Published: March 12, 2008 10:59 pm         

Sisters testify for father in murder trial

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. — Two daughters of murder defendant Michael George of Windber testified in his defense Wednesday, with one saying she remembers him sleeping on her grandmother’s couch the day of the murder.

Tracie George, 22, said during her father’s ongoing murder trial in Macomb County Circuit Court that she recalls him lying on his stomach on the couch but does not recall the time. She was 4 when her mother was killed.

“I remember being at my grandmother’s house, and my father was sleeping on the couch,” she testified. “I couldn’t give you a time. It was in the evening. It was not dark outside.”

Her testimony supports George’s claim that he was at Janet George’s house at the time Barbara George, 32, was shot to death in the back room of a comic book store.

The slaying occurred shortly after 6 p.m. July 13, 1990. Officers believe George acted because he was unhappy in his marriage and to collect $130,000 in life insurance.

Prosecutors say George returned to the store after dropping off his two young daughters at his mother’s home.

George, now 47, contends he didn’t return to the store until about 8 p.m., and that his wife was a victim of a robbery.

After she testified, Tracie George returned to the courtroom and sat behind her father in the spectator area.

Michael George and his current wife, Renee George, were married in 1992 and moved with his two children and her five children to Windber to be near her family. Renee George and her husband had divorced about a month prior to Barbara George’s death.

Prosecutors have implied that a desire to be with the then-Renee Kotula could have played a role in George’s decision to kill his wife.

Tracie George also said she did not recall two heated arguments between her parents the day of the murder. A prior witness testified seeing Tracie George with her parents during an argument in the Comic World store.

Tracie George and Michelle George, 20, who also testified Wednesday, helped bolster their father’s claim that he has paid attention to Barbara George’s grave at a Clinton Township cemetery. They said they visit the grave and clean it up every time they travel from Windber to the Detroit area to visit their grandmother, aunts and uncles.

Also testifying Wednesday was Joe Gray, who backed defense witness Fred Hodgson’s testimony about seeing a person wearing a fake beard near the front of the Comic World store in Venice Square mall when they arrived at the store about 6 p.m.

Gray said he and Hodgson were concerned enough about it that he and Hodgson warned Barbara George about the suspicious character.

He said he also went to a pizzeria to warn the operators because he was worried about a potential robbery.

After hearing about Barbara George’s death that night, Gray said, “I was feeling guilty. I felt like I didn’t do enough to warn her.”

Judge James Biernat denied the defense’s request for a directed verdict, in which defense attorney Carl Marlinga argued the prosecution had failed to provide enough evidence for the jury to even consider it.

“The jury could conclude the defendant lied about significant aspects of these proceedings,” Biernat said after several hours of mulling the motion.

“This is in many ways a classic murder case. Where he was, if he lied are substantial questions in this case. A reasonable person, i.e. a jury, could come to the conclusion the defendant committed the crime charged.”

The defense will continue its case this morning, including testimony from Renee George.

Marlinga has not indicated whether Michael George will take the stand.

     

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