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Homicide charges filed against father of missing Skelton brothers
Three counts of open murder and tampering with evidence were filed against John Skelton on Wednesday in Lenawee County, according to court records. The charges come just weeks before he was set to be released from prison for unlawful imprisonment of his sons, Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner.
(FOX 2) - John Skelton is expected to make his first appearance in court since prosecutors arraigned him on murder charges in connection with the disappearance of his three sons.
The Lenawee County father of Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner was given a $60 million bond after prosecutors brought felony counts against John, who was set to be released from prison for an unrelated sentence just weeks later.
What we know:
John Skelton's court appearance will be a probable cause conference — the first hearing to take place after a formal arraignment.
He was arraigned on three counts of murder and three counts of tampering with criminal evidence on Nov. 17. The 53-year-old has long been a suspect in the disappearance of his three young sons, but was never formally charged by prosecutors in the years after they went missing.
Then, with his prison sentence expected to end on Nov. 29 for a conviction connected to unlawful imprisonment after he pleaded no contest, Michigan State Police announced alongside the Lenawee County Prosecutor's Office they would be bringing murder charges against him.
He was arraigned in the 2A District Court in Lenawee County on Nov. 17 and remains lodged in the county jail on $60 million bond.
John Skelton
The backstory:
The boys – Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5, spent Thanksgiving with their father in Morenci, Mich. in 2010. Their mother, Tanya Zuvers, was supposed to pick them up from her ex-husband the next day.
However, she stopped hearing from John Skelton, so she went to his house. He wasn't home because he was at a hospital after he broke his ankle. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, he told hospital workers that he injured his ankle while trying to commit suicide.
Police were able to get into his home, where they found the house destroyed, but the boys weren't there.
John Skelton is accused of changing the story of where they were while he was at the hospital. He said they were with friends before telling investigators that the boys were given to an unknown woman. He also told police that he gave them to an underground group that would keep them safe.
Phone records helped police place John Skelton the day after his boys were last seen. He had been in Morenci early Nov. 26, 2010. According to Michigan State Police, he went to Ohio. His phone pinged him in Ohio about 20 miles from his home, was shut off, then pinged him back in Morenci about 2 hours and fifteen minutes after he left Michigan.
Search parties looked for the boys, but they haven't been found, and John Skelton hasn't told anyone where they actually are or if they are even still alive, aside from his stories of giving them to unknown people.
According to Zuvers, John Skelton previously "claimed that the boys would hibernate until they graduate." All three boys are now old enough that they would have graduated from high school.
The Source: Court records, police reports, and previous reporting contributed to this story.