John Norman Collins: The Co-Ed Killer

BY Katherine Ramsland

The Victims II

Alice Kalom, 23, of Portage, Michigan. She was a University of Michigan graduate in the fine arts, enrolled in grad school. On June 7, 1969, she went to a party at the Depot House in Ann Arbor and was seen dancing with a young man with long hair. Her body was found near North Territorial Road and U. S. 23, near an abandoned barn. She had been shot once in the head and stabbed twice in the chest, as well as raped. She was killed elsewhere and her clothing was scattered around her body. Her shoes were missing.
Karen Sue Beineman, 18, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was an EMU freshman attending summer classes. She had just sent a note to her parents assuring them she was being careful, but then accepted a ride on a motorcycle from a man she did not know. She was last seen on July 23, 1969, leaving a wig shop to go with him, and was found, strangled, in a ravine off Riverside Drive near Huron River Drive in Ann Arbor. Her face was badly battered and she was nude. She had been killed elsewhere. She was the last victim before Collins was caught, and it was the evidence found on her that led to his conviction.
Roxie Phillips, 17, of Salinas, California. She disappeared on June 30, 1969, going out to mail a letter and meet a friend, and was found on July 13 in Pescadero Canyon just north of Carmel by a pair of boys looking for fossils. She was badly decomposed and nude, except for a pair of sandals and a red-and-white cotton belt wrapped tightly around her neck. The body had to be carried to where it lay amidst poison oak (and Collins was treated in California that week for a rash from poison oak). Some of Phillips' possessions were found strewn along Route 68. A friend of hers mentioned having met a "John" driving a silver Oldsmobile who was going to college in Michigan, and who rode motorcycles. She didn't think Roxie knew him, but she did admit she had met him while he was cruising near Roxie's house.
Eileen Adams, 13, of Toledo, Ohio, was kidnapped in December, 1967, and found in January south of Ypsilanti, raped, strangled with an electrical cord, and stuffed into a sack. Like another victim, her bra was tied around her neck. She was cruelly beaten with a hammer, and a three-inch nail was driven into her skull. Her stockings were arranged on her body, but her shoes were missing. There was evidence of sexual assault and her body was placed in plain sight. It appeared that she had left willingly with her killer.

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