Murninghan:7-9-70_Robbed_Kidnapped_Raped _Murdered

[Mja Inc Investigations]

7-3-10

Mja Inc Investigations

LA_M--060

In Memory Of Laurie D. Murninghan

Lansing Michigan

The tragic riddle began on July 9th 1970 Laurie Murninghan was
at her summer job as a clerk at Gallagher's Gifts & Antiques at
1010 W. Saginaw St.on Lansings West Side..

Around 2:30pm Thursday,her first day back at work since returning
with her family from a vacation in New Hampshire...

A slim soft-spoken Negro man,around 25 or 30 years old,entered the
shop & asked Laurie to change a $20 bill...

When she said she couldn't change the bill..

The black male pulled a gun siezed her & struck the shop's owner
Mrs. Christine Gallagher with his gun..The gun fired into the ceiling..

Authorities believe the man thought he killed Mrs.Gallagher

So he kidnapped Laurie,the only other witness in the store..

The man grabbed $60 from the cash drawer & fled with
Laurie Murninghan -Kidnapping her at gun-point..

Since she was the only other witness in the store.

At least 4 Witnesses outside in the area of the Gift Shop say:

A black male took Miss Murninghan down an alley at gun point & disappeared...

The search for Miss Murninghan & her kidnapper was one of the
most extensive police manhunts ever held in mid-Michigan history..

But nothing was ever found by law-enforcement linked to the
Murninghan Case..

On July 20 1970 3 young boys looking for pop bottles along a rural
road20 miles southeast of Lansing discovered Laurie Murninghan's body..

16-year-old Laurie Murninghan was found on the edge of the game area
at Barnes and Meridian roads..

Miss Murninghan's badly decomposed body was lying face down
in a swampy area..

In a heavily wooded section of the game area a few feet from the road...

Several weeks later the County Coroner attributed death to Strangulation
& signs she had been Raped..

There is a suspect that matches the witnesses description
of black male gunman..

There was a drug store next to the Gift Shop in 1970..

Black male suspect left prints in the drug store on an inhaler..

The suspects girlfriend at the time lived 3 blocks from the Crime Scene.

But police did not have enough evidence to convict him..

So her Killer has never been Charged..
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Laurie Murninghan's killer is not a person of influence..

But he was a suspected drug informant..That authorities had released
from prison in January of 1970..

Within a month of his release,this informant had taken two 14 year old
girls from Lansing to a Flint,Michigan hotel room..

Where he & a friend of his raped the girls..

The father of one of these girls filed a complaint with the
Lansing Police & the suspect was picked up and detained..

But released soon after the case was turned over to the state police.

The suspect wasn't even returned to prison for a parole violation...

Miss Murninghan's Father was mayor of Lansing Michigan from 1965-69..

There has always been speculation that Laurie's murder had
something to do with "politics" this rumor due only to the
unsolved nature of the case.

Many such rumors still exist today due to the nature of the case..

The suspect had been a drug addict since his teenage years
which led him to numerous arrests throughout the 1960's..

The suspect's criminal record continues today..

The suspect has reportedly admitted to killing Laurie Murninghan
at least twice..

Its strongly believed that a fellow junkie the suspect met after
he moved to Toledo Ohio in 1993 may have more detailed
Info concerning the Crime..

Soon after the suspect moved to Toledo,a man from the Toledo
area called the Lansing cemetery where the Murninghan's Family
plot was located..

The man gave his name claiming to be a old class-mate
of Miss Murninghan & he requested a picture of
Laurie Murninghan's grave...

The cemetery office manager became concerned with the
strange request..

She called the police who,to her surprise,showed no interest..So the
office manager took & sent the photo..

A few months later the cemetery office manager ran into one of
Miss Murninghan's brothers & she told him about the phone call..

It peaked his interest & he found out that the man calling from
Toledo had lied to the office manager..No such person with the
name given was ever a classmate of Laurie's..

The Murninghan Brother learned that the Suspect had moved to
Toledo Ohio into an apartment building..

Living across the hall from the suspect was the fellow junkie who's
name matched the name given to the cemetery office manager...

The Murninghan Family went to Police & spoke with two
Lansing Detectives & asked that they check out the
person who requested the picture...

The Detectives said they would & would get back with them within two weeks...

The Detectives never called back by the time they said they would..

They would not take calls from the Murninghan's Family during
the following weeks..

But publicly they act as if they have done everything possible to
solve the case..

But in reality if you look at the facts of the case Police have just
created more Questions to hide behind..

Many feel that present day authorities are frustrated by having to
protect the mistakes made by their forebears over three decades ago..

This is why : Miss Murninghan's body was exhumed in August 2001
& two hairs where found on her body which were sent in for DNA testing..

The hair evidence found on Miss Murninghan's body were being tested
with hair samples collected from the 54-year-old suspect..

But the results were inconclusive...

Any serious inquiry to SOLVE this case must come from beyond
the local level of Law-Enforcement Agencies..
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Posted by :

Mja Inc--TK Stout--IN....