Preliminary hearing underway for John Skelton, the Michigan father accused of killing his 3 sons in 2010

MORENCI, Mich. (TCN) -- The preliminary hearing is underway for a father charged with three counts of open murder in connection with the disappearance of his three sons in 2010.

According to WJBK, John Skelton and his wife, Tanya Zuver, divorced in 2010. Their sons — 9-year-old Andrew Skelton, 7-year-old Alexander Skelton, and 5-year-old Tanner Skelton — were scheduled to be picked up by Zuver the day after Thanksgiving 2010 at 3 p.m. She told her ex she wanted to pick them up early, but she alleged he was not home. Zuver became concerned because John Skelton’s van was in the driveway.

In an interview with True Crime News from 2024, Zuver said John Skelton gave her several excuses as to why she could not come get the boys, and she eventually called the police. Officers found Skelton’s home in disarray, and he claimed he had placed the boys with an underground organization to protect them from their mother.

Police say John Skelton’s phone data shows he had driven across state lines to Ohio on the days the boys disappeared and then turned off his phone for two hours before returning to his home in Michigan.

According to WJBK, Skelton pleaded no contest to three counts of unlawful imprisonment in 2011, maintaining his story about the underground organization. He was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison for the charges.

On March 5, 2025, a judge declared the three boys dead. At the trial, the FBI released data from Skelton’s laptop that allegedly included a search about whether rat poison can kill humans, as well as an alleged suicide note addressed to Zuver, WJBK reports.

About two weeks before he was scheduled to be released from prison after serving his time for unlawful imprisonment, Skelton was charged with three counts of open murder and evidence tampering on Nov. 12, 2025, according to court records obtained by WJBK.

Skelton’s pretrial hearing began on Aug. 24, per WJBK. On the first day, Zuver testified about her relationship with Skelton and their divorce after he pulled their sons out of school two months before they disappeared. She testified that within weeks of their disappearance, police told her that they believed Skelton had killed the boys. 

The family’s pastor took the stand and alleged that when they spoke on Black Friday 2010, John Skelton said the boys were safe and home, WJBK reports. The pastor testified Skelton told her, “Pastor Donna, you of all people should understand what I mean when I saw that they’re home.”

Following his release from prison on the unlawful imprisonment charges, Skelton was booked into jail in Michigan’s Lenawee County and is being held on $60 million bond, the Detroit News reports. If convicted, he faces life in prison for the murder charges and up to 10 years for evidence tampering.

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