing it could be anyone in town that he crossed paths with, but the town wanted to think that it was a stranger or an outsider because that would have been a lot easier to stomach.

Bob was relentless in his search to bring his beloved daughter's killer to justice. He even put up a billboard looking for answers on the highway outside of Newago and persuaded almost 50 businesses in and around the town to post who killed Shannon Ciders. Someone knows something on their signs. Bob said, quote, if she was killed in a car accident,

all the things I've been doing might seem weird, but she wasn't. Somebody killed my daughter, and there's nothing to say, he won't kill again. A forensic entomologist or insect expert was brought in to determine approximately how long Shannon's body had been in those woods, based on the

amount of decay and bugs on her body. The entomologist concluded that she had been there since the last few weeks of July, or the first few weeks of August. So at least a couple months before she was found. And remember, she was last seen on July 17th. So they're saying, at least since the end of July, but it could have been right after she disappeared as well. Exactly.

So once again, police started making their rounds to question people in and out of her circle. And you guys are probably wondering who Shannon was with the evening she disappeared because that is pretty important. Yes, it is. Well, there were eight people known to have last seen her alive.

So one by one, they were given polygraph tests. That fateful July night after Bob left for work, Shannon had gone out with some classmates from school that her friend Julia said were not her usual friend group. There were eight kids spread between three cars, heading to the hole in the woods to drink, which again is where her IDs and body were later found. Among this group of friends was a young man named Brandon Severs. Julia, who again is Shannon's best friend, later told investigators that Shannon had said

she was scared of Brandon and quote, didn't want to be alone with him, and that he was angry and mean. So this doesn't look good. And he also sounds like he wasn't a big fan of women in general, calling them sluts and whores. Wow. That's like a red flag. Cool guy, Brandon.

Yeah. A few tips also came in that Brandon had left town after she went missing, which made him even more suspicious. And as we constantly say, people of interest who leave town or move after someone goes missing or is murdered is always a bad luck. Yeah, at least in our minds. Yeah. And because of all of this potential suspicion against Brandon, he was brought in for questioning

and given a polygraph test as well. Now, he claimed that he had driven Shannon at some point in the evening, but that she had been ready to go home before he was. So she got in the car with someone else and left and then he didn't see her again. Something I wanna bring up before I forget is that it's interesting that he says she was in his car at some point because that makes me think if they

had checked his car and her DNA was in there that he would have a reason for that. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's true. I just wanted to say that now but I will bring that up again later. After further questioning, Brandon stated that the trip he took after she went missing, turned out to be a trip to Colorado to pick up a cousin and bring them back to New Ago, Michigan. So he had returned after just a couple days, not disappearing as tips suggested. And for those wondering, Colorado is multiple states away from Michigan, so this would have been at least a 15-hour drive each way. Police then questioned Dean Robinson, based on reports that he had been there that night, and that he had a history of violence towards women. But as with Brandon, nothing came of this.

Also brought in for questioning where brothers Paul and Matt Jones, who went by skip but were not going to call them that. And they grew up south of Newuego. They claimed to have been the last people to see Shannon alive, having gone back to Shannon's house to watch a movie and drink beer once the friend group was done hanging out in the hole in the woods. However, they said that when they arrived at the cider's home, she decided that she was too tired and went inside to go to bed.

The brothers also relayed a detailed description of this scene. They said that they noticed that she had left the TV and porcelain on, and her dog ran to greet her at the front door. They said that they had dropped her off back at home between 12 and 2am, so about 7-9 hours before Bob returned home, and both brothers were given a polygraph test to check their stories, but they both passed. After their initial round of questioning, tips to police slowed down, and the investigation lost traction, and after that and the investigation lost traction.

And after that, the case went cold. Situations like this are so frustrating, like how police had this feeling that the killer was someone shan and knew, and then learning she was with all these young men that night, some who were violent and troubled, they question them and don't find anything. So they just have to go off what these guys are saying, because nothing suspicious is standing out to them enough to pursue any of these guys.

Yeah, and it's just the other frustrating part is that like, it's like her body was found in the hole in the woods, and police know, now know that all this group of kids went out to the hole in the woods that night. Right. So it just has to be connected in some way. I totally agree. That's not like some weird coincidence here. But also it's frustrating because at this time, there could have been vital DNA evidence in any of these guys' cars because we know that she had been in some of their cars at least, right? Yeah. But there was nothing that stuck out enough to police that they could obtain a search warrant for any of them, their homes or their cars, you know?

Right, and just, yeah, like knowing the fact that she was with that group, it's like, like, why would we even test for DNA? Because we know that she was in at least one or two of those cars. That's true, but also if there had been blood or anything along those lines, that could help as well.

But, absolutely. But you're right. That's a problem. Just like I said with Brandon, if he said, oh, she was in my car and they find DNA evidence that she was in the car. It's like, yeah, because I drove her around that night. So you're right. He already explained that he did drive her at some point.

So tough. So in August of 2011, over 20 years after Shannon's murder, the district put a cold case task force together specifically years after Shannon's murder, the district put a cold-case task force together specifically to tackle Shannon's case. The case ran deep in the community at this point. The police chief in New Wago at the time actually Pat Headland, who had been in his position since 2000, took the job to solve Shannon's case. And another officer asked to join the cold case task force that was Mike Stevens, and he said that solving Shannon's case is the reason

he became a detective. Yeah, that's incredible that the motivation to become a detective is because you want to solve Shannon's case. And then you get put on her case, which is great. The task force immediately put their heads together and started with victimology, the study and profile of the victim of the crime. They studied Shannon's life and talked to her friends, family, and acquaintances to build a better picture of who she was because they're really just starting from the ground up. Multiple people who knew her well remembered that she always wore a class ring on her right

hand. It was inscribed and adorned with her initials, and she never took it off. However, it was not recovered with her body. Pat Hadlyn personally searched the Manesty forest near the hole in the woods where Shannon was found, with a metal detector looking for her ring. But they were never able to recover it, meaning whoever took her life probably also took her ring as a trophy. Meanwhile Amy Bonner, still haunted by the call that she fielded from the person who said that they had killed Shannon Shannon was conducting her own investigation.

At the same time, Pat Headlin started a Facebook group asking the community for answers, and Amy reached out to him immediately with her tips. She was so involved that many people in Newego thought that she had started the Facebook group herself, and it appears that she did. Shortly after the formation of the group, a woman named Stephanie Hammond reached out to Amy via Facebook message and told Amy that she thought someone in her own family was involved in Shannon's murder. That's huge to think it's your own family, which you'll explain why right now, but

that's huge. And coming forward, after all this time. Right. You'll explain why right now, but a huge and coming forward after all this time. Right. The Hammond family was reportedly known around town for having a history of abuse, incest, assault, and even attempted murder. Stephanie claimed that some of the boys in the family had drugged Shannon and kept her locked in the basement of their nearby lake house for days, raping her repeatedly.

Then, they ran her over with a car before disposing of her body in the forest. Stephanie even brought Amy to the house where she believed this took place. However, when Amy reported her findings to police chief Pat Headland, and the cold-case task force did more digging, they found that the house didn't even have a basement, and that none of the Hammond boys were around the night that Shannon disappeared. Which makes you wonder where Stephanie heard or got this story from? Yeah.

But I mean good, sorry, I mean good on her for coming forward if that's what someone had told her, and I'm glad the task force thoroughly checked it out. Yeah, because we can kind of rule that out now. But it's weird how a rumor like that would spread or how she would like find out maybe her cousins were just trying to talk big and had mentioned it or something. Yeah. I don't know.

And that makes sense. I mean, especially because it's so specific, it's not like, oh, I heard that. Someone in my family killed her. It's like, they kept her here for days. They did this to her, then this is how they killed her. And she felt so much so that she even went to police to Tell them about this. Yeah, she must have really believed it right so with investigators fearing that the trail had gone cold again

They started to get desperate and they turned to an option. No one wanted to have to pursue Exuming Shannon's body no one wanted to have to pursue. Exuming Shannon's body. Police wanted to read the letters that Shannon's friends and classmates placed in her casket to see if that would lead them in the right direction. Yeah, because it's possible that the killer may have been one of the people who wrote a note

and placed it in her grave. Which is so smart because they could have said, I'm so sorry, or something like that. Yeah. And it was just placed in her grave, so nobody checked those notes before she was actually buried. But obviously this was tough, to have to exhume someone's body as a really big deal,

especially for her dad. But her dad wanted this solved as much as they did. So with his blessing, they dug up the grave, but sadly they found no clues in the letters. They did, however, find a chunk of hair in Shannon's right hand that had not been previously tested, but it turned out to be hers, which really confusing me. I mean, why was this never tested, but then when they finally did, they concluded it was hers, but why was her own hair in her hand?

And I guess we can just say that these new investigators really seem to be maybe more so driven to solve Shannon's case than the previous ones, but I don't really know, because there was no testing done originally on that, and the letters weren't looked at originally. Well, yeah, because at this point, the new task force had interviewed around 400 people with every lead turning up nothing. So they turned back to Shannon's victimology profile and the people who knew her best, deciding to interview her good friend Julia once again. Julia says that she got off of work at 10pm that night, and went over to Shannon's house between 11 and 11.30pm, so just after Bob would have left for work. And Shannon

had told her that she was going out for a bit, but they planned to hang out after that when Shannon returned. But when no one answered the door when Julia arrived, she came back in half our increments, even letting herself in at one point and going up to Shannon's room to check on her since she wasn't answering the door and she hadn't been seen. And this is really interesting because this kind of proves that Shannon wasn't planning to be out super late if she had plans with her best friend Julia who was literally waiting at her house. Yeah, absolutely.

So the last time Julia checked the house was at 2.45am on July 18th. But remember in their interview, the Jones brothers who claimed that they had dropped Shannon off at her house told police that she was home safely between 12 and 2am, which means that Matt, Paul and Shannon, or at the very least Shannon, would have run into Julia who had been consistently dropping by the house herself. When investigators realized that there was a hole in Matt and Paul's story, they quietly started asking around. One of Shannon's friends, Lindsay Bradley, had been questioned in the initial round of interviews, so they brought her back in to figure out what else they could get out of her

testimony. Later in the summer that Shannon disappeared, Lindsay Bradley and Paul Jones had been writing around in his car when he asked to take her out sometime. But Lindsay asked why she would agree to that when there was another girl's ring in his car's ash tray. Paul responded by saying that the girl who wore that ring was probably dead. Before that quick break, we told you guys that Shannon's friend Lindsay was driving in Paul Jones' car within the month following Shannon's disappearance and murder. And that Lindsay asked why she would go out with Paul if he had another girl's ring in his car, to which

Paul allegedly responded with, the girl who wore that ring is probably dead. So that's a really suspicious comment. I have so many questions about this. So I am wondering if this was a class ring or a regular kind of ring, but we couldn't find specifically what the ring looked like, but I feel like that's important because if it was a class ring, that would prompt me to ask how she knew that it was a girl's, though I did read online that female class rings

tend to be a bit smaller than men's, but that's not for all schools. So how did she know that this was a girl's ring? Like what did it look like? Did it have initials on it? And then why would she not go to police if he said the girl was probably dead? Like, that's such a weird and unsettling thing to say. Yeah, it's a weird thing to say. And then knowing what we know now, the fact that Shannon's classroom was missing, it just leads us down a road of speculation. And because she,

it's Lindsay's friend is Shannon who was missing at this point. So wouldn't you be like, wait, that could be a connection? I don't know. Yeah. No offense to Lindsay, but I wonder a lot about this. Well, unfortunately, the ring was later found not to belong to Shannon. And as far as we can tell, her class ring has never been discovered, but this became a tipping point in the investigation because detectives were finally about to get their first real eyewitness testimony even if it was years too late. And this also meant renewed interest in the Jones brothers. Police assumed at this point that the three of them, so the Jones brothers and Shannon,

had probably been hanging out somewhere when the brothers made advances on Shannon that she rebuked. And this was their way of retaliating. And even according to their own story originally, she had decided that she was too tired to hang out, so this definitely could have angered them if this is even true. Yeah, definitely. Now Shannon apparently considered the brothers her friends and trusted them, so she didn't think of them like she thought of, for example, Brandon.

Meanwhile, Amy's own investigation was also making strides, because a friend of hers named Jenny Corrigan came to her and said that she knew how Shannon had died that night over 20 years ago. Jenny came to Amy crying as she recounted what had happened. So Jenny had not been with Shannon that night, but she said she had seen her. Jenny was driving around with Dean Robinson. Ben with Shannon that night, but she said she had seen her. Jenny was driving around with Dean Robinson. Remember we mentioned him earlier. Yeah, he was one of the potential suspects early on in the investigation.

So Dean and he was known to be violent. Dean and Jenny, apparently, came across another car while they were out on their drive, and Dean got out to talk to the guys who were standing outside of their car. They said they were looking for a girl, which sounded suspiciously like Shannon may have gotten away, and they were trying to hunt her down so she didn't report what they had done to her. Now police guessed that they eventually caught her, beat and assaulted her, and then killed her. Dean and Jenny drove

back around later and saw the two brothers standing by the car again, but this time, with Shannon's unconscious or possibly even lifeless body at their feet. Dean then got out of the car again to figure out what was going on, but he tripped and fell walking over to them. While he was on the ground, Paul Jones apparently walked over and kicked him in the face, and this was confirmed years later by Dean's sister who claimed that she had to clean up his eyebrow from a deep cut that night. When Matt started walking toward him with a hammer, Jenny, watching them, honked the horn to scare them off, and Dean retreated to the car.

Then he told police later that he knew the unconscious woman had to be Shannon. And this is so ridiculous that two people that weren't allegedly involved in her murder, allegedly knew what had happened to her and even witnessed it and didn't come forward at the time or even any time remotely after it happened. Assuming this eyewitness report is even true. Yeah, I mean, I definitely understand that, but to explain that a little bit, Jenny said that she originally chose not to come forward because she thought the woman on the ground had been struck by the Jones' car and was going to be taken to the hospital, but she also

admitted that she was afraid of Dean, who was 19 years old at the time getting angry at her, and by the way, Jenny was 14 at this time, so she was quite young. After police questioned them again, both Jenny and Dean Robinson identified Paul as one of the men that they saw at the scene that night. With that, police finally had enough to arrest the Jones brothers. And on June 24, 2014, they were both charged with 18-year-old Shannon Ciders' murder. Police Chief Pat Headlin called Amy Bonner to tell her the good news, and she was so happy that she actually cried.

Bob said that he had a feeling about these brothers all along, recalling that years ago, he had passed the brothers in a local grocery store, and a chill went down his spine. At this time, Attorney General William Ralston and prosecutor Robert Springstead joined forces on Shannon's case to help get her case justice in the 2015 trial against the Jones brothers. Robert Springstead detailed the horrors of what Shannon endured that night, including, quote, three blows to the skull, broken ribs, bruising to her breasts, tailbone, and pelvis, plus most shocking of all those post-mortem injuries to her breasts, tailbone, and pelvis, plus most shocking of all, those post-mortem

injuries to her genitals. William Ralston doubled down and described Matt as a drug-abusing criminal and a deadbeat dad with spotty employment and a drug problem. He said in court, quote, he's not a big contributor to society. Life without parole shouldn't be taken lightly. That's as long as it gets in Michigan. This case, these facts, what they did to Shannon that night, this case fits that sentence. According to the case summary, Shannon had followed the boys into Paul's red mercury cougar. Another local driver recalls seeing their car turn onto M37, which is the

access road to the area where Shannon's body was found, which is obviously very suspicious if this person is telling the truth. Yeah, definitely. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew met up in the grocery store parking lot in New Ego or A grocery store parking lot. About two hours later, the Jones brothers came back to join them, but this time without Shannon claiming they dropped her off at home. So if there's witnesses saying this, then that's pretty suspicious. Yeah, so this is difficult too, because if somebody says they saw their card turn on this particular road, and everybody in the group knows that they returned without Shannon

and said they dropped her off. It's like, did you actually drop her off or did you just kill her? Yeah, but then we have Julia saying that she was there between, you know, 1130 and like two A.M. and Shannon's house. Yes. Right. But she didn't see the brothers or Shannon. Right.

Which, and if she was coming back in 30 minute intervals, I mean, that's pretty big. If she missed them, she would have just missed them, but she also would have seen Shannon at her own house. Yeah. So others in the group remember that the Jones brothers were acting calmly and normally that night, even after they returned. Around sunrise, the group moved again to the banks of the Muskegon River where they continued to drink. From the day the Jones brothers were arrested to the day they were convicted, the brothers maintained their innocence, sticking with their original story of having dropped Shannon

off early on the morning of July 18th. But on July 21st, 2015, almost 26 years to the day after Shannon's murder, the Jones brothers were convicted. Matt Jones, to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and his brother Paul Jones, to 30 to 75 years. Shannon's parents, Bob and Mary, both read victim-impact statements allowed at their daughter's trial. Mary explained that her culture had gifted her a deep spiritual connection with her daughter and that she still felt their connection.

She stated, quote, nothing in this world will ever replace the whole you have created. Nothing this court can do will ever replace or repair what you took from this world." Bob stated quote, "...your kids will marry and give you grandchildren. I don't get that. I have a

headstone and a grave site." Bob also told a reporter after the sentencing that he was heartbroken he would never experience having grandchildren and that Shannon would have been a great mom. He fought tirelessly as we know for his daughter and was relieved for it to be over but nothing would bring Shannon back. Now we do have some updates here that have come about since the 2015 conviction. We can't speak to the validity of this claim, but in December of last year, so 2021, Dean Robinson, whose eyewitness account was a massive component of the brother's conviction,

recanted his testimony. An assigned affidavit that he turned into police well in prison serving time for a violent assault, so yeah, Dean is also a criminal. 51-year-old Dean Robinson stated, quote, I did not have any personal knowledge regarding Matt or Paul Jones, nor did I witness their involvement in a homicide. Up until the point I testified during the trial, I had never seen Matt or Paul Jones. I was lying under oath when I testified about any matter about Matt or Paul Jones being involved in a homicide.

He now claims that his testimony had been spoon-fed to him by investigators. This makes me wonder since he was in prison when he's saying this. If he wanted to recant it so he didn't look like a like a snitch to his fellow inmates. Either that or he thought he was gonna get some sort of deal out of telling the truth but I mean the fact that we have Jenny Corrigan who was in that car with him that day you know she's 14 years old she saw this and when she came forward she actually cried about what she had saw. Or had seen, sorry. Yeah, yeah, I mean this is, this is frustrating because you're like, okay, which is it? Are you lying now or were you lying then?

Well, Dean had been at the hole in the woods that night, but claims that he was drinking whiskey and doing LSD, and then drove around with Jenny Corrigan, and that it was a pretty uneventful evening. Dean, however, has also been convicted of perjury along with his rap sheet of violent crimes. So whether this is true or not, we can't really speculate, but there is a growing movement for a retrial, because there was no actual DNA that could concretely link the Jones brothers to Shannon's murder. Former Detroit News reporter turned private investigator Bill Proctor is leading it and has a website, a YouTube channel, and a podcast in the works interviewing other people who are essential to the case

and posing new theories. Bill and his project Seeking Justice have helped free more than 10 people who are wrongfully convicted. Attorneys for the brothers, Robert Higby and Todd Perkins, filed the affidavit with Dean's statement with Nuego County Circuit Court. While the brothers have exhausted their appeals, given this new information, bill in the attorneys hope to convince a judge to conduct a new trial. Bob is aware of these new efforts, and while he mostly stays away from it, he hears bits and pieces reported back to him from people in the town.

Bill came to see him at his home in Newago once, asking to chat and handing him a business card, but Bob handed it back before telling him to never come see him again. Well, it makes sense because the guy in front of him is trying to say, look, this guy that you think killed your daughter or these guys that you think killed your daughter didn't do it. And I'm trying to prove that. So that's like kind of a big F you to Bob because he's like, look, I believe they did it.

And like, how dare you reopen this wound? Yeah, exactly. It's, it's a huge slap in the face in my opinion. And all of this, of course, has taken a huge toll on Bob, who suffers from COPD, which is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and was so ill during Shannon's trial that he was actually hospitalized. Shannon's mother Mary passed away in 2018 after a long illness, according to her obituary. She had a traditional Chippewa burial and celebration of life and was cremated, her ashes

beside her life partner Dennis, whom her obituary called the love of her life. And he died less than a month before she did. Bob Ciders is currently 73 and still living in Newago, Michigan. So although Bob and many others believe that the Jones brothers really are behind Shannon's senseless assault and murder, there are also people out there who believe in their innocence.

So what do you guys think? What do you guys think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think?

What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode, and on Friday we'll have an all-new case for you guys to dive into. Obviously, it's devastating to think that the wrong people could be behind bars for multiple reasons, but I'm sure it's incredibly difficult for Bob to even fathom, because especially at 73 years old, and having to deal with the heartache of losing his daughter, he couldn't possibly endure the pain of another trial, but I guess

we'll see what happens. What do you think? Yeah, I mean, I just hope that no matter what, justice is served regardless, but yeah, I really hope that he doesn't have to go through another trial. Obviously, the lack of DNA evidence is crucial, especially since the eyewitness statements can't even really fully be trusted, but it does seem like the brother's lie during their original questioning with police

and that someone she was with that evening did this to her. I mean, I think the fact that witnesses saw their car turning on that road, the fact that they returned without Shannon, but Julia never saw Shannon come home nor did she see the brothers. Like, to me, that feels like enough suspicion that they could be behind it, but there just needs to be like one more big thing to help prove it, but I don't know. It's so tough. It's very hard without physical evidence, and you know, that's just the fact of

the matter. Something we do know about the brothers though, is that they are criminals, they are known to be violent. So it definitely seems possible. It's not like they're out there living their best lives. Like, they weren't doing that anyway. Yeah. So that leads me to believe that they could have been capable of doing this, but I just wish we knew for sure.

And of course, I wish her father knew for sure. But that's why this case is so tough. So thank you guys so much for listening, and we'd love to hear what you think. Yeah, go over to our discussion group around Facebook, which is going West discussion group, and just let us know what you think about this case, whether you think the Jones brothers are guilty or not.

Yeah, and we also have Instagram at going West podcast and Twitter at going West pod. We love interacting with you guys, so leave your comments and let us know and don't forget to share. Also, if you want some extra episodes of Going West, head on over to our Patreon, which is patreon.com slash going West podcast. Alright guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1.5%

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