1986 Cold Case Murder Charges Dropped In Light Of New Evidence

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There’s a twist in a cold case murder in southwest Michigan. The Van Buren County Prosecutor’s office has dropped all charges against Michael Leon Curry in the murder of his neighbor, Wilda Wilkinson, in her Bangor home in 1986. The charges were dismissed without prejudice, so he could be charged another time. But Chief Assistant Prosecutor Keith Robinson says DNA evidence is pointing to other suspects and the charges were dismissed based on that new information. No other suspects have been publicly identified as yet. The 59-year-old Wilkinson was strangled in her home, and Curry had confessed to killing her several times. A retired detective who worked on the case more than 30 years ago told WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids earlier this year that they always felt Curry’s confessions were bogus.