Michigan Murders - Belated Data in The Mixer Case

Belated Data in The Mixer Case

In 2005, 62-year-old Gary Leiterman, a former nurse, was tried and convicted of the killing of Jane Mixer. Leiterman came to the attention of authorities 35 years later because a lab report showed his DNA was found on the pantyhose of the deceased. Leiterman worked as a pharmaceutical salesman at the time and lived about 20 miles from the University of Michigan at the time of the murder. According to the Michigan state police lab, Leiterman's DNA hadn't come from blood or semen but might have been from sweat, saliva or skin cells. Some observers feel this DNA evidence is compromised because the report also says the DNA from the spot of blood scraped from Jane Mixer's hand in 1969 matches that of convicted killer John Ruelas who was only four years old at that time. The prosecution offered no explanation as to how Ruelas could have been at this murder scene when he was that age and living 40 miles away. The Mixer and Ruelas cases had been in the lab at about the same time and many wondered if there had been transference.

Other testimony at the trial included a handwriting comparison of two words written on the cover of a phone book found in the basement of Michigan's law dormitory. This was important for the prosecution because it was the only testimony that put Leiterman at the university and with knowledge of Mixer's identity. After Mixer's murder occurred, police had found where someone had written the victim's last name "Mixer" and her hometown "Muskegeon" on the cover of a phone book found in the basement of the University of Michigan's law dormitory. Lt. Thomas Riley testified, "It's my opinion that it is highly probable Gary Earl Leiterman wrote the 'Muskegeon,' 'Mixer' entries on the phone book." However, under cross-examination, Riley admitted he was only able to examine photos of the phone book and couldn't perform the standard microscopic tests because the actual book had been thrown out in 1975. Riley further acknowledged that he had marked possible similarities in the handwriting of a diary he thought was written by Leiterman but ultimately turned out to be written by his wife.

Other testimony involved Leiterman's roommate at the time who testified that he was an avid hunter and had owned a .22 caliber handgun along with several other guns in 1969. .22 was the caliber of the murder weapon.