WASHTENAW COUNTY, Mich. – Two police officers testified that they found multiple items while helping arrest the suspects in a double murder and kidnapping in Northfield Township in January.
Gregory Callhan, 37, and Keith Finley, 60, appeared in court on Wednesday, April 16, for their preliminary examinations.
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A preliminary examination is a hearing where the facts in the case are brought to the judge, and the judge decides whether or not there is enough evidence to move to trial.
The third person charged in this case, Shuvonne Vinson, was in court on March 20 for a motion hearing, and the judge scheduled a hearing about her competency for May 22. Due to this, her preliminary examination has been delayed. The judge will decide if all three will be bound over on charges after the last preliminary hearing.
Vinson, Callhan and Finley are accused of being involved in the murder of Jennifer Bernhard, 42, and Stevie Smith, 74, and the attempted murder of Jeffrey Bernhard, 52, on Nollar Bend Road in Northfield Township on Jan. 1, 2025.
Previous coverage: ‘It was a scream of terror’: Father recounts traumatic Washtenaw County shooting in court
Credit cards, jewelry, pepper spray, crack pipe
Two officers testified in the preliminary examination on Wednesday before the court went to lunch, saying they found the three suspects inside a car with two children and a dog.
Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Deputy Von Heath testified he helped detain the double murder suspects with Northfield Township police.
While an officer was arresting a man from the car, a woman got out of the car and approached the officer. That’s when additional officers responded and helped detain the other suspects, including Von Heath.
He remembered there was a struggle while arresting Vinson.
Von Heath testified he found pepper spray on Vinson, but said other officers found a gun on her. He could not testify what kind of gun was found on her.
Von Heath also said he didn’t find a gun on Finley when he did a basic search of him during the arrest.
Deputy Tripp testified that he responded to Ypsilanti Township following a report of a “Be on the Lookout” for a black Honda. Tripp helped detain the suspects.
Tripp detained Callhan when he responded to the scene.
When Tripp went to his patrol car, he asked Callhan for his name. Callhan reportedly gave Tripp a fake name. Tripp then asked for his real name after not being able to find his fake name in the system.
Callhan was taken into custody and transported to the police department. He told Tripp he had a crack pipe in his sock during a search. Tripp removed the crack pipe from the sock. Tripp also found three credit cards, $50 in cash, miscellaneous papers and some jewelry. Two of the credit cards were under Jeffrey and Jennifer Bernhard. He noticed that Callhan also had blood splatter on his shoes.
Tripp testified he did not find a gun on Callhan during the arrest and search at the police department.
