Here’s the deal I can’t get past with Gunnels, in spite of his “heart going out to the families” and the fact that he was raped by the monster Chris Busch and probably sexually assaulted by the monster Greg Greene. I also acknowledge that the FOIA documents establish that after charges were filed against Busch on his behalf, he received at least one phone call telling him not to testify. This could have been someone acting on behalf of Chris Busch, or, I’m sorry to say, the police or prosecutor’s office or someone acting on their behalf.
When the Chris Busch lead had been established after legal wrangling with that sack of shit, polygrapher Larry Wasser, Det/Sgt Garry Gary of the MSP called Kristine Mihelich’s mother and sister in to chat. (2007.). This was long before my dad went to the press and after the MSP had refused on numerous occasions to meet with him. He blew my dad off time and again and then had Kristine’s family in for a fireside chat. Not the brightest bear in the cave, Gray had some props present at the sit down–three “Person of Interest” notebooks. One for Busch, one for his partner Greg Greene and one for James Vincent (Vince/Jimmy/whatever) Gunnels. Kristine’s sister was not content to just look at these notebooks sitting there and took a gander. Among other things, she noted that the Busch suicide photos certainly did not look like a fucking suicide. Furthermore, she took note of the name Vince Gunnels.
None of us had heard of Vince Gunnels. In the transcripts of discussions with Larry Wasser, he does not mention Greg Greene or Vince Gunnels. So how do the cops latch on to Gunnels? Gunnels’ name is not mentioned in the OCCK tips submitted on Busch and Greene. In the narrative Flint PD reports other boy and teen victims of these men are mentioned, but not Gunnels.
That notebook had to have come together after someone realized a mtDNA sample on Kristine Mihelich matched Vince. He has been in and out of prison his entire life for drug offenses and the crimes he committed along the way to get drug money. So his DNA was in the system.
Somehow investigators figure out Vince was connected to Busch. He was a victim in two CSC cases filed against Busch. There was another victim of Busch in two other CSC cases around the state. But there was no MSP notebook for him. Why? Because his DNA was not found on any of the victims. Gunnels was a victim, but also a lure. The FOIA documents from the investigation into Lamborgine and Lawson establish this. He was the “Flint connection.” In fact, he doesn’t blanch at all about the hair on Kristine being a mtDNA match to him at all because he tells police he was in Busch’s vehicles numerous times. Just an evidence transfer, that’s all.
Because it is a mtDNA match, this could also link to Vince’s younger brother, Paul, whom police did not speak with until 2019. 2019. More bullshit and no follow up.
Imagine looking past all of this. The prosecutor says too bad, so sad, only a mtDNA match. Yeah a mtDNA match to a person Busch and Greene had sex with and who acted as a lure so these monsters could “get a look at them.” And then, when they have some mtDNA match between hairs found on Mark and Tim and in Arch Sloan’s Bonneville, it’s game on!!! (Well, until the press conference was over, anyway).
Hypocritical, unethical prosecutors. And Vince, you bombed the polygraph, your shit doesn’t make sense (I know, I know, the drugs, the drugs!), and no matter how weak anyone wants to argue mtDNA is, your’s matched such that you earned yo self a MSP binder along with Busch and Greene. Other men your age, who were victimized back in the day by Busch, Greene, Frank Shelden, Gerry Richards and other men in Michigan, spoke honestly with police. I can’t imagine that their lives were any easier than your’s. . . . unless you were forced in to some level of knowledge or participation in one or more of the OCCK crimes. But you will never tell the truth.
You will never tell the truth, nor will your brother Paul. No matter how shitty your lives are, you got to live. Other kids weren’t so lucky. I wish I was a big enough person to say my heart goes out to you. But it doesn’t.
Amazing that his role in the OCCK crimes has led to a lifetime of self imposed destruction and punishment.A lifetime of chronic drug abuse and prison stints yet he refuses to do the one thing that will set him free.Vincent I’m sure and perhaps his brother/sister peruse these pages and are more than aware of the accusations leveled against him,namely that he was used as a lure to abduct one or more of the victims and that he may have been coerced into abusing them and or disposing of them yet no denial is made publicly or through a lawyer this speaks volumes about his guilt.
Vincent is getting on in years now and after a lifetime of abusing his body I seriously doubt he has much time left.The prospect of justice in this case after decades of coverups and bribes etc is unlikely.The families could be told the truth.The real truth.Only Vincent can provide these details,nobody is going to think he is the OCCK or that he acted in anything but under extreme duress,where is the courage that Steven Stayner showed when the time came,where is Vincent’s courage?
The clock to Vincent’s time on this planet is drawing to a close,I know he will read these pages because as much as he would like to forget he simply can’t.The events of 76 and 77 have haunted him every day and will continue to do so.
There isn’t enough Meth or Heroin on this planet that will erase those memories.
how about it Vincent?When do you finally lay your demons to rest?
Hi Cathy. When I read through your FOIA documents, I keep thinking that someone helped bust the North Fox Island operation. Whoever it was (possibly Gunnels)would then be in danger and his testimony might be sealed. I often wonder how the North Fox Island ring was discovered. Gunnels probably won’t talk because retaliation might put his family in jeopardy.
Yet Gerald Richards testified before a Senate committee about his old pal/partner Frank Shelden and the crimes they committed against children over the years. Even drew a big fat flow chart naming names and connecting many multiple criminal enterprises–including N. Fox Island and all the “charitable” enterprises that fed into it. That flow chart is in the Senate Judiciary report and it can be found online. Richards didn’t get offed. He served his very short sentence and then went back to his home town and ordered child porn via the US mail. Nothing happened to his ex-wife or kid. Furthermore, although all I have seen is the MSP file on Shelden and N. Fox Island, it refers to the FBI investigation and they didn’t do jack shit in the Fox Island case. The MSP and the FBI were looking for Shelden after a very young boy–maybe 8–told his mother what these monsters did to him on Fox Island and she went to a prosecutor. There is no indication that this family was threatened or in jeopardy. The prosecutor sat on his goddamn ass and let Shelden flee the country. All the FBI did over the years was report back to the MSP that clever Francis Duffield Shelden had married a french citizen and was living in places where he could not be extradited. They closed the case when Shelden allegedly died in the early 1990s. I don’t believe for a minute that Gunnels was a CI in the Fox Island case. There was no need for a CI. Nobody did squat in that case and Richards is alleged to have ditched the customer list, which I am sure would have implicated many “upstanding” men. Shelden got the rich man pass for long enough to flee the country. The story was only reported in depth in the Traverse City Record-Eagle (Marilyn Wright, investigative reporter). The big city newspapers hardly covered it, no doubt because a bunch of their advertisers’ employees were customers. Long way of saying, I believe Gunnel’s silence is due to complicity and shame for not coming forward when he could have made a difference. The silence is clearly also based on fear, but perhaps not fear of someone in particular, but of coming clean.
I’m guessing that Gunnels doesn’t see what he has to gain by testifying. He is allowed to roam free/abscond from parole- there is only downside to him getting involved from his perspective. I have also wondered if he knows who murdered Busch and is afraid they would come after him, assuming they are still alive. Both Busch and Greene died somewhat mysteriously, and he is the third person of that triumvirate.
In my opinion, he will only speak up when his personal gain is greater than his personal loss. Perhaps a plea deal would work, but only if he was actually at risk of prosecution.
Can’t avoid facts.Vincent Gunnels was there and knows what happened.period!!
Here’s the deal I can’t get past with Gunnels, in spite of his “heart going out to the families” and the fact that he was raped by the monster Chris Busch and probably sexually assaulted by the monster Greg Greene. I also acknowledge that the FOIA documents establish that after charges were filed against Busch on his behalf, he received at least one phone call telling him not to testify. This could have been someone acting on behalf of Chris Busch, or, I’m sorry to say, the police or prosecutor’s office or someone acting on their behalf.
When the Chris Busch lead had been established after legal wrangling with that sack of shit, polygrapher Larry Wasser, Det/Sgt Garry Gary of the MSP called Kristine Mihelich’s mother and sister in to chat. (2007.). This was long before my dad went to the press and after the MSP had refused on numerous occasions to meet with him. He blew my dad off time and again and then had Kristine’s family in for a fireside chat. Not the brightest bear in the cave, Gray had some props present at the sit down–three “Person of Interest” notebooks. One for Busch, one for his partner Greg Greene and one for James Vincent (Vince/Jimmy/whatever) Gunnels. Kristine’s sister was not content to just look at these notebooks sitting there and took a gander. Among other things, she noted that the Busch suicide photos certainly did not look like a fucking suicide. Furthermore, she took note of the name Vince Gunnels.
None of us had heard of Vince Gunnels. In the transcripts of discussions with Larry Wasser, he does not mention Greg Greene or Vince Gunnels. So how do the cops latch on to Gunnels? Gunnels’ name is not mentioned in the OCCK tips submitted on Busch and Greene. In the narrative Flint PD reports other boy and teen victims of these men are mentioned, but not Gunnels.
That notebook had to have come together after someone realized a mtDNA sample on Kristine Mihelich matched Vince. He has been in and out of prison his entire life for drug offenses and the crimes he committed along the way to get drug money. So his DNA was in the system.
Somehow investigators figure out Vince was connected to Busch. He was a victim in two CSC cases filed against Busch. There was another victim of Busch in two other CSC cases around the state. But there was no MSP notebook for him. Why? Because his DNA was not found on any of the victims. Gunnels was a victim, but also a lure. The FOIA documents from the investigation into Lamborgine and Lawson establish this. He was the “Flint connection.” In fact, he doesn’t blanch at all about the hair on Kristine being a mtDNA match to him at all because he tells police he was in Busch’s vehicles numerous times. Just an evidence transfer, that’s all.
Because it is a mtDNA match, this could also link to Vince’s younger brother, Paul, whom police did not speak with until 2019. 2019. More bullshit and no follow up.
Imagine looking past all of this. The prosecutor says too bad, so sad, only a mtDNA match. Yeah a mtDNA match to a person Busch and Greene had sex with and who acted as a lure so these monsters could “get a look at them.” And then, when they have some mtDNA match between hairs found on Mark and Tim and in Arch Sloan’s Bonneville, it’s game on!!! (Well, until the press conference was over, anyway).
Hypocritical, unethical prosecutors. And Vince, you bombed the polygraph, your shit doesn’t make sense (I know, I know, the drugs, the drugs!), and no matter how weak anyone wants to argue mtDNA is, your’s matched such that you earned yo self a MSP binder along with Busch and Greene. Other men your age, who were victimized back in the day by Busch, Greene, Frank Shelden, Gerry Richards and other men in Michigan, spoke honestly with police. I can’t imagine that their lives were any easier than your’s. . . . unless you were forced in to some level of knowledge or participation in one or more of the OCCK crimes. But you will never tell the truth.
You will never tell the truth, nor will your brother Paul. No matter how shitty your lives are, you got to live. Other kids weren’t so lucky. I wish I was a big enough person to say my heart goes out to you. But it doesn’t.
Amazing that his role in the OCCK crimes has led to a lifetime of self imposed destruction and punishment.A lifetime of chronic drug abuse and prison stints yet he refuses to do the one thing that will set him free.Vincent I’m sure and perhaps his brother/sister peruse these pages and are more than aware of the accusations leveled against him,namely that he was used as a lure to abduct one or more of the victims and that he may have been coerced into abusing them and or disposing of them yet no denial is made publicly or through a lawyer this speaks volumes about his guilt.
Vincent is getting on in years now and after a lifetime of abusing his body I seriously doubt he has much time left.The prospect of justice in this case after decades of coverups and bribes etc is unlikely.The families could be told the truth.The real truth.Only Vincent can provide these details,nobody is going to think he is the OCCK or that he acted in anything but under extreme duress,where is the courage that Steven Stayner showed when the time came,where is Vincent’s courage?
The clock to Vincent’s time on this planet is drawing to a close,I know he will read these pages because as much as he would like to forget he simply can’t.The events of 76 and 77 have haunted him every day and will continue to do so.
There isn’t enough Meth or Heroin on this planet that will erase those memories.
how about it Vincent?When do you finally lay your demons to rest?
Hi Cathy. When I read through your FOIA documents, I keep thinking that someone helped bust the North Fox Island operation. Whoever it was (possibly Gunnels)would then be in danger and his testimony might be sealed. I often wonder how the North Fox Island ring was discovered. Gunnels probably won’t talk because retaliation might put his family in jeopardy.
Yet Gerald Richards testified before a Senate committee about his old pal/partner Frank Shelden and the crimes they committed against children over the years. Even drew a big fat flow chart naming names and connecting many multiple criminal enterprises–including N. Fox Island and all the “charitable” enterprises that fed into it. That flow chart is in the Senate Judiciary report and it can be found online. Richards didn’t get offed. He served his very short sentence and then went back to his home town and ordered child porn via the US mail. Nothing happened to his ex-wife or kid. Furthermore, although all I have seen is the MSP file on Shelden and N. Fox Island, it refers to the FBI investigation and they didn’t do jack shit in the Fox Island case. The MSP and the FBI were looking for Shelden after a very young boy–maybe 8–told his mother what these monsters did to him on Fox Island and she went to a prosecutor. There is no indication that this family was threatened or in jeopardy. The prosecutor sat on his goddamn ass and let Shelden flee the country. All the FBI did over the years was report back to the MSP that clever Francis Duffield Shelden had married a french citizen and was living in places where he could not be extradited. They closed the case when Shelden allegedly died in the early 1990s. I don’t believe for a minute that Gunnels was a CI in the Fox Island case. There was no need for a CI. Nobody did squat in that case and Richards is alleged to have ditched the customer list, which I am sure would have implicated many “upstanding” men. Shelden got the rich man pass for long enough to flee the country. The story was only reported in depth in the Traverse City Record-Eagle (Marilyn Wright, investigative reporter). The big city newspapers hardly covered it, no doubt because a bunch of their advertisers’ employees were customers. Long way of saying, I believe Gunnel’s silence is due to complicity and shame for not coming forward when he could have made a difference. The silence is clearly also based on fear, but perhaps not fear of someone in particular, but of coming clean.
I’m guessing that Gunnels doesn’t see what he has to gain by testifying. He is allowed to roam free/abscond from parole- there is only downside to him getting involved from his perspective. I have also wondered if he knows who murdered Busch and is afraid they would come after him, assuming they are still alive. Both Busch and Greene died somewhat mysteriously, and he is the third person of that triumvirate.
In my opinion, he will only speak up when his personal gain is greater than his personal loss. Perhaps a plea deal would work, but only if he was actually at risk of prosecution.
It is despicable and heart wrenching. My heart goes out to you and everyone that’s been victimized by these disgusting creeps of nature. Pure evil.