Man Acquitted In 1988 Van Buren County Murder

vanburencounty-3
vanburencounty-3

A man who was a witness for prosecutors and had immunity for his testimony about a 1988 southwestern Michigan slaying has been acquitted of murder in the case. A jury this week returned the verdict in the case of Guy Carl Simpson in Van Buren County Circuit Court. He was charged last year in the slaying of 22-year-old Charles Paul Miller, of Bangor. Authorities say Simpson was one of three men who lured Miller into a marijuana field in Allegan County’s Lee Township, shot him in the back of the head because of a drug debt, and buried his body. Arrests first were made in the case in 2000. The Kalamazoo Gazette reports another defendant, Junior Fred Backston, is awaiting sentencing February 22 after a plea agreement.