HEADSTONE says son.
NEWS ARTICLE The Michigan Daily (University of Michigan campus newspaper) Jan 17 2007 “Tragedy In Bursley”
April 17, 1981 marked one of the darkest days in University history.
By the end of the day, two students were shot dead and another was in police custody.
Leo Kelly, a 22-year-old psychology major, threw several Molotov cocktail fire bombs down the sixth floor of Bursley Residence Hall's Douglas wing around dawn that morning.
The bombs ignited numerous fires and triggered the building's fire alarm.
Kelly then returned to his room and retrieved a shotgun, which he fired at fleeing students.
Witnesses said Kelly fired between two and five shots from the sawed-off shotgun, killing two students.
Freshman Edward Siwik was shot in the upper right chest. He died later at the University Hospital. Another student, resident adviser Douglas McGreaham, was shot in the back. He died after emergency surgery at St. Joseph Hospital.
Police described Kelly as "calm" and "coherent" when they found him sitting on his bed.
Kelly was a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, which was implicated in another, non-fatal shooting in Bursley the previous month.
Many students said they felt "numb" after the shooting, and were hesitant to return to their dorm rooms.
Then-University President Harold Shapiro described the shooting as a "horrible tragedy."
Kelly was arraigned the next day in Washtenaw County's 14th District Court and entered a plea of not guilty by reason of temporary insanity on the two murder counts.
Later, in a re-arraignment with a different lawyer, Kelly did not enter a plea.
His lawyer requested more time to familiarize himself with the case.
Kelly's motive was unclear. His lawyer told a judge that Kelly was taking pills for an infection at the time of the shooting.
A jury found Kelly guilty in a week-long trail. He was sentenced to life in prison.
NEWS ARTICLE UPI Archives Aug 13 1982 “Leo Kelly Jr. Was Sentenced Today To Life In Prison”
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Leo Kelly Jr. was sentenced today to life in prison -- in solitary confinement and at hard labor -- for the shotgun murders of two students in a University of Michigan dormitory.
In a 20-minute statement, Kelly, 23, said he did not receive a fair trial from the all-white jury and said the court had 'descended to the lowest possible depths of depravity.'
Kelly was convicted June 21 of two counts of first-degree murder in the shootings of Douglas McGreaham, 21, of Caspian, and Edward Siwik, 19, of Detroit.
Police said Kelly tossed a firebomb into a dormitory corridor April 17, 1981, and then opened fire on students as they fled, killing McGreaham and Caspian.
Kelly had pleaded insanity and said he had no recollection of the Good Friday shootings.
Kelly, who is black, quoted a 19th century black attorney who said the U.S. Supreme Court 'descended to the lowest possible depths of depravity' when it handed down the Dred Scott decision.
'This court, in finding this decision in my case, also descended to the lowest depths of depravity,' Kelly said.
At a news conference, Kelly's mother Virginia said her son did not get a fair trial and she is confident his appeal will be granted.
Defense attorney William Waterman also cited the racial angle.
'There can never be a member of a jury that is a minority under the present circumstances (in Washtenaw County),' Waterman said.
NEWS ARTICLE Ann Arbor News May 25 1982 “Dorm Shooting Described: ‘I Was In Total Panic’” (excerpt)
Thomas Bajko of Room 6225 tried to stop the bleeding Siwik with two clean towels as he lay on the floor, while another student futilely gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to McGreaham.
NEWS ARTICLE Ann Arbor News July 9 1981 “Students Describe Shootings” (excerpt)
Four students relived the terrifying minutes of a Good Friday morning as a court hearing began Wednesday into the shotgun slayings of two University of Michigan students in the hallway of a North Campus dormitory.
Three students testified they saw Kelly in the hallway with a shotgun in his hand, heard the gunfire and saw the bodies of McGreaham and Silwin [sic] fall to the floor of the smoke-filled corridor. The testimony also showed that there were at least 10 students in the hallway when the shots rang out.
NEWS ARTICLE Ann Arbor News June 12 1981 “Shooting Victim Honored By U-M”
In a rare move, the University of Michigan will award a degree posthumously next May to Douglas McGreaham, one of two students killed in a dormitory shooting incident this spring.
U-M President Harold Shapiro said he is confident McGreaham, a 21-year old Honors student from Caspian, would have completed requirements for a bachelor of fine arts degree if he had not been shot to death April 17 in Bursley Hall.
Brandon Giovanelli, McGreaham’s high school art teacher, was instrumental in the university’s decision to award a posthumous award, said Susan Lipschutz, an assistant to Shapiro.
Giovanelli said he often thought of McGreaham as his own son because of their strong teacher-student relationship.
“I watched him grow,” he said. “I was crushed when it happened…what a cruel thing. He had such a bright future. It’s almost more than one can bear.”
McGreaham would have completed his junior year at U-M this month.
“The School of Art was greatly affected by him as a person and as a dedicated student,” Ms. Lipschutz said. The school wanted to show its “respect and affection of him by granting him this degree with his class.”
Leo E. Kelly, Jr., 22, a junior from Detroit, has been charged with two counts of murder in the slayings of McGreaham and a second student, Edward Siwik, 19, a freshman from Detroit. Kelly has been undergoing psychiatric evaluations and is tentatively scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary examination on the charges next Wednesday.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron River Reporter April 22 1981 “Local Student Killed At U-M” page one with photo (at right)
ANN ARBOR – Douglas C. McGreaham of Caspian, a West Iron County High School graduate and an honors student at the University of Michigan, was one of two students killed April 17 by gunfire in a U-M residence hall. He was 21.
A Detroit student, Leo Kelly, 22, was arrested in his dormitory room shortly afterwards, and has been charged with two counts of first degree murder and one count of firebombing.
The other student killed was Edward Siwek, 19, of Detroit.
The incident began at 6:15 a.m. EST when a Molotov cocktail was thrown against a door in a hallway on the sixth floor of Bursley Hall, located on the university’s north campus.
The fire alarm sounded, and McGreaham, a resident advisor living on the fifth floor, and Siwek, an assistant fire marshal on the sixth floor, started knocking on doors, telling students to get out of the building. It was while they were doing this that gunfire broke out and both men fell.
The weapon used was a partially sawed-off .12-gauge shotgun, firing 00-gauge shot. According to John Barton of the Ann Arbor News, who was at the scene shortly after the shooting, shot “pretty well sprayed” the hallway and was found 86 feet away from where the gun was believed to have been fired.
After the shooting, the suspect went back into his room and quietly surrendered to police.
Bill Treml of the Ann Arbor News told the Reporter that witnesses said they had heard three shots, a pause, and then two more. Both students were hit once in the mid-torso.
Kelly, who was arraigned in Washtenaw County District Court Monday, faces a preliminary hearing May 6, but his lawyer is expected to request a psychiatric examination at the Ypsilanti State Hospital. The examination would last 30 days.
Kelly’s lawyer was quoted over the weekend as saying that Kelly would plead temporary insanity as a defense. Kelly is reported to have “loaded up” on prescription drugs he obtained at the University Hospital just before the shooting. However, he would not say what kind of drugs he had taken, reported Treml.
Treml said no motive is known for the shooting.
Douglas McGreaham was the son of Chalmers McGreahem, 400 Brady Ave., Caspian. He graduated from West Iron County High School in 1978 and had recently been named as a James B. Angeli scholar at the University of Michigan. To receive Angeli recognition, a student must maintain an all-A average for two or more consecutive terms as an undergraduate.
McGreaham was a junior enrolled in the College of Art.
OBITUARY Iron River Reporter April 22 1981 “Obituaries: Doug McGreaham”
CASPIAN – Douglas C. McGreaham, 21, of Caspian died Friday, April 17 in Ann Arbor.
Mr. McGreaham was born March 23, 1960 in Milwaukee. He attended West Iron County High School, lettering on the basketball team and also taking part in track. He was also very talented in artwork. Following graduation from high school in 1978, he enrolled at the University of Michigan and was an art student in his junior year of studies at the time of his death.
He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers McGreaham of Caspian; two brothers, David of Kalamazoo and Daniel, at home; and his paternal grandmother Mrs. Meta White of Iron River.
Visitation was held Monday evening at Brooks Funeral Home of Stambaugh, where the rosary was recited.
Services were held Tuesday morning at the funeral home and at St. Cecilia Church of Caspian. The Rev. George Kruzich, cousin of the parents, officiated.
Burial was in Stambaugh Cemetery.
Pallbearers were Paul Shepich, Mark Rometti, Bill Carlotto, John Hanold, Ernest Remondini and Marty Butorac.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron County Reporter Nov 3 2010 "Shepich Family Holds Reunion" with photo (excerpt)
IRON RIVER-The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Jack and Mary Shepich recently gathered for a family reunion to honor their parents.
The children of Jack and Mary include Rosemarie Shepich McGreaham and her husband Chalmers.
A memorial was offered for Douglas McGreaham, who passed away as a student at the University of Michigan.
NEWS ARTICLE The Michigan Daily (University of Michigan campus newspaper) Jan 17 2007 “Tragedy In Bursley”
April 17, 1981 marked one of the darkest days in University history.
By the end of the day, two students were shot dead and another was in police custody.
Leo Kelly, a 22-year-old psychology major, threw several Molotov cocktail fire bombs down the sixth floor of Bursley Residence Hall's Douglas wing around dawn that morning.
The bombs ignited numerous fires and triggered the building's fire alarm.
Kelly then returned to his room and retrieved a shotgun, which he fired at fleeing students.
Witnesses said Kelly fired between two and five shots from the sawed-off shotgun, killing two students.
Freshman Edward Siwik was shot in the upper right chest. He died later at the University Hospital. Another student, resident adviser Douglas McGreaham, was shot in the back. He died after emergency surgery at St. Joseph Hospital.
Police described Kelly as "calm" and "coherent" when they found him sitting on his bed.
Kelly was a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, which was implicated in another, non-fatal shooting in Bursley the previous month.
Many students said they felt "numb" after the shooting, and were hesitant to return to their dorm rooms.
Then-University President Harold Shapiro described the shooting as a "horrible tragedy."
Kelly was arraigned the next day in Washtenaw County's 14th District Court and entered a plea of not guilty by reason of temporary insanity on the two murder counts.
Later, in a re-arraignment with a different lawyer, Kelly did not enter a plea.
His lawyer requested more time to familiarize himself with the case.
Kelly's motive was unclear. His lawyer told a judge that Kelly was taking pills for an infection at the time of the shooting.
A jury found Kelly guilty in a week-long trail. He was sentenced to life in prison.
NEWS ARTICLE UPI Archives Aug 13 1982 “Leo Kelly Jr. Was Sentenced Today To Life In Prison”
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Leo Kelly Jr. was sentenced today to life in prison -- in solitary confinement and at hard labor -- for the shotgun murders of two students in a University of Michigan dormitory.
In a 20-minute statement, Kelly, 23, said he did not receive a fair trial from the all-white jury and said the court had 'descended to the lowest possible depths of depravity.'
Kelly was convicted June 21 of two counts of first-degree murder in the shootings of Douglas McGreaham, 21, of Caspian, and Edward Siwik, 19, of Detroit.
Police said Kelly tossed a firebomb into a dormitory corridor April 17, 1981, and then opened fire on students as they fled, killing McGreaham and Caspian.
Kelly had pleaded insanity and said he had no recollection of the Good Friday shootings.
Kelly, who is black, quoted a 19th century black attorney who said the U.S. Supreme Court 'descended to the lowest possible depths of depravity' when it handed down the Dred Scott decision.
'This court, in finding this decision in my case, also descended to the lowest depths of depravity,' Kelly said.
At a news conference, Kelly's mother Virginia said her son did not get a fair trial and she is confident his appeal will be granted.
Defense attorney William Waterman also cited the racial angle.
'There can never be a member of a jury that is a minority under the present circumstances (in Washtenaw County),' Waterman said.
NEWS ARTICLE Ann Arbor News May 25 1982 “Dorm Shooting Described: ‘I Was In Total Panic’” (excerpt)
Thomas Bajko of Room 6225 tried to stop the bleeding Siwik with two clean towels as he lay on the floor, while another student futilely gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to McGreaham.
NEWS ARTICLE Ann Arbor News July 9 1981 “Students Describe Shootings” (excerpt)
Four students relived the terrifying minutes of a Good Friday morning as a court hearing began Wednesday into the shotgun slayings of two University of Michigan students in the hallway of a North Campus dormitory.
Three students testified they saw Kelly in the hallway with a shotgun in his hand, heard the gunfire and saw the bodies of McGreaham and Silwin [sic] fall to the floor of the smoke-filled corridor. The testimony also showed that there were at least 10 students in the hallway when the shots rang out.
NEWS ARTICLE Ann Arbor News June 12 1981 “Shooting Victim Honored By U-M”
In a rare move, the University of Michigan will award a degree posthumously next May to Douglas McGreaham, one of two students killed in a dormitory shooting incident this spring.
U-M President Harold Shapiro said he is confident McGreaham, a 21-year old Honors student from Caspian, would have completed requirements for a bachelor of fine arts degree if he had not been shot to death April 17 in Bursley Hall.
Brandon Giovanelli, McGreaham’s high school art teacher, was instrumental in the university’s decision to award a posthumous award, said Susan Lipschutz, an assistant to Shapiro.
Giovanelli said he often thought of McGreaham as his own son because of their strong teacher-student relationship.
“I watched him grow,” he said. “I was crushed when it happened…what a cruel thing. He had such a bright future. It’s almost more than one can bear.”
McGreaham would have completed his junior year at U-M this month.
“The School of Art was greatly affected by him as a person and as a dedicated student,” Ms. Lipschutz said. The school wanted to show its “respect and affection of him by granting him this degree with his class.”
Leo E. Kelly, Jr., 22, a junior from Detroit, has been charged with two counts of murder in the slayings of McGreaham and a second student, Edward Siwik, 19, a freshman from Detroit. Kelly has been undergoing psychiatric evaluations and is tentatively scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary examination on the charges next Wednesday.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron River Reporter April 22 1981 “Local Student Killed At U-M” page one with photo (at right)
ANN ARBOR – Douglas C. McGreaham of Caspian, a West Iron County High School graduate and an honors student at the University of Michigan, was one of two students killed April 17 by gunfire in a U-M residence hall. He was 21.
A Detroit student, Leo Kelly, 22, was arrested in his dormitory room shortly afterwards, and has been charged with two counts of first degree murder and one count of firebombing.
The other student killed was Edward Siwek, 19, of Detroit.
The incident began at 6:15 a.m. EST when a Molotov cocktail was thrown against a door in a hallway on the sixth floor of Bursley Hall, located on the university’s north campus.
The fire alarm sounded, and McGreaham, a resident advisor living on the fifth floor, and Siwek, an assistant fire marshal on the sixth floor, started knocking on doors, telling students to get out of the building. It was while they were doing this that gunfire broke out and both men fell.
The weapon used was a partially sawed-off .12-gauge shotgun, firing 00-gauge shot. According to John Barton of the Ann Arbor News, who was at the scene shortly after the shooting, shot “pretty well sprayed” the hallway and was found 86 feet away from where the gun was believed to have been fired.
After the shooting, the suspect went back into his room and quietly surrendered to police.
Bill Treml of the Ann Arbor News told the Reporter that witnesses said they had heard three shots, a pause, and then two more. Both students were hit once in the mid-torso.
Kelly, who was arraigned in Washtenaw County District Court Monday, faces a preliminary hearing May 6, but his lawyer is expected to request a psychiatric examination at the Ypsilanti State Hospital. The examination would last 30 days.
Kelly’s lawyer was quoted over the weekend as saying that Kelly would plead temporary insanity as a defense. Kelly is reported to have “loaded up” on prescription drugs he obtained at the University Hospital just before the shooting. However, he would not say what kind of drugs he had taken, reported Treml.
Treml said no motive is known for the shooting.
Douglas McGreaham was the son of Chalmers McGreahem, 400 Brady Ave., Caspian. He graduated from West Iron County High School in 1978 and had recently been named as a James B. Angeli scholar at the University of Michigan. To receive Angeli recognition, a student must maintain an all-A average for two or more consecutive terms as an undergraduate.
McGreaham was a junior enrolled in the College of Art.
OBITUARY Iron River Reporter April 22 1981 “Obituaries: Doug McGreaham”
CASPIAN – Douglas C. McGreaham, 21, of Caspian died Friday, April 17 in Ann Arbor.
Mr. McGreaham was born March 23, 1960 in Milwaukee. He attended West Iron County High School, lettering on the basketball team and also taking part in track. He was also very talented in artwork. Following graduation from high school in 1978, he enrolled at the University of Michigan and was an art student in his junior year of studies at the time of his death.
He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers McGreaham of Caspian; two brothers, David of Kalamazoo and Daniel, at home; and his paternal grandmother Mrs. Meta White of Iron River.
Visitation was held Monday evening at Brooks Funeral Home of Stambaugh, where the rosary was recited.
Services were held Tuesday morning at the funeral home and at St. Cecilia Church of Caspian. The Rev. George Kruzich, cousin of the parents, officiated.
Burial was in Stambaugh Cemetery.
Pallbearers were Paul Shepich, Mark Rometti, Bill Carlotto, John Hanold, Ernest Remondini and Marty Butorac.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron County Reporter Nov 3 2010 "Shepich Family Holds Reunion" with photo (excerpt)
IRON RIVER-The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Jack and Mary Shepich recently gathered for a family reunion to honor their parents.
The children of Jack and Mary include Rosemarie Shepich McGreaham and her husband Chalmers.
A memorial was offered for Douglas McGreaham, who passed away as a student at the University of Michigan.
HEADSTONE says son.
NEWS ARTICLE The Michigan Daily (University of Michigan campus newspaper) Jan 17 2007 “Tragedy In Bursley”
April 17, 1981 marked one of the darkest days in University history.
By the end of the day, two students were shot dead and another was in police custody.
Leo Kelly, a 22-year-old psychology major, threw several Molotov cocktail fire bombs down the sixth floor of Bursley Residence Hall's Douglas wing around dawn that morning.
The bombs ignited numerous fires and triggered the building's fire alarm.
Kelly then returned to his room and retrieved a shotgun, which he fired at fleeing students.
Witnesses said Kelly fired between two and five shots from the sawed-off shotgun, killing two students.
Freshman Edward Siwik was shot in the upper right chest. He died later at the University Hospital. Another student, resident adviser Douglas McGreaham, was shot in the back. He died after emergency surgery at St. Joseph Hospital.
Police described Kelly as "calm" and "coherent" when they found him sitting on his bed.
Kelly was a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, which was implicated in another, non-fatal shooting in Bursley the previous month.
Many students said they felt "numb" after the shooting, and were hesitant to return to their dorm rooms.
Then-University President Harold Shapiro described the shooting as a "horrible tragedy."
Kelly was arraigned the next day in Washtenaw County's 14th District Court and entered a plea of not guilty by reason of temporary insanity on the two murder counts.
Later, in a re-arraignment with a different lawyer, Kelly did not enter a plea.
His lawyer requested more time to familiarize himself with the case.
Kelly's motive was unclear. His lawyer told a judge that Kelly was taking pills for an infection at the time of the shooting.
A jury found Kelly guilty in a week-long trail. He was sentenced to life in prison.
NEWS ARTICLE UPI Archives Aug 13 1982 “Leo Kelly Jr. Was Sentenced Today To Life In Prison”
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Leo Kelly Jr. was sentenced today to life in prison -- in solitary confinement and at hard labor -- for the shotgun murders of two students in a University of Michigan dormitory.
In a 20-minute statement, Kelly, 23, said he did not receive a fair trial from the all-white jury and said the court had 'descended to the lowest possible depths of depravity.'
Kelly was convicted June 21 of two counts of first-degree murder in the shootings of Douglas McGreaham, 21, of Caspian, and Edward Siwik, 19, of Detroit.
Police said Kelly tossed a firebomb into a dormitory corridor April 17, 1981, and then opened fire on students as they fled, killing McGreaham and Caspian.
Kelly had pleaded insanity and said he had no recollection of the Good Friday shootings.
Kelly, who is black, quoted a 19th century black attorney who said the U.S. Supreme Court 'descended to the lowest possible depths of depravity' when it handed down the Dred Scott decision.
'This court, in finding this decision in my case, also descended to the lowest depths of depravity,' Kelly said.
At a news conference, Kelly's mother Virginia said her son did not get a fair trial and she is confident his appeal will be granted.
Defense attorney William Waterman also cited the racial angle.
'There can never be a member of a jury that is a minority under the present circumstances (in Washtenaw County),' Waterman said.
NEWS ARTICLE Ann Arbor News May 25 1982 “Dorm Shooting Described: ‘I Was In Total Panic’” (excerpt)
Thomas Bajko of Room 6225 tried to stop the bleeding Siwik with two clean towels as he lay on the floor, while another student futilely gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to McGreaham.
NEWS ARTICLE Ann Arbor News July 9 1981 “Students Describe Shootings” (excerpt)
Four students relived the terrifying minutes of a Good Friday morning as a court hearing began Wednesday into the shotgun slayings of two University of Michigan students in the hallway of a North Campus dormitory.
Three students testified they saw Kelly in the hallway with a shotgun in his hand, heard the gunfire and saw the bodies of McGreaham and Silwin [sic] fall to the floor of the smoke-filled corridor. The testimony also showed that there were at least 10 students in the hallway when the shots rang out.
NEWS ARTICLE Ann Arbor News June 12 1981 “Shooting Victim Honored By U-M”
In a rare move, the University of Michigan will award a degree posthumously next May to Douglas McGreaham, one of two students killed in a dormitory shooting incident this spring.
U-M President Harold Shapiro said he is confident McGreaham, a 21-year old Honors student from Caspian, would have completed requirements for a bachelor of fine arts degree if he had not been shot to death April 17 in Bursley Hall.
Brandon Giovanelli, McGreaham’s high school art teacher, was instrumental in the university’s decision to award a posthumous award, said Susan Lipschutz, an assistant to Shapiro.
Giovanelli said he often thought of McGreaham as his own son because of their strong teacher-student relationship.
“I watched him grow,” he said. “I was crushed when it happened…what a cruel thing. He had such a bright future. It’s almost more than one can bear.”
McGreaham would have completed his junior year at U-M this month.
“The School of Art was greatly affected by him as a person and as a dedicated student,” Ms. Lipschutz said. The school wanted to show its “respect and affection of him by granting him this degree with his class.”
Leo E. Kelly, Jr., 22, a junior from Detroit, has been charged with two counts of murder in the slayings of McGreaham and a second student, Edward Siwik, 19, a freshman from Detroit. Kelly has been undergoing psychiatric evaluations and is tentatively scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary examination on the charges next Wednesday.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron River Reporter April 22 1981 “Local Student Killed At U-M” page one with photo (at right)
ANN ARBOR – Douglas C. McGreaham of Caspian, a West Iron County High School graduate and an honors student at the University of Michigan, was one of two students killed April 17 by gunfire in a U-M residence hall. He was 21.
A Detroit student, Leo Kelly, 22, was arrested in his dormitory room shortly afterwards, and has been charged with two counts of first degree murder and one count of firebombing.
The other student killed was Edward Siwek, 19, of Detroit.
The incident began at 6:15 a.m. EST when a Molotov cocktail was thrown against a door in a hallway on the sixth floor of Bursley Hall, located on the university’s north campus.
The fire alarm sounded, and McGreaham, a resident advisor living on the fifth floor, and Siwek, an assistant fire marshal on the sixth floor, started knocking on doors, telling students to get out of the building. It was while they were doing this that gunfire broke out and both men fell.
The weapon used was a partially sawed-off .12-gauge shotgun, firing 00-gauge shot. According to John Barton of the Ann Arbor News, who was at the scene shortly after the shooting, shot “pretty well sprayed” the hallway and was found 86 feet away from where the gun was believed to have been fired.
After the shooting, the suspect went back into his room and quietly surrendered to police.
Bill Treml of the Ann Arbor News told the Reporter that witnesses said they had heard three shots, a pause, and then two more. Both students were hit once in the mid-torso.
Kelly, who was arraigned in Washtenaw County District Court Monday, faces a preliminary hearing May 6, but his lawyer is expected to request a psychiatric examination at the Ypsilanti State Hospital. The examination would last 30 days.
Kelly’s lawyer was quoted over the weekend as saying that Kelly would plead temporary insanity as a defense. Kelly is reported to have “loaded up” on prescription drugs he obtained at the University Hospital just before the shooting. However, he would not say what kind of drugs he had taken, reported Treml.
Treml said no motive is known for the shooting.
Douglas McGreaham was the son of Chalmers McGreahem, 400 Brady Ave., Caspian. He graduated from West Iron County High School in 1978 and had recently been named as a James B. Angeli scholar at the University of Michigan. To receive Angeli recognition, a student must maintain an all-A average for two or more consecutive terms as an undergraduate.
McGreaham was a junior enrolled in the College of Art.
OBITUARY Iron River Reporter April 22 1981 “Obituaries: Doug McGreaham”
CASPIAN – Douglas C. McGreaham, 21, of Caspian died Friday, April 17 in Ann Arbor.
Mr. McGreaham was born March 23, 1960 in Milwaukee. He attended West Iron County High School, lettering on the basketball team and also taking part in track. He was also very talented in artwork. Following graduation from high school in 1978, he enrolled at the University of Michigan and was an art student in his junior year of studies at the time of his death.
He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers McGreaham of Caspian; two brothers, David of Kalamazoo and Daniel, at home; and his paternal grandmother Mrs. Meta White of Iron River.
Visitation was held Monday evening at Brooks Funeral Home of Stambaugh, where the rosary was recited.
Services were held Tuesday morning at the funeral home and at St. Cecilia Church of Caspian. The Rev. George Kruzich, cousin of the parents, officiated.
Burial was in Stambaugh Cemetery.
Pallbearers were Paul Shepich, Mark Rometti, Bill Carlotto, John Hanold, Ernest Remondini and Marty Butorac.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron County Reporter Nov 3 2010 "Shepich Family Holds Reunion" with photo (excerpt)
IRON RIVER-The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Jack and Mary Shepich recently gathered for a family reunion to honor their parents.
The children of Jack and Mary include Rosemarie Shepich McGreaham and her husband Chalmers.
A memorial was offered for Douglas McGreaham, who passed away as a student at the University of Michigan.
NEWS ARTICLE The Michigan Daily (University of Michigan campus newspaper) Jan 17 2007 “Tragedy In Bursley”
April 17, 1981 marked one of the darkest days in University history.
By the end of the day, two students were shot dead and another was in police custody.
Leo Kelly, a 22-year-old psychology major, threw several Molotov cocktail fire bombs down the sixth floor of Bursley Residence Hall's Douglas wing around dawn that morning.
The bombs ignited numerous fires and triggered the building's fire alarm.
Kelly then returned to his room and retrieved a shotgun, which he fired at fleeing students.
Witnesses said Kelly fired between two and five shots from the sawed-off shotgun, killing two students.
Freshman Edward Siwik was shot in the upper right chest. He died later at the University Hospital. Another student, resident adviser Douglas McGreaham, was shot in the back. He died after emergency surgery at St. Joseph Hospital.
Police described Kelly as "calm" and "coherent" when they found him sitting on his bed.
Kelly was a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, which was implicated in another, non-fatal shooting in Bursley the previous month.
Many students said they felt "numb" after the shooting, and were hesitant to return to their dorm rooms.
Then-University President Harold Shapiro described the shooting as a "horrible tragedy."
Kelly was arraigned the next day in Washtenaw County's 14th District Court and entered a plea of not guilty by reason of temporary insanity on the two murder counts.
Later, in a re-arraignment with a different lawyer, Kelly did not enter a plea.
His lawyer requested more time to familiarize himself with the case.
Kelly's motive was unclear. His lawyer told a judge that Kelly was taking pills for an infection at the time of the shooting.
A jury found Kelly guilty in a week-long trail. He was sentenced to life in prison.
NEWS ARTICLE UPI Archives Aug 13 1982 “Leo Kelly Jr. Was Sentenced Today To Life In Prison”
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Leo Kelly Jr. was sentenced today to life in prison -- in solitary confinement and at hard labor -- for the shotgun murders of two students in a University of Michigan dormitory.
In a 20-minute statement, Kelly, 23, said he did not receive a fair trial from the all-white jury and said the court had 'descended to the lowest possible depths of depravity.'
Kelly was convicted June 21 of two counts of first-degree murder in the shootings of Douglas McGreaham, 21, of Caspian, and Edward Siwik, 19, of Detroit.
Police said Kelly tossed a firebomb into a dormitory corridor April 17, 1981, and then opened fire on students as they fled, killing McGreaham and Caspian.
Kelly had pleaded insanity and said he had no recollection of the Good Friday shootings.
Kelly, who is black, quoted a 19th century black attorney who said the U.S. Supreme Court 'descended to the lowest possible depths of depravity' when it handed down the Dred Scott decision.
'This court, in finding this decision in my case, also descended to the lowest depths of depravity,' Kelly said.
At a news conference, Kelly's mother Virginia said her son did not get a fair trial and she is confident his appeal will be granted.
Defense attorney William Waterman also cited the racial angle.
'There can never be a member of a jury that is a minority under the present circumstances (in Washtenaw County),' Waterman said.
NEWS ARTICLE Ann Arbor News May 25 1982 “Dorm Shooting Described: ‘I Was In Total Panic’” (excerpt)
Thomas Bajko of Room 6225 tried to stop the bleeding Siwik with two clean towels as he lay on the floor, while another student futilely gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to McGreaham.
NEWS ARTICLE Ann Arbor News July 9 1981 “Students Describe Shootings” (excerpt)
Four students relived the terrifying minutes of a Good Friday morning as a court hearing began Wednesday into the shotgun slayings of two University of Michigan students in the hallway of a North Campus dormitory.
Three students testified they saw Kelly in the hallway with a shotgun in his hand, heard the gunfire and saw the bodies of McGreaham and Silwin [sic] fall to the floor of the smoke-filled corridor. The testimony also showed that there were at least 10 students in the hallway when the shots rang out.
NEWS ARTICLE Ann Arbor News June 12 1981 “Shooting Victim Honored By U-M”
In a rare move, the University of Michigan will award a degree posthumously next May to Douglas McGreaham, one of two students killed in a dormitory shooting incident this spring.
U-M President Harold Shapiro said he is confident McGreaham, a 21-year old Honors student from Caspian, would have completed requirements for a bachelor of fine arts degree if he had not been shot to death April 17 in Bursley Hall.
Brandon Giovanelli, McGreaham’s high school art teacher, was instrumental in the university’s decision to award a posthumous award, said Susan Lipschutz, an assistant to Shapiro.
Giovanelli said he often thought of McGreaham as his own son because of their strong teacher-student relationship.
“I watched him grow,” he said. “I was crushed when it happened…what a cruel thing. He had such a bright future. It’s almost more than one can bear.”
McGreaham would have completed his junior year at U-M this month.
“The School of Art was greatly affected by him as a person and as a dedicated student,” Ms. Lipschutz said. The school wanted to show its “respect and affection of him by granting him this degree with his class.”
Leo E. Kelly, Jr., 22, a junior from Detroit, has been charged with two counts of murder in the slayings of McGreaham and a second student, Edward Siwik, 19, a freshman from Detroit. Kelly has been undergoing psychiatric evaluations and is tentatively scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary examination on the charges next Wednesday.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron River Reporter April 22 1981 “Local Student Killed At U-M” page one with photo (at right)
ANN ARBOR – Douglas C. McGreaham of Caspian, a West Iron County High School graduate and an honors student at the University of Michigan, was one of two students killed April 17 by gunfire in a U-M residence hall. He was 21.
A Detroit student, Leo Kelly, 22, was arrested in his dormitory room shortly afterwards, and has been charged with two counts of first degree murder and one count of firebombing.
The other student killed was Edward Siwek, 19, of Detroit.
The incident began at 6:15 a.m. EST when a Molotov cocktail was thrown against a door in a hallway on the sixth floor of Bursley Hall, located on the university’s north campus.
The fire alarm sounded, and McGreaham, a resident advisor living on the fifth floor, and Siwek, an assistant fire marshal on the sixth floor, started knocking on doors, telling students to get out of the building. It was while they were doing this that gunfire broke out and both men fell.
The weapon used was a partially sawed-off .12-gauge shotgun, firing 00-gauge shot. According to John Barton of the Ann Arbor News, who was at the scene shortly after the shooting, shot “pretty well sprayed” the hallway and was found 86 feet away from where the gun was believed to have been fired.
After the shooting, the suspect went back into his room and quietly surrendered to police.
Bill Treml of the Ann Arbor News told the Reporter that witnesses said they had heard three shots, a pause, and then two more. Both students were hit once in the mid-torso.
Kelly, who was arraigned in Washtenaw County District Court Monday, faces a preliminary hearing May 6, but his lawyer is expected to request a psychiatric examination at the Ypsilanti State Hospital. The examination would last 30 days.
Kelly’s lawyer was quoted over the weekend as saying that Kelly would plead temporary insanity as a defense. Kelly is reported to have “loaded up” on prescription drugs he obtained at the University Hospital just before the shooting. However, he would not say what kind of drugs he had taken, reported Treml.
Treml said no motive is known for the shooting.
Douglas McGreaham was the son of Chalmers McGreahem, 400 Brady Ave., Caspian. He graduated from West Iron County High School in 1978 and had recently been named as a James B. Angeli scholar at the University of Michigan. To receive Angeli recognition, a student must maintain an all-A average for two or more consecutive terms as an undergraduate.
McGreaham was a junior enrolled in the College of Art.
OBITUARY Iron River Reporter April 22 1981 “Obituaries: Doug McGreaham”
CASPIAN – Douglas C. McGreaham, 21, of Caspian died Friday, April 17 in Ann Arbor.
Mr. McGreaham was born March 23, 1960 in Milwaukee. He attended West Iron County High School, lettering on the basketball team and also taking part in track. He was also very talented in artwork. Following graduation from high school in 1978, he enrolled at the University of Michigan and was an art student in his junior year of studies at the time of his death.
He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers McGreaham of Caspian; two brothers, David of Kalamazoo and Daniel, at home; and his paternal grandmother Mrs. Meta White of Iron River.
Visitation was held Monday evening at Brooks Funeral Home of Stambaugh, where the rosary was recited.
Services were held Tuesday morning at the funeral home and at St. Cecilia Church of Caspian. The Rev. George Kruzich, cousin of the parents, officiated.
Burial was in Stambaugh Cemetery.
Pallbearers were Paul Shepich, Mark Rometti, Bill Carlotto, John Hanold, Ernest Remondini and Marty Butorac.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron County Reporter Nov 3 2010 "Shepich Family Holds Reunion" with photo (excerpt)
IRON RIVER-The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Jack and Mary Shepich recently gathered for a family reunion to honor their parents.
The children of Jack and Mary include Rosemarie Shepich McGreaham and her husband Chalmers.
A memorial was offered for Douglas McGreaham, who passed away as a student at the University of Michigan.
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