Mich. man sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting, killing 88-year-old in 1997
02/03/2023 2:33 pm PST
GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. (TCD) -- A 43-year-old man was ordered to spend at least 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting and beating an elderly woman to death over 25 years ago.
MLive.com reports a Genesee County Circuit Court judge sentenced Michael Bur to 120 to 140 months for second-degree murder and 120 to 140 months for first-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the death of 88-year-old Mary Prieur. The sentences will serve concurrently, meaning at the same time.
She was found dead Feb. 27, 1997.
Bur pleaded guilty to the charges in December 2022. Prosecutors dropped a kidnapping charge as part of the plea deal.
Prieur was found beaten and suffocated in a swampy, wooded area behind her home in Lennon, Michigan, on Feb. 27, 1997. The case remained unsolved for decades until the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police arrested Bur in November 2021.
At a press conference announcing Bur’s arrest, Sheriff Chris Swanson said science and new technology "solved this." Detectives compared Bur’s DNA to evidence found at the scene and said there was only a 1 in 1.9 octillion chance that the DNA in evidence belonged to someone other than Bur.
"That’s 26 zeroes," Swanson said.
Bur was 17 years old when he killed Prieur, and the two lived around the corner from each other.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said there were drag marks from Prieur’s home down to the creek where she was eventually found.
According to MLive.com, Prieur’s body had been wrapped in a blanket, and she was fatally beaten and suffocated.
Bur is reportedly required to register as a sex offender and wear electronic monitoring for the rest of his life.
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