Michael George will stay in jail
Comic book retailer and Pittsburgh Comicon organizer Michael George will be remain in jail as he awaits his a new trial for the murder of his wife, Barbara George. From the Detroit Free Press:
Michael George, who awaits a second trial in the 1990 death of his wife after his conviction last year was set aside by a Macomb County judge, has been denied a request to have his bond lowered by the Michigan Court of Appeals.
George, 39, was convicted by a jury in March 2008 of first-degree murder. Circuit Judge James Biernat set aside the verdict six months later, saying prosecutors unfairly used George’s admitted philandering to paint him as a killer.
The appeals court is still weighing prosecutors’ requests to have the verdict reinstated. George remains in the Macomb County Jail on $2.5-million bond. His wife, 32-year-old Barbara George, was shot to death in the back of the comic book store she owned with her husband.
Michael George used to own and operate the comic book shop I shop at, Comics World located in the Chambersburgh Mall in beautiful Scotland, Pennsylvania.
A Michael George update
Comic book retailer and Pittsburgh Comic-Con organizer Michael George is sitting in jail awaiting a new murder trial for the 1990 murder of his wife Barbara and he isn’t doing too well physically. He’s sick.
From the Detroit Free Press:
Michael George, who remains in jail as he awaits a second trial in the 1990 murder of his wife, arrived to court today in a wheelchair, too weak to walk on his own.
George, 48, has lost 50 pounds since his March conviction, said his lawyer, Carl Marlinga.
“His health has been declining over the past couple of months,” Marlinga said. “He’s having trouble standing. We’re hoping it’s nothing serious or permanent.”
George’s fate remains on hold as the Michigan Supreme Court decides whether to reverse the decision of Macomb County Circuit Judge James Biernat to set aside the jury verdict that found George guilty of the 1990 murder of his wife. Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith asked the high court to reinstate the conviction.
If the Supreme Court denies Smith’s request, the case will head to a second trial.
Michael George denied bond
Macomb Circuit Judge James Biernat decided that comic book retailer and Pittsburgh Comic-Con organizer Michael George has to remain in Jail until his new trial. He said he thinks Michael George would be a flight risk if he were allowed to post bond. Judge Biernat recently overturned George’s conviction for the 1990 murder of his wife Barbara. A new trial has been ordered to start on December 2, 2008.
The prosecution is attempting to have the court of appeals to uphold the original conviction.
Michael George used to own the comic book shop in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. It’s the shop I buy my funny books from. When I buy funny books. [WXYZ-TV Detroit]
She is right, there is nothing comical about murder
Among those protesting against the decision to throw out the murder conviction against comic book retailer Michael George and give him a new trial are members of the jury that convicted him this past March in the 1990 murder of his wife Barbara George.
Personally, I don’t blame them for being pissed off. They did everything asked of them. If Macomb County Circuit Court Judge James Biernat honestly thought the case was too flimsy for a reasonable jury to find George guilty, he should have thrown the case out before he asked a jury to consider the case. The defense team asked on two separate occasions for Judge Biernat to throw the case out because they argued the prosecutor failed to prove his case . He refused to do so both times. Now he says the case was too flimsy?
This makes me wonder just how many times he watched the 2-hour NBC Dateline story on this case.
This new evidence does nothing to clear Michael George. The fact that Marshall Prog showed up in town flat broke a few days before the murder and then left town a few days after the murder flush with cash proves nothing. The prosecutor already proved that it was not a botched robbery. Not only was no money taken from the two registers, Barbara had all of her jewelry when they found her. We are supposed to believe a junkie is going to kill a woman and then leave money in the registers and jewelry on the victim, but take high valued golden age comics that nobody remembers ever seeing? How would Marshall Prog even know which comics were valuable and which ones weren’t? Where would he go to quickly sell them?
At most, it could be argued that Marshall Prog was involved in a murder-for-hire scheme. That someone paid him to murder Barbara George. I don’t see how that would clear Michael George. [Detroit Free Press]
Comic book retailer Michael George to get a new trial
Macomb County Circuit Judge James Biernat has ordered that comic book retailer Michael George is to get a new trial. He has cited prosecutorial misconduct as one of the reasons for overturning the jury’s conviction. A month after George was sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder of his then wife Barbara George, a file was found between two other folders.
The case was the subject of a recent episode of NBC Dateline.
This newly found folder contains information about a call the police received back in 1990 from a man named Pat Flannery who claimed that his girlfriend’s ex-husband, a drug addict named Marshall Prog, bragged about getting away with a murder. Prog returned to Michigan from Florida only a couple of days before Barbara George was killed looking for money. A few days after the murder, Prog returned to Florida reportedly with a large sum of money.
The police never followed up on this phone call. Marshall Progg is now dead, but his ex-wife isn’t. She could have been called to testify by Michael George’s defense team if they had been made aware of this information before the trial. [Detroit Free Press]
ICV2 gets it wrong concerning the Michael George murder case
Comic book retailing news site ICv2 posted an article yesterday about the sentencing of Pittsburgh Comicon organizer and comic book retailer Michael George.
They make a rather huge factual error:
With no witnesses, physical evidence, or confession (see “Greed, Sex, and Power”), the prosecutors basically convicted George on motive (a $130,000 insurance police), opportunity (by casting doubt on alibi), and his behavior after his wife’s death (he reportedly hit on a woman at his wife’s funeral). This sensational cold case trial gained nationwide attention as the result of a feature on NBC’s Dateline.
No witnesses? The reason doubt was cast on his alibi is because the prosecution had a witness that put Michael George on the scene at around the time of Barbara’s murder. Michael Renaud testified that he called the comic book shop at around the time of the murder and spoke to Michael George on the phone.
To say that there were not witnesses is really kind of silly. It makes me think that whoever wrote the article over ICv2 never watched the Dateline feature they referred to.
Michael George to be sentenced today
Convicted murderer and Pittsburgh Comicon promoter Michael George is scheduled to be sentenced today in a Michigan courtroom. George was only recently convicted of murdering his wife Barbara George 18 years ago in the comic book shop they both owned. George was having an affair with one of his employees who he later married.
The case was recently featured in a two-hour episode on the NBC show Dateline.
The sentencing today is all but a formality since he is facing mandatory life in prison.
The prosecutor in the case, Assistant Prosecutor Steve Kaplan said that he expects several of Barbara George’s relatives to speak at the sentencing.
Michael George is still listed on the Pittsburgh Comicon website concerning the 2009 show. His photo remains there too.
Michael George murder case to appear on Friday’s Dateline NBC [UPDATE]
I remember reading during the Michael George murder trial that producers for Dateline NBC were in court getting footage for an upcoming show. Word on the street is that the comic book retailer and Pittsburgh Comicon promoter Michael George case will be featured on tomorrow night’s episode of Dateline NBC. And when I say “word on the street”, I of course am referring to what a woman at work told me. She said that she saw a promo for tomorrow nights program and “that comic book guy that killed his wife” was going to be on. Michael George used to own the comic book shop located in the mall next to where we all work.
I checked out the official Dateline NBC website, and it says squat about tomorrow night’s show. I checked out tomorrow night’s TV listings on Yahoo and it showed the Dateline NBC will appear on NBC from 9pm to 11pm. It doesn’t list anything about the stories that will appear.
I’m planning on watching it. Even if they don’t show the Michael George murder trial episode, they might show Chris Hanson bust some online perverts. I love when he offers them a cookie. There’s nothing more entertaining on prime time TV than catching child sex predictors.
[UPDATE] It’s been confirmed that the Michael George segment will indeed appear on tomorrow’s Dateline NBC.
Michael George seeks to have convictions nullified
Convicted murderer and Pittsburgh Comicon organizer Michael George is seeking to have his murder and insurance fraud convictions nullified by the judge. His lawyers are seeking to have Judge James Biernat throw the convictions out.
He faces a mandatory penalty of life in prison without a chance for parole for the murder conviction alone.
Judge Biernat will decide on April 25 if defense attorneys can even file a motion to have the conviction nullified before George is even sentenced. Prosecutors contend that they can only request a new trial after he has been sentenced.
April 25 is also the first day the Pittsburgh Comicon. George’s photo still appears on the Pittsburgh Comicon website. George’s name still prominently appears on the Pittsburgh Comicon website.
Though Jurors didn’t hear George testify during his trial, they listened to an audio recording of a police interview conducted last August in his comic book shop in Pennsylvania. Police claim that George changed his story. The jurors heard George speak that at the time of his late wife’s murder, someone “was out to get him”. He claimed that instead of killing him, they chose to kill his wife. He failed to say anything about this at the time of the murder.
Why would someone out to get Michael George murder his wife Barbara? By all accounts, Michael George wanted out of his marriage with Barbara. He wanted to begin a new life with his then employee and now current wife Renee George. Because of Barbara’s death, he was able to do just that.
The status of the 2008 Pittsburgh Comicon
It’s been about five days since Pittsburgh Comicon organizer and comic book retailer Michael George was convicted of murdering Barbara George, his first wife. Not only was he convicted of first degree murder for killing the mother of his two children, he was convicted of insurance fraud and obtaining money from an insurance agency under false pretenses.
The insurance fraud stems from the fact that Michael George made the murder appear t be a robbery and he fraudulently reported the loss of multiple high-value comic books to his insurance company. His insurance company paid him $13,000 to compensate him from the loss of these comics. The comics the jury decided he never owned.
Wont he now have to pay that money back?
Then there’s the matter of the $125,000 Michael George collected on Barbara’s life insurance policy. Since the jury ruled that Michael killed Barbara, wont he have to pay that money back too? Convicted murderers aren’t normally allowed to collect on the life insurance policy of their victims. And when I say normally, I of course mean never.
So where exactly does this leave the Pittsburgh Comicon?
The show is owned by Michael and Renee George. How will all this effect the show? Will the insurance companies that paid large sums of money to Michael George under fraudulent terms now move to seize assets belonging to him? Wouldn’t the Pittsburgh Comicon be one of those assets?
I’ve been checking out the Pittsburgh Comicon website every day since the verdicts were handed down. Everything looks the same. Not one mention of the fact that the show’s co-promoter has been convicted of murdering the mother of his children and is now facing a mandatory life in prison. Further more, prosecutors in the case claimed that Michael George killed his first wife so that he could start a new life with his mistress, the woman he is married to now.
She is the show’s other co-promoter.
It seems to me all this would require some sort of statement from the show. Not only is Michael’s name still featured on the Pittsburgh Comicon website, so is his photo.
There’s already talk among some comic book creators about boycotting the show on the grounds that it is supporting a man convicted of murder.
Last month I was contacted by Patrick Thomas, the Marketing Director of the Pittsburgh Comicon. He assured me that no matter what happened in Michael George’s trial, the 2008 Pittsburgh Comicon would be going on as planned and that nothing would prevent that. I don’t know Patrick, but I know people that do. I’ve been assured that when he says something, you can bank on it.
Michael George found GUILTY of murdering his wife
Pittsburgh Comicon organizer and comic book shop owner Michael George was found guilty of murdering his wife Barbara George in 1990 in the back room of their comic book shop. The jury found him not only guilty of first-degree murder, but insurance fraud.
I’m really kind of surprised by this. I’ve been following the case from the day the news broke that he had been arrested. As I’ve blogged earlier, Micheal used to own the comic book shop in nearby Scotland, PA. It’s located in the Chambersburg Mall and it’s where I buy my comics every week.
As more and more came out about the case, I was certain he was guilty.
I then read how his two daughter testified for him.
They were familiar with all the evidence, yet they still firmly believed in their father’s innocence. Who was I to question that? They knew about all the womanizing — and attempted womanizing — while he was married to their mother and all of the other sorted details that came out about their father. They still thought he was innocent of the murder of their mother.
All of the evidence against Michael George was circumstantial. That’s not to say someone cannot be found guilty with only circumstantial evidence. It happens all the time. This just seemed so surreal in the fact that it happened 17 years ago. No new evidence had come up.
Michael George comic book store murder trial: daughters testify in his defense
The Tribune Democrat and the Detroit Free Press report on the ongoing Michael George murder trial. Tracie George and Michelle George, daughters of murder victim Barbara George and murder defendant Michael George testified in his defense Wednesday. Tracie — who was four at the time — testified that she remembers her father sleeping on her grandmother’s couch the day of the murder. Though she doesn’t remember the actual time, she remembers that it was dark outside.
Both daughters also testified that their father took them from Pennsylvania to Michigan once a year to visit their mother’s grave and to visit their grandmother, aunts and uncles. Michelle George testified that they all say a prayer each time they visit their mother’s grave, and that Michael George gets emotional at these yearly visits.
I’m no legal expert*, but I have to believe this testimony was persuasive. This case is built solely on circumstantial evidence. There is no physical evidence. This case relies solely on the testimony of what people remember nearly 20 years ago. In a case like this, I imagine having the daughters of the victim testify for their father is highly persuasive. If there was any doubt that their father murdered their mother, I have to believe Tracie and Michelle would not have testified. If there was any doubt in their minds, they would not have come to their father’s defense. Both girls know of the sordid details of their father’s womanizing and all around improper behavior while married to their mother. They none the less have come to their father’s defense.
If I was on the jury, that’s all I would need to hear.
* In full disclosure, I did use to watch L.A. Law.
Michael George murder trial to begin today
From the Detroit Free Press:
Clinton Township police’s 17-year suspicion that Michael George killed his wife in the back of their comic book store finally reaches the courtroom today.
Jury selection is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. in the case, in which George is charged with the July 1990 shooting death of his 32-year-old wife, Barbara George.
Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Steve Kaplan said he expects to call 43 witnesses in the reopened cold case. The trial could last more than three weeks.
Former Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga is representing George, 47. The case has garnered national attention. The NBC show “Dateline” is expected to feature it in a future episode.
One of my personal goals in life is to never appear on an episode of “Dateline”. No good can come of it.
Jury in Michael George murder trial will be told of marital infidelities
Things are not looking good for comic book retailer and Pittsburgh Comicon promoter Michael George.
From this morning’s Detroit Free Press:
Allegations that Michael George cheated on the wife he is accused of killing will be allowed in his upcoming trial, a Macomb County Circuit Court judge ruled Thursday.
George, 47, is to go on trial Feb. 26 in the July 13, 1990, death of his wife, Barbara George, 32, who was shot in the head in the couple’s Clinton Township comic book store.
Judge James Biernat made several other rulings Thursday: He denied George’s request to exclude testimony about his behavior after his wife’s death — such as witnesses’ accounts that he wore sunglasses to and flirted with other women at his wife’s funeral. He also denied George’s request to quash charges of insurance fraud.
His own lawyers admit he committed acts of adultery with more then one woman. I would say this is a very bad development.
Michael George murder trial to begin February 26
A trial date has been set for comic book retailer and Pittsburgh Comicon organizer Michael George. His trial has been scheduled to begin February 26 in Michigan. The trial is scheduled to last two weeks.
George stands accused of murdering his wife, Barbara George, 17 years ago execution style in the comic book shop they both owned. Investigators initially believed that that the murder was the result of a robbery gone bad. George claimed at the time that many high-value comic books were missing from the store. He filed an insurance claim against the missing books and received $13,000 from his insurance company.
It’s the prosecutor’s contention that no comic books were stolen and that the story of missing books was made up by George to make it look like a robbery. Both cash registers in the store still contained money and Barbara George still had all of her jewelry when they found her. A witness will testify that George was in the shop at around the time of the murder. The witness is claiming that he called the comic book shop at around the time of the murder and spoke to Michael George.
Michael George claims that he was asleep on his mother’s sofa at the time of the murder. His mother and his then 4-year old daughter will testify that he was asleep on the sofa. Neighbors will also testify that they remember Michael George’s vehicle parked in front of his mother’s house at the time of the murder.
No physical evidence links Michael George to the murder. The weapon used to kill Barbara George has not been found.
Michael George to stand trial for wife’s murder
Comic book retailer and Pittsburgh Comicon organizer Michael George was ordered by judge Linda Davis to stand trial for the 1990 murder of his wife Barbara George. Davis ruled that although most of the evidence against George was circumstantial, it was sufficient to warrant the case proceeds to trial.
Barbara was murdered in the comic book shop that she and Michael both owned. The prosecution has a witness that puts Michael George at the scene at the time of the murder. Comic book collector Michael Renaud testified that he placed a call to the George’s shop around the time of the murder and spoke to Michael George. Renaud testified that Michael George sounded “sounded busy”.
Janet George, Michael’s mother testified that Michael was taking a nap on her sofa at the time of the murder.
A woman that worked at a nail salon near the comic book shop testified that she witnessed Michael and Barbara arguing outside the comic book shop the day of the murder.
Probable cause hearing begins in comic book convention promoter murder case
A probable cause hearing began Friday for Pittsburgh Comicon organizer and comic book retailer Michael George. George is charged with murdering his first wife Barbara George execution-style 17 years ago in Michigan.
Some of the evidence emerging from the first day of the hearing included the fact that Michael George told police that the killer was really out to get him, not Barbara.
He also admitted to having “emotional” affair with another woman at the time of his wife’s murder.
Even though George told the police that boxes of expensive comic books were missing from the store, police could find no other evidence that a robbery had taken place. Money was found in the cash register along with money and jewelry found on Barbara’s body.
Friends of the George’s testified that Barbara told them her marriage was in trouble and that Michael had a gambling problem.
Witnesses described Michael George’s behavior around the time of his wife’s funeral as strange. One woman told of Michael George showing his grief by “hugging the vacuum cleaner his wife used”.
Two woman testified that Michael George made unwanted romantic advances toward them, both before and after the murder. On one occasion, Michael George told one woman that he considered his wife unattractive and wanted to move to Florida with the children. Barbara and the children where in the store only a few feet away when Michael said this. The same woman testified that about six weeks after his wife’s murder, Michael George put a note in her hand that stated she “looked very pretty today.”
Witnesses also testified of making telephone calls to the store around the time of the murder and speaking to Michael George. Macomb County assistant prosecutor Steve Kaplanin told the court this places Michael George in the store at the time of the murder.
Two years after the murder, Michael George relocated Comics World from Michigan to Windber, Pennsylvania. Some have written that George owned and operated a comic book shop in Pittsburgh. Windber is about 100 miles outside Pittsburgh. I think part of the confusion comes from the fact that George is the organizer of the Pittsburgh Comicon. Michael George later opened another Comics World in the Chambersburg Mall located in Scotland, Pennsylvania. Though he later sold the Chambersburg Mall Comics World store, the store remains today retaining it’s original Comics World name.
It’s where I buy my comics. I live in Hagerstown, Maryland, but I work in Scotland.
I didn’t really know Michael George when he owned the comic book shop in the Chambersburg Mall, but I knew who he was. I knew that he was the owner. I certainly didn’t think he was capable of murdering someone, especially his wife. Then again I didn’t think he was the type of guy that would hug a vacuum cleaner either. It just goes to show you that you never know someone as much as you may think.
Michael George waives extradition hearing, will go to Michigan
In a surprising move, comic book retailer and Pittsburgh Comic-Con organizer Michael George is waiving his extradition hearing and will go to Michigan where he will stand trial for for the 1990 slaying of his wife.
George had been fighting the extradition from Pennsylvania. No word yet why he is waiving the right to a hearing that would force the Michigan prosecutor to present the evidence they have connecting him to his wife’s murder.
This whole story just gets weirder and weirder.
Michael George faces more charges
The prosecutor in Michigan is charging Pittsburgh Comicon organizer and comic book retailer Michael George with new charges.
George, 47 — who is accused in the slaying of his 32-year-old wife, Barbara, in his Clinton Township store — faces two new charges: insurance fraud and obtaining money under false pretenses.
“The proofs will show that nothing was taken,” said Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Steve Kaplan.
He acknowledged that the murder charge is more pressing, but he said that George received $13,000 in insurance money.
George reported that two boxes of valuable comics were stolen from a back storage room during his wife’s murder. The police now contend that no comics were missing and that George simply made the whole thing up to receive insurance money and to make the police believe that the his wife’s murder was the result of a robbery gone bad.
More information about the Michael George case – Update
I’ve been trying to keep up with news concerning the 1990 murder case involving comic book retailer and con organizer Michael George and his first wife Barbara. As I wrote in my previous blog post about this whole mess, he used to own the comic shop in Chambersburg I buy my comics from.
From the Daily American:
The July 13, 1990, killing was the result of an extramarital affair George was having with a store employee, said Macomb County prosecutor Eric J. Smith. George also stood to benefit financially, Smith said, with a six-figure pay out on Barbara’s life insurance policy.
“It’s a classic case of domestic murder,” Smith said. “One partner wants out of the marriage the quickest way possible. Loved turned to hate.”
From The Detroit News:
The Georges’ two children were 3 and 5 years old when their mother died. Police believed robbery may have been a motive, but nothing was missing from the store, the body or the cash register.
Within months of his wife’s death, Michael George moved in with an employee of the store.
“Evidence does exist she was unhappy in the marriage,” said Macomb Assistant Prosecutor Steve Kaplan. “She had strong suspicions of his infidelity.”
George married his employee and moved to Pennsylvania with his two children and his new wife’s five children.
I’m sure a lot more information will come out concerning this whole story as time goes on. A lot of the information so far just does not make a lot of sense. For instance, if it was a robbery gone bad, why didn’t the killer take the money out of the register? Also, George claimed at the time that $30,000 worth of comics was stolen. That’s a lot of comic books, especially considering it was 1990. The shop in Windber doesn’t seem to be the type that would have a lot of high-end premium comics in stock.
Update: Someone claiming to be Mike George’s stepson has posted on Newsarama that seems to contradict some of what was reported in The Detroit News. He writes:
For instance, my mother did not “leave” nor “abandon” my siblings and me in Michigan. She attempted to take us to Pennsylvania with her, but this move was fought by my father, who eventually won the ensuing custody battle. I chose to rejoin her in 1995 at age 15, and my siblings followed later. I’m sure all this could have been discovered with a FOIA request or two. But then, television journalists are not known for their competence.
This contradicts the story that Mike George and his new wife moved to Pennsylvania with his two children and her five children. Her children evidently remained in Michigan with their father for at least three years.
Pittsburgh Comicon organizer Michael George arrested for murder
The man behind the annual Pittsburgh Comicon has been arrested for murdering his first wife execution-style 17 years ago in Michigan.
His 32-year-old wife, Barbara Marie George, was shot in the head in 1990 in the Comics World store they owned in Clinton Township, north of Detroit.
Her body was found in the shop she had closed that day to surprise Michael George on his 30th birthday, The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens reported.
Comic books valued at $30,000 were taken.
Michael George moved to Pennsylvania following his wife’s death. He opened another Comics World shop in Windber, Pa.
Clinton Township detectives reopened the case in January.
Not only did he open another Comics World in Windber, he also eventually opened one in Chambersburg. It’s where I buy my comics every week. George eventually sold the Chambersburg store, but it retained the name.
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