Mich. woman arrested at airport 20 years after her husband was found mutilated in blueberry patch

EATON COUNTY, Mich. (TCD) -- A Charlotte woman was arrested last week at an airport and booked on a murder charge after flying back from Rome, where she had previously been in custody.

The Eaton County Sheriff’s Office announced Beverly McCallum was taken into custody Friday, July 8, at the Grand Rapids Gerald R. Ford International Airport on charges of second-degree murder and disinterment/mutilation of a body.

In February 2020, the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office said McCallum was arrested in Rome as she tried to check into a hotel because she was wanted in connection with the 2002 death of her husband, Roberto Caraballo. The hotel reportedly alerted law enforcement when they saw she had an existing Interpol warrant for her arrest.

According to the Lansing State Journal, Caraballo’s body was discovered May 8, 2002, inside a metal locker in Ottawa County. His body was reportedly so badly burned that he could not be positively identified until 2015.

Dineane Ducharme, one of McCallum’s daughters, reportedly told law enforcement officials McCallum pushed Caraballo down the basement stairs. Ducharme, McCallum, and Christopher McMillan then allegedly jumped Caraballo and hit him with one or more hammers. One of the hammers reportedly got stuck in his head.

When McCallum found out Caraballo was still alive after the hammer attack, she allegedly put a plastic bag over his head and suffocated him until he died. The trio then allegedly put Caraballo’s body in a metal box and drove it to a blueberry patch.

In February, Ducharme was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and disinterment/mutilation of a body, according to the Lansing State Journal. She was sentenced to life in prison.

In October 2019, McMillan reportedly pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. In exchange for his plea, he reportedly agreed to testify against Ducharme and McCallum. He was sentenced to 15 to 45 years in prison.

According to The Associated Press, years after Caraballo’s death, McCallum reportedly met a man from Pakistan on the internet and moved there to marry him. In 2019, U.S. officials tried to extradite her but were unsuccessful until her apprehension in Rome.

McCallum’s bond was set at $10 million.

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