PAW PAW, MI (WTVB) – A White Pigeon man was found guilty by a Van Buren County jury on Wednesday of intentionally hitting and killing a woman with his vehicle, then hiding her body in some woods in St. Joseph County in 2021.
Colby Martin was found guilty after 90 minutes of deliberation of first-degree premeditated murder, concealing the death of an individual and failure to stop at the scene of a crash when at fault causing death.
According to authorities, Martin admitted in an interrogation video to hitting and killing 64-year-old Melody Rohrer, then hiding her body on Purgatory Road in St. Joseph County.
He was initially charged with vehicular manslaughter, but then a murder charge was added in February of 2022.
Rohrer, who was from the Decatur area, went missing on September 20, 2021, while taking a walk on County Road 215 near Territorial Road in Hamilton Township. Martin was arrested the next day and told investigators where they could find her body.
Martin is scheduled to be sentenced to a mandatory term life in prison without the possibility of parole on July 31.
(Jerry Malec contributed to this report)
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