By David Lohr

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March 7, 2007

MACOMB COUNTY JAIL, Mich. (Crime Library ) —  A judge entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of Steven Grant, 37, at Grant's arraignment yesterday afternoon on charges of open murder and dismemberment of a corpse in the death of his wife, Tara Lynn Grant, 34.  The defendant, who was not represented by an attorney, was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair, as a result of cold-weather exposure injuries that he suffered when he fled from authorities over the weekend.

Stephen Grant

Judge Denis LeDuc approved a request by the Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith to amend the charges against Grant to include first-degree murder.  LeDuc also granted a second request made by Smith that Grant be held without bond.

"Mr. Grant, I don't think I need to hear anything further with regard to the issue of bond," LeDuc said.  "Given the extreme, extreme seriousness of the charges, the nature of the allegations here, the nature of the alleged flight, the court agrees with the people.  I'm going to order you held without bond..."

Grant did not dispute the judge's ruling, and following the brief hearing, he was taken out of the courtroom and remanded to his cell in the Macomb County Jail.

On Monday, Smith and Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel held a news conference and announced that Grant had spoken freely with detectives and had confessed to murdering and dismembering his wife. 

Sheriff Mark Hackell

"He (Grant) gave us a very lengthy confession, laying out what took place," Hackel said.  "He did say how he caused her death and how he dismembered her body.  He did say how he took her to Stoney Creek Park to discard her body... It's very horrific.  What he had done to her was one of those things that I think people can only imagine by watching a movie or television or actually seeing and reading about in some kind of a novel."

Tara Grant

When asked by a reporter if the children were home when Grant murdered his wife, Hackel replied, "The kids had always been at the house."

Next Page

After Massive Manhunt, Steven Grant Arrested, Charged With Wife's Murder

Tara Lynn Grant's Sister Angry at Stephen Grant's Emails to Girlfriend

New Details Emerge In Disappearance of Tara Lynn Grant

Tara Lynn Grant Disappears After An Argument With Her Husband

Contact  David Lohr at           crimewriter74@hughes.net

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