A 75-year-old man from Phoenix is now under arrest for a murder that slipped through the cracks of time and into the annals of unresolved mysteries. For over four decades the killer of Michael McKeown, 44, has walked free, but authorities say those days are now over. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) confirmed a senior citizen was booked into the Reno County Jail on Wednesday, facing charges for the homicide that occurred in March 1982, over 42 years ago.
Details were sparse back in the '80s, but now the pieces of this grim puzzle have found their places. Little did the alleged suspect know that his past would pull him out of Arizona and drop him back into the scene of the crime in Kansas. Arrested in Phoenix, he chose not to fight the system, waiving extradition and making the trip to Kansas willingly, according to ABC15. On a late January day this year, agents obtained the warrant that would see his arrest in connection to the killing of McKeown.
The night of the long-gone murder saw McKeown shot in his car, which was parked unassumingly outside his Hutchinson apartment. It wasn't until the next day that his lifeless body was discovered, sparking an investigation that, though it would go cold, would never completely extinguish in the hearts of those pursuing justice. "Investigators believe McKeown was shot and killed in his car, while it was parked in the lot outside of his Hutchinson apartment," announced the KBI.
It's a narrative that now includes interviews across three states, with the KBI stating these discussions produced the additional evidence needed to proceed with charges in this cold case. Despite the passage of time, details keep bleeding through, as reported by U.S. News & World Report.
The charges to be formally brought against the Arizona septuagenarian will be clarified this Friday.
