Associated Press
10:44 AM CDT, October 7, 2009
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich.
An appeals court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of a man who confessed to killing his wife and dismembering her body after he was captured more than 200 miles away in the woods of northern Michigan.
Stephen Grant reported Tara Grant missing in 2007, then slipped away from their Macomb County home a few weeks later as deputies discovered her torso in a storage container in their garage.
Grant, who is serving 50 years to 80 years in prison for second-degree murder, claimed pretrial publicity spoiled the case in Macomb County Circuit Court. He said the judge also erred by not suppressing his confession.
The Michigan Court of Appeals rejected those arguments.
"There was, indisputably, no information spared from public exposure throughout the entire course of this case. ... While essentially all of the jurors indicated being aware of the case, the vast majority of those impaneled had only a passing knowledge of the case and had little exposure to the details," the three-judge panel said.
Grant, 39, was captured in a state park in March 2007 wearing only a shirt, pants and socks in 14-degree weather. He gave authorities a three-hour recorded confession while being treated for frostbite and hypothermia. Grant's lawyer at the time had quit the case.
"Defendant, having previously retained counsel, clearly understood the importance of obtaining legal advice," the appeals court said. "The fact that he declined to obtain substitute counsel, and then spoke to police, suggests that he did so with full knowledge of the right he was waiving."
Grant did not appeal a separate conviction and six-year sentence for mutilating his wife's body. A message seeking comment was left with his appellate lawyer, Peter Van Hoek.
Tara Grant was a 34-year-old operations manager for an engineering firm. Stephen Grant called the sheriff's department on Feb. 14, 2007, and said he had not seen his wife since they argued Feb. 9 about her frequent business trips overseas.
A book about the case, titled "Limb From Limb," was released this week by Pinnacle True Crime.
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