LENAWEE,COUNTY, MI (WTVB) – The multi-week preliminary examination for John Skelton, the Lenawee County man accused of murdering his three young sons 16 years ago, is now in it’s sixth day, as prosecutors argued there is sufficient circumstantial evidence to send the case to trial.
The 54-year-old Skelton, , is facing three counts each of open murder and tampering with evidence for the 2010 disappearance of Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner Skelton. Though the boys’ remains have never been found, a judge declared them legally dead in March 2025, and prosecutors brought the upgraded murder charges just weeks before Skelton was scheduled to be released from prison on an initial unlawful imprisonment conviction.
Recent testimony from family members and investigators has highlighted Skelton’s history of volatile behavior, a suicide note written to his ex-wife, and cell phone records showing his phone went “off the grid” for nearly two hours just before the boys vanished.
While the defense has pressed investigators on the total lack of physical evidence, a weapon, or bodies, prosecutors are leveraging witness accounts and investigative leads to establish probable cause.
Skelton, who is currently being held at the Lenawee County Jail on a $60 million bond, faces life in prison if convicted of the murder charges.
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