Wife killed Husband and then Burned Him; Arrested after Burnt Remains identified in Charlotte
Charlotte, MI: A woman had been arrested by authorities after it was determined that she killed her husband and then burnt his dead body more than 20 years years ago.
More than two decades ago, a witness calmly recounted to a jury the horrific murder of a man in the basement of a Charlotte property. The victim was hammered, strangled with a plastic bag and a rope, and then his body was burned at an Ottawa County farm.
Roberto Caraballo was married to Beverly McCallum; Christopher Wayne McMillan, who is now 45 years old, stated that he, Ducharme, and McCallum discussed murdering Caraballo in the days leading up to their May 2002 execution.
On Monday, during the opening day of McCallum’s trial on charges of second-degree murder and disinterment and mutilation of a body, McMillan testified that McCallum shoved Caraballo down the basement steps, where Ducharme hit him in the skull with a hammer.
According to the eyewitness, Caraballo was strangled until he stopped breathing after a plastic bag was put over his head. According to McMillan, the body was placed in a footlocker later that day, transported to an isolated area, pulled off a two-track road, and then burned using gasoline.
McCallum, who is now 63 years old, is the last of the defendants to face charges in the “Jack in the Box” murder. The crime remained unresolved until 2015, when authorities received a tip that led them to the burnt remains discovered at the farm.
In 2019, McMillan admitted guilt to two counts of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He was sentenced to a prison term ranging from fifteen to forty years. Truthful testimony against the other defendants was a condition of his plea agreement.
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Currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of release, Ducharme was found guilty of multiple counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and the disinterment and mutilation of a dead body.
At the time the charges were filed, McCallum was residing outside of the nation. She remained in an Italian prison from her 2020 arrest until her extradition in 2022.
In his opening statement, Eaton County Prosecutor Douglas Lloyd informed the jury that over twenty years ago, in Ottawa County, parts of a wooden baseball bat, a hammer, and the plastic bag and rope used to suffocate Caraballo were discovered with his charred remains.
Lloyd pointed out that the police still hadn’t identified the murder victim despite a 2005 documentary being made on the case. After then, the inquiry stalled.
Lloyd stated that things took a turn in 2015 when Ducharme contacted a detective to report that she thought her mother, McCallum, had murdered Caraballo, who had a different identity and had spent a sentence in a federal prison. Police were able to positively identify Caraballo after reviewing his dental records, he added.
According to the prosecution, the investigation led to a duplex on Horatio Street in Charlotte. In the basement, under paint on several surfaces and a concrete patch on the floor, investigators discovered traces of Caraballo’s DNA.
According to McMillan, a friend of Ducharme’s who frequently visited the Horatio address, blood splatters were covered up by painting on some surfaces in the basement. He also mentioned that the reason for chipping and patching a section of the concrete floor.
The witness stand was approached by McMillan donning orange coveralls.
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According to McMillan, the murder plot called for him to use a baseball bat to strike Caraballo as he down the stairs. Rather, he claimed that the bat shattered into pieces when he swung it, hitting a post. He was joined downstairs by Ducharme, who swung a hammer at Caraballo. McCallum then seized the weapon and continued to strike the man multiple times in the head.
An associate public defense for Eaton County pleaded with the jurors during opening arguments to look for “red flags” in McMillan’s statements to police on events that occurred over twenty years ago.