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Michael John Devlin (born in November 29, 1965) is an American from Kirkwood, Missouri. He is best known as a suspect in the kidnapping of two boys, Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby.
Background
Devlin was adopted into a large family, with three brothers (also adopted) and a sister. His parents and siblings all live in Missouri.
Before his arrest, Devlin worked as a manager for Imo's Pizza and as a part-time funeral home worker at Bopp Chapel in Kirkwood.
Alleged crimes
On January 12, 2007, Devlin was taken into custody and charged with the abduction four days earlier of a 13-year-old boy William "Ben" Ownby. The boy was found on January 12. Upon his discovery, law enforcement officials found another missing teenage boy, Shawn Hornbeck, who disappeared on October 6, 2002, at age 11 while riding his bike to a friend's house in Richwoods, Missouri. No one had heard from him until he was discovered in Devlin's Kirkwood, Missouri apartment. The children were discovered after police noticed Devlin's white pickup truck, which matched the description of a vehicle in the vicinity of the 2007 abduction, in the parking lot of his apartment complex where they were serving an unrelated warrant. The 2002 abductee lived with Devlin, masquerading as father and son. It is believed that he was given the last name 'Devlin' by Michael Devlin. He was separated from his family for a total of four years and three months, and during that time the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation and Search and Rescue Team were established. Both boys were reunited with their families after their discovery.
Prosecution
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Devlin was charged with one count of kidnapping in Franklin County, Missouri, as well as one count of kidnapping and armed criminal action in Washington County. On January 18, 2007, Devlin pleaded not guilty via closed circuit television on the charges of child kidnapping. Devlin has a preliminary hearing set for March 15, 2007. Prosecutors in the case said Devlin already confessed The investigation is currently ongoing, and Devlin faces numerous state and federal charges. He is being held at the Franklin County Sheriff's Department on a $US1 million cash-only bail. He also has a $US3 million bond in Washington County. In a January 2007 interview with the New York Post, Devlin was quoted as saying "I don't know how I'm going to explain myself to my parents." During the same interview he claimed to have been happy while Hornbeck lived with him, and lonely prior to that since most of his friends had gotten married and disappeared.
On February 5, St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch added 71 new felony charges to the existing charges previously filed by Washington and Franklin County Prosecutors. The first 18 counts (one count of kidnapping and 17 counts of forcible sodomy) pertain to the 2007 abduction. The remaining 53 charges are kidnapping and forcible sodomy charges related to the 2002 abduction. Each of these individual counts is a felony and carries the possibility of life in prison.
On February 6, a motion by Devlin's attorneys for a gag order against the New York Post and reporter Susannah Cahalan was denied in Franklin County Court. Franklin County Associate Circuit Judge David Tobben also denied a motion for her to turn over her notes to the the attorneys, and denied or refused to immediately hear two other requests by Devlin's attorneys.
On February 28, a felony indictment in Franklin County charged Devlin with one count of child kidnapping and one count of armed criminal action for allegedly using a deadly weapon in kidnapping Ownby. This grand jury indictment replaces the previous Franklin County kidnapping charge against Devlin and adds the weapon charge.
On March 1, Devlin was charged in federal court with four counts of producing child pornography and with two counts of transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity in both Arizona and Illinois. According to prosecutors, all six counts relate to the kidnapping of the older child.
On April 16, Washington County prosecutor John Rupp filed additional charges against Devlin, accusing him of attempted murder, kidnapping, armed criminal action, three counts of forcible sodomy and one count of attempted forcible sodomy.
Other cases
Soon after Devlin's arrest, prosecutors and investigators from Washington, Franklin, St. Louis and Lincoln counties, along with the FBI, the Highway Patrol, and Kirkwood and St. Charles police, formed a task force to investigate Devlin's possible involvement in other unsolved cases.
Investigators have previously confirmed they were checking for potential connections between Devlin and at least four cases in Missouri, one in Illinois and one in Minnesota, cases that date to the late 1980s. Until his arrest in January, Devlin had no criminal record.
Cases under investigation include those of:
- Scott Kleeschulte, who was nine years old when he disappeared while riding his bike near his home in St. Charles, Missouri, in June 1988.
- Jacob Wetterling, 11, who was abducted by an armed man in St. Joseph, Minnesota, on October 22, 1989, while riding his bike with his younger brother and a friend.
- Charles "Arlin" Henderson, then 11, who disappeared in 1991 while riding his bike on a rural road in Moscow Mills, about an hour's drive from St. Louis.
- Steven Kraft, then 12, from Benton Township, Michigan, disappeared on February 15, 2001. Kraft was last seen near his home walking his two dogs between the hours of 7 and 8 p.m. and failed to return home for dinner. Although his two dogs were subsequently located, Kraft was not found with them.
- Dalton Mesarchik, a 7-year-old kidnapped in March 2003 from his front lawn in Streator, Illinois, and found dead the next day on the banks of the Vermilion River.
References
- ""Suspect is called 'kind of a plain guy'"" (http). stltoday.com. Retrieved January 21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ""Devlin faces new charges"" (http). stltoday.com. Retrieved January 21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - Fox News "Missouri Kidnap Suspect Pleads Not Guilty to Abducting Ownby; Other Parents Assume Abuse" January 19, 2007
- St Louis Post-Dispatch, "Their dreams come true", By Kim Bell Jan 14, 2007
- ""Devlin faces new charges"" (http). stltoday.com. Retrieved January 21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ""I AM STILL TOO SCARED TO TELL MY MOM AND DAD, 'KIDNAP' CREEP ADMITS"" (http). New York Post. Retrieved January 28.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - St. Louis County Prosecutor's press release, Feb 05, 2007
- CNN.com, "Boys' kidnapping suspect faces sodomy charges", Feb 6, 2007
- ""Judge denies gag order on Devlin interviews"" (http). stltoday.com. Retrieved February 6.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - Missourian, online edition, "Devlin Indicted in Kidnapping Case", Feb 28, 2007
- USA Today, "Mo. kidnapping suspect Devlin indicted on child porn charges", Mar 1, 2007
- St Louis Today website, "Devlin faces attempted murder charge", by Tim O'Neil, originally printed in the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Apr 17, 2007
External links
- Missing boys Both Found Alive
- 2 missing boys found alive in Missouri
- CNN, "Boy tries to reconnect with old life after 4 years", January 15, 2007
- New York Post, "Child Porn at Missouri Kidnap Lair", January 15, 2007
- Michael Devlin charged with attempted murder