A convicted killer made a deathbed confession days before he died of lung cancer that he murdered 11 women.
Garry Artman told detectives that he murdered a woman in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1996, a woman whose body was found in Maryland and nine other slayings he was never charged with.
Artman, a long-distance truck driver, made the confessions from a Michigan prison hospital and told investigators that 10 of the 11 murders took place in Grand Rapids.
“Our investigative team met with him three times prior to his death to see if there’s any information or case facts they could glean to help solve some of these unsolved murders and missing people,” Kent County Sheriff’s Office Lt Eric Brunner told WOOD-TV.
“What we can say is just that those three times were fruitful, to an extent. And we’re trying to further help bring closure to these families that potentially have been impacted over these last many years by these unsolved cases. So that is our hope, but there’s still a handful of work to be done.”
Artman was convicted of the 1996 murder of Sharon Hammack and admitted to the murder of 24-year-old Dusty Shuck.
Shuck was found stabbed and beaten to death near a truck stop in Maryland on 4 May 2006. Artman had been linked to the killing through DNA, but his terminal cancer diagnosis ruled out a trial.
“She was an amazing soul. She was good inside and out,” Shuck’s mother Lori Kreutzer told the outlet.
She said that Artmann had been in a coma and was expected to die in mid-December. But he came out of the coma and admitted to the murders before dying at the age of 66 on 28 December.
“It was a miracle. … divine intervention. So at least he did that,” she added.
Both victims were among 17 women who were found dead or went missing in Grand Rapids between 1993 and 1996.
Investigators are now comparing details Artman gave them before he died to the cold cases.
“Any time we investigate these cases, we cannot forget the impact that has on a victim’s family,” added Lt Brunner.
“Someone that’s had a loved one go missing or murdered a long time ago… it’s just a huge loss and then to not have answers on top of that. So, our investigators feel that burden as well when they look into these cases to try to help bring closure to these families.
“Obviously, Mr. Artman has passed away, so some people are going to have differing emotions about that. But, to bring closure to these families even beyond his death, that is their goal.”
