By Tana Michaels
SAGINAW – Judge Jurrens of Saginaw County's 70th District Court will decide at a later date if – and on what charges – Michael Kerr, a resident of Pinconning, will be held in prison to face trial in a criminal court in the early August murder of Charles "Chuck" Darr, a Perceptions member and gay resident of Saginaw. Perceptions is a LGBT group that serves Saginaw, Bay City, Midland and surrounding areas.
On Oct. 17, the preliminary trial continued with Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Richard King, pushing for premeditated felony murder, while Kerr's defense attorney Edward Czuprynski argued that none of the evidence suggested premeditation. Kerr also is charged with carjacking and arson.
The medical examiner in the case, Bernardino Pacris, testified that Darr's death occurred sometime on Aug. 4 and was caused by strangulation consistent with a cloth or belt around the neck. The Aug. 4 date coincides with previous testimony that Darr was not seen at work – or by his friends – after that morning.
Spaulding assistant fire chief Theodore Kochan Jr. testified that he'd seen a white Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck rolled over in a ditch at the corner of Huntington and East roads at about 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 6 and stopped to offer assistance. He identified Kerr as being there with the truck. When Kerr had admitted to drinking, Kochan said he called the police and fire departments to help in the incident. When he turned around, he said, Kerr had run away. The truck later was identified by Darr's son-in-law, Edward Szczepanski, as belonging to Darr.
King called inmate Drew Coven to the stand. Coven, who shared an eight-man cell at the Saginaw County Jail with Kerr, had sent a written statement to authorities about what Kerr said to him while they were incarcerated together. Coven testified that Kerr told him that he went to Darr's home to drink and smoke crack. According to Coven, Kerr told him, "Man, if I did this – I can't spend my whole life in prison."
King questioned him further: "Did he tell you who started the fire?"
Coven answered, "He said he (Kerr) did it. He was trying to commit suicide."
Defense attorney Czuprynski cross-examined Coven with rapid-fire questioning.
"He never said how Chuck died, did he?"
"No, he didn't," Coven answered.
"He never said who killed him," Czuprynski asked, his voice raised.
"No, he didn't," Coven repeated.
Then Czuprynski showed Coven a handwritten statement – in which Coven had written that Kerr told him he beat Darr "bad" and kicked him – and asked, "Kerr never told you that he beat Chuck Darr did he?"
"No, sir, he didn't," replied Coven.
Coven said that Kerr told him the reason for the "altercation" was that Darr supplied Kerr with crack and the crack ran out. "Darr wouldn't give him anymore crack," he said.
After the hearing, Czuprynski said: "Whenever the prosecutor calls an inmate to testify, it means they have a weak case."
Kerr was taken to St. Mary's of Michigan hospital and treated for smoke inhalation after firefighters rescued him from Darr's house on Aug. 7. There, he was questioned on Aug. 10 by Saginaw city detective Joseph Grigg. "He said he started the fire," Griggs testified. He also noted that Kerr began to cry at one point: "He asked if I had told his father that he had taken another man's life."
Kerr's father, Ken Kerr, had indeed been notified and said he has had a hard time incorporating the information since. Michael Kerr's mother, Pat Kerr said, "Mike was very personable and very well-liked. None of his family or friends – they can't believe Mike could do anything like this."
The answer remains up to the Saginaw courts.
