By Chuck Hustmyre

(Continued)

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The Secret  

"After Janet died, there was mass panic through the guest house," according to VanLopik's affidavit.  "Witnesses have said that even though they knew the plan was to kill Janet, they still panicked when it actually happened."

Many of the party guests pitched in to clean up the crime scene.  Anthony Williams and Robert Lynch wrapped Janet's body in a sheet and put her in a car.  Lynch drove the car nearly 40 miles south and dumped Janet in a snowdrift beside Interstate 196 in VanBuren County.

Paiva and the other security guards told the female motel workers to keep quiet.  If they ever talked about what happened, the guards threatened, they would get the same treatment Janet had gotten.

A snowplow driver found Janet's naked body the next day.

Two weeks later, on Feb. 14, 1979, the Chemtron strike ended and the security guards went home.  They went to different cities and lived separate lives.  Some had brushes with the law, others lived seemingly normal, productive lives; but no matter where they went or what they did, they all carried with them a dark secret.

The reported robbery at the Blue Mill Inn and the abduction and murder of Janet Chandler remained a mystery for more than a quarter century.

In April 2004, the Holland Police Department and the Michigan State Police assigned four detectives—two from each agency—to solve Janet Chandler's murder.  After a grueling two-and-a-half-year investigation, during which the detectives traveled to 18 states and conducted more than 300 interviews, six people from four states now stand charged with first-degree murder.  All face a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Charged with being directly involved in Janet Chandler's kidnapping, rape, and murder are:

Laurie Ann Swank, 48, of Nescopek, Pennsylvania.

James Cleophas Nelson, 59, of Rand West Virginia.

Arthur Carlton Paiva, 54, of Muskegon, Michigan.

Freddie Bass Parker, 47, of Powelton, West Virginia.

Anthony Eugene Williams, 55, of Grant County, Wisconsin.

Robert Michael Lynch, 66, of Three Oaks, Michigan.

Others who were involved will likely escape prosecution.  Cold case squad supervisor Lt. John Slenk of the Michigan State Police told the Grand Rapids Press: "What we tried to do is identify the people with the most culpability.  There is no way we are ever going to charge 15 to 20 people.  Some of the peripheral players are going to fall through the cracks."

At a press conference on Sept. 20, 2006, Ottawa County Prosecuting Attorney Ron Frantz cautioned Janet Chandler's parents, who attended the press conference, that there was still work to be done and probably some pain left to be experienced, but, he said, "We are close finally, after 27 years, to seeing justice done in this case."

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Contact Chuck Hustmyre at chuck3174@yahoo.com

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