00:00:00
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
00:00:11
NANCY GRACE: Grand
Rapids, Michigan,
00:00:12
1996, police get a 911 call.
00:00:16
Two men say they found a body
dumped on the side of the road.
00:00:22
PAUL VAN RHEE: And it
looked to them at the time
00:00:24
like a white blanket that
was wrapped around an object.
00:00:28
Once they got
out of their truck,
00:00:29
it was immediately apparent
to them that this was a body.
00:00:33
NANCY GRACE: Fear
grips the community.
00:00:35
It's not the only
body discovered
00:00:37
in the Grand Rapids area.
00:00:38
[SIRENS WAILING]
00:00:39
JOHN TUINHOFF: In the 1990s,
there were approximately
00:00:43
11 murders in the Grand Rapids
area and surrounding counties.
00:00:46
Typically, it would
be a murder, and then
00:00:49
the body would be found the
next day or even months later.
00:00:53
NANCY GRACE: Police
exhaust all leads
00:00:55
for a possible serial killer.
00:00:57
The case goes cold.
00:00:59
Can new, groundbreaking
forensic science
00:01:03
catch a killer
after all this time?
00:01:06
This is the story
of a 26-year search
00:01:10
for a serial killer who may have
murdered as many as 11 women.
00:01:16
I'm Nancy Grace.
00:01:17
This is "Bloodline Detectives."
00:01:20
[THEME MUSIC]
00:01:43
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
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NANCY GRACE: Grand
Rapids, Michigan, 1996,
00:01:48
a small city only three
hours northeast of Chicago,
00:01:51
it's nicknamed "Furniture
City" because of its
00:01:55
booming home industry.
00:01:59
JOHN TUINHOFF: In
1996, there were
00:02:01
a lot of murders in
Kent County at that time
00:02:03
and in the city of Grand Rapids.
00:02:04
As most metropolitan
cities, there
00:02:06
are times where crime
does peak, and there's
00:02:09
times where it's not as bad.
00:02:13
NANCY GRACE: October
3, 1996, two men
00:02:16
on their way to work spot
something unusual on the side
00:02:20
of the road.
00:02:22
Once they got
out of their truck,
00:02:23
it was immediately apparent
to them that this was a body.
00:02:26
And then the other
one got into the truck
00:02:27
and had to drive to a hotel to
make the phone call-- we didn't
00:02:30
have cell phones back then--
and said that they were
00:02:33
there waiting for the police.
00:02:35
While he was doing that,
the other gentleman
00:02:37
stayed with the body.
00:02:38
But apparently, a
number of people
00:02:39
kept coming over and trying to
get to the body and to see it,
00:02:42
and he was just trying
to keep the area clear.
00:02:45
NANCY GRACE: Police arrive,
and they immediately
00:02:48
cordon off the area.
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BLAIR LACHMAN: When
they first got there,
00:02:53
they combed the area
for potential evidence.
00:02:55
There was a lot of stuff that
were-- you know, if you're
00:02:58
on the side of a
road, where people are
00:02:59
dumping cigarettes
and beer bottles,
00:03:01
there were plenty of those.
00:03:02
So they preserved that,
not knowing if they were
00:03:04
related to the crime scene.
00:03:06
Then they took the body
and placed it on a gurney.
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They took that body to
the medical examiner's
00:03:13
office to do the autopsy.
00:03:15
So no one actually saw
anything until they
00:03:18
got back to the morgue.
00:03:20
NANCY GRACE: The
body in the blanket
00:03:22
is soon identified
as Sharon Hammack.
00:03:25
She's a local woman who's
been known as a sex worker.
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PAUL VAN RHEE: She
was in her late 20s.
00:03:33
We learned that she did have
two children of her own,
00:03:36
who she put up for adoption
because she didn't want them
00:03:39
to be part of the lifestyle that
she was part of, which included
00:03:42
the prostitution and drug use.
00:03:45
She also had a family of two
sisters that we knew about.
00:03:50
Whenever these
circumstances come up
00:03:52
in all of our investigations
into homicides,
00:03:55
it's hard to talk to the family
and tell the family what has
00:03:58
happened to their loved one.
00:04:01
TINA DE YOUNG: I had worked
a long shift that day,
00:04:03
and I remember
feeling out of sorts,
00:04:06
like something wasn't right.
00:04:07
And my boyfriend at the
time called me, and he said,
00:04:12
I have to talk to you
when you come home.
00:04:14
And I'm like, just tell me.
00:04:15
He's like, no, I'm not telling
you while you're driving.
00:04:19
I came in the door, and
he said, your sister--
00:04:21
and I knew who he was
talking about because she was
00:04:26
heading down the wrong path.
00:04:28
He said, they found your
sister, and she's dead.
00:04:32
And I lost it.
00:04:34
I just wanted to
go be with my mom.
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That's all I wanted.
00:04:38
I wanted to go be with
my mom because I knew
00:04:41
it was gonna break her heart.
00:04:43
But she knew that
day was coming.
00:04:45
[CRYING]
00:04:47
When they knocked on
the door, they told
00:04:49
my parents that they
had found a woman
00:04:52
dropped on 76th and Patterson.
00:04:55
And my mom goes, are
you sure it's her?
00:04:57
And they said, we're
pretty positive it's her.
00:04:59
And my mom lost it.
00:05:04
NANCY GRACE: Sharon
Hammack's death
00:05:05
is not the only
murder investigation
00:05:08
going on in Grand Rapids.
00:05:11
JOHN TUINHOFF: In the 1990s,
there were approximately
00:05:14
11 murders in the Grand Rapids
area and surrounding counties.
00:05:18
Typically, it would be a
murder, and then the body
00:05:21
would be found the next day or
even months later by someone.
00:05:26
BLAIR LACHMAN: I think
people were pretty
00:05:27
convinced that there
was a serial killer
00:05:30
on the loose in Grand Rapids.
00:05:31
And it was weird because you had
this series of rapes and murders
00:05:34
that happened in that time
period, and then they stopped.
00:05:37
I think they were convinced
that the serial killer took
00:05:41
his show on the road and left.
00:05:44
NANCY GRACE: Police
talk to Sharon
00:05:45
Hammack's family
to get a clearer
00:05:48
picture of her final hours.
00:05:51
JOHN TUINHOFF:
Investigators in 1996
00:05:53
would have started looking at
acquaintances of Sharon Hammack
00:05:57
to try to get an idea of the
last 24 hours of her life,
00:06:01
and also a pattern
of life for her
00:06:03
and who she was
associating with,
00:06:05
what she was involved with, and
who may have some information
00:06:09
on what had happened to her.
00:06:11
TINA DE YOUNG: She
was so beautiful.
00:06:13
So beautiful.
00:06:15
She just got hooked up
with the wrong people
00:06:17
and was led down that path.
00:06:22
My mother had eight children
and I was the baby of eight.
00:06:25
She was so protective of me.
00:06:28
I missed so many
memories with her
00:06:31
because he chose that
she was better off dead,
00:06:35
that nobody was gonna miss her.
00:06:37
But he's wrong.
00:06:40
Is there a sadistic serial
killer lurking in Grand Rapids?
00:06:45
Can police find him
before he strikes again?
00:06:49
We find out next on
"Bloodline Detectives."
00:06:52
[AUDIO LOGO]
00:06:56
[AUDIO LOGO]
00:06:58
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
00:07:00
NANCY GRACE: Grand
Rapids, Michigan, 1996,
00:07:03
police get a call from two
men who find a body wrapped
00:07:07
in a blanket on the
side of the road,
00:07:10
the victim ID'd as 29-year-old
mother-of-two Sharon Hammack.
00:07:16
Investigators look for clues
left behind by the killer.
00:07:22
JOHN TUINHOFF: Investigators
conducted a search warrant
00:07:23
at Sharon Hammack's house
and went through the house
00:07:27
and located things of
interest to them, including
00:07:30
beer bottles and other items
that a guest could have had,
00:07:33
for fingerprints.
00:07:34
And also, they did examine her
vehicle as well for any chances
00:07:40
of identifying a possible
suspect or someone that
00:07:42
could have been in her vehicle.
00:07:44
NANCY GRACE: For investigators,
the scene of any crime
00:07:47
is the first stop for
clues left behind.
00:07:51
The condition of the victim,
the victim's injuries,
00:07:55
even the victim's position
could provide vital clues.
00:08:00
In the case of Sharon
Hammack, the coroner
00:08:03
decides to remove Sharon's
body from the scene,
00:08:06
still wrapped in a blanket.
00:08:12
JOHN TUINHOFF: Sharon Hammack
was found, once she was
00:08:14
unwrapped from the blanket, to
have her hands behind her back,
00:08:16
tied with shoe string, and
also her feet tied together
00:08:21
and pulled up towards her hands
so that she would be laying
00:08:25
on her stomach with her
hands and feet tied together
00:08:27
so that she could not move,
and she would be rolling
00:08:30
pretty much on her stomach.
00:08:33
It was a very
unique situation,
00:08:35
I believe, that for them to open
that blanket up and find her
00:08:40
bound and tied in that manner.
00:08:42
ELIZABETH BARTLETT: With
each piece of evidence
00:08:44
being removed from
the victim's body,
00:08:47
it also has to be preserved.
00:08:49
And so each of those
cords would have
00:08:52
to be removed very carefully
and placed in evidence bags
00:08:57
to preserve any potential
evidence, DNA, anything
00:09:01
that they could down the line.
00:09:03
JOHN TUINHOFF: Reviewing the
autopsy photos 27 years later,
00:09:07
they are very disturbing on just
how the last moments of Sharon's
00:09:11
life would have been.
00:09:13
PAUL VAN RHEE: An autopsy is
critical to the investigation
00:09:15
because it's a way for us to
look for additional evidence
00:09:18
that might be on the
body to understand what
00:09:22
the cause of death
may be, also, to take
00:09:24
measurements of potential
weapons that were used.
00:09:28
In this case, it was a knife.
00:09:29
There was confirmed
stabbed wounds on her head.
00:09:32
There was also
definitely indication
00:09:35
that she had been strangled
with bruises around her neck.
00:09:38
JOHN TUINHOFF:
Sharon had bruising
00:09:39
all over her body, which
would indicate that there
00:09:41
was a struggle with her.
00:09:43
And one thing that I could note
that I noticed from photographs
00:09:46
is that her fingers, while
she was bound behind her back,
00:09:49
her fingers were clenched,
and her fingers were
00:09:52
through the strings of the
bindings that were holding
00:09:55
her hands behind her back.
00:09:56
So you could tell
that Sharon was
00:09:59
fighting until her last breath.
00:10:01
BLAIR LACHMAN: She was
strangled with such force,
00:10:03
she had the pearl necklace
wrapped on her neck.
00:10:05
It wasn't used to strangle her.
00:10:07
It was the force of the
hands around the neck
00:10:11
squeezing created an indentation
of the pearl necklace
00:10:17
on her neck.
00:10:18
PAUL VAN RHEE: DNA was
very new at the time.
00:10:21
It was a new form of
investigation, a new science.
00:10:23
Although they knew that that
was a possibility, at that time,
00:10:27
evidence was taken and
kept and looked into.
00:10:32
NANCY GRACE: A tragic
blow in this case
00:10:34
comes during the examination.
00:10:37
During the autopsy, we
found out that she was
00:10:41
pregnant when she was murdered.
00:10:44
NANCY GRACE: Now that
the autopsy is complete,
00:10:46
Sharon Hammack's family can
finally bury their loved one.
00:10:53
TINA DE YOUNG: I remember
having a closed casket
00:10:55
because that's
what my mom wanted.
00:10:57
It was horrible, horrible.
00:11:00
I just wanted answers.
00:11:02
I just wanted to know
who took her from me.
00:11:08
NANCY GRACE: Law
enforcement determined
00:11:10
to provide answers to Sharon
Hammack's grieving family,
00:11:14
but it's 1996.
00:11:16
DNA science is still
in its infancy,
00:11:20
so police must rely
on old-school methods
00:11:25
to search for her killer.
00:11:28
JOEL SCHULTZE: There's
four basic blood
00:11:30
types that people have.
00:11:31
Type O, 45% of the
population has.
00:11:34
So if you have a type that
almost 50% of the population
00:11:37
has, it doesn't really
give you much information.
00:11:40
The other three, some
of them are under 10%.
00:11:43
But again, there's
only four types.
00:11:45
So it doesn't discriminate
between people very well.
00:11:48
JOHN TUINHOFF: Several
police agencies
00:11:49
in Metro Grand Rapids formed
a task force to investigate
00:11:53
the prostitution murders.
00:11:54
And the detectives
assigned at that time
00:11:57
received hundreds
and hundreds of tips
00:11:59
from people calling in
reference this case.
00:12:03
Nothing was ever revealed
with any of those investigations
00:12:07
with regard to Sharon Hammack.
00:12:09
They were trying to put together
potential suspects by looking
00:12:12
at boyfriends or
friends of Sharon
00:12:15
and anybody that may
have been a person
00:12:17
in common with any
of these other girls
00:12:19
that were also found.
00:12:21
BLAIR LACHMAN: So she's
walking the streets,
00:12:23
so there's no witness to it.
00:12:24
They interviewed
other prostitutes.
00:12:25
They interviewed people that,
I guess, for a better term,
00:12:28
labeled pimps, people
who might know.
00:12:30
Dozens of people they
interviewed and nobody
00:12:34
had any information.
00:12:35
Sometimes they'd say, OK, you
might wanna check this person.
00:12:37
So then they'd go check that
person, and then that person
00:12:40
wouldn't pan out.
00:12:41
Sometimes there were suspects
that they would exclude,
00:12:43
but then they might
come back to them
00:12:45
again and try to re-interview.
00:12:46
JOHN TUINHOFF: It was the
belief of investigators
00:12:49
that our suspect was someone
that could be transient
00:12:52
or could be a truck driver that
could be traveling the roads.
00:12:56
And that's why we were finding
bodies on the sides of roads.
00:13:01
NANCY GRACE: One by one, all the
leads in the search for Sharon
00:13:04
Hammack's killer go dry.
00:13:09
JOEL SCHULTZE: I came to the
Michigan State Police in 1997
00:13:12
and helped start the DNA unit
in Grand Rapids laboratory.
00:13:16
And the-- obviously, the
homicide had already taken
00:13:18
place.
00:13:19
We started doing DNA analysis
at the Grand Rapids laboratory
00:13:22
in 1999, getting more
complete DNA profiles.
00:13:26
ELIZABETH BARTLETT:
They were able to obtain
00:13:28
DNA from some of the items.
00:13:31
The blanket had male DNA on it.
00:13:34
So then the next problem
became whose DNA is it.
00:13:37
BLAIR LACHMAN: All the
DNA did at that time was
00:13:39
eliminate potential suspects.
00:13:42
NANCY GRACE: Grand Rapids Police
have the killer's DNA profile,
00:13:46
but they don't have a match.
00:13:49
They also have 10
other unsolved murders.
00:13:54
Can a groundbreaking
new forensic tool
00:13:57
crack this very gruesome case?
00:14:01
That's next on
"Bloodline Detectives."
00:14:05
[AUDIO LOGO]
00:14:09
[AUDIO LOGO]
00:14:12
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
00:14:13
NANCY GRACE: Grand
Rapids, Michigan, 2008.
00:14:16
Detectives have a DNA
sample from the 1996 murder
00:14:21
of 29-year-old Sharon
Hammack, a mother of two,
00:14:25
her body found wrapped in a
blanket on the side of the road.
00:14:29
Investigators fear they've got
a serial killer on their hands
00:14:33
because Sharon's death is one
of 11 similar unsolved murders,
00:14:40
all in the same area.
00:14:42
Now police turn to forensic
science and CODIS for answers.
00:14:48
CODIS is the Combined
DNA Indexing System,
00:14:52
and that's set up to track
offenders convicted of crimes
00:14:57
to potentially identify them
if they've been involved
00:14:59
in any other unsolved crimes.
00:15:01
BLAIR LACHMAN:
Every time someone
00:15:03
commits a crime or a felony,
their DNA is extracted.
00:15:07
It's just a simple swab.
00:15:08
You just take that.
00:15:09
And a sample is created, and
it's entered into this system.
00:15:15
And there's millions of
people in that database.
00:15:18
You're looking to see if
someone, for some reason,
00:15:21
has been entered
into that system,
00:15:22
whether it's from a
felony, from a rape.
00:15:24
However they get
into that system,
00:15:26
if they're in that system,
you're looking for a match.
00:15:29
NANCY GRACE: CODIS
is the National DNA
00:15:32
database for convicted felons.
00:15:35
In this case, investigators
do not get a match on CODIS,
00:15:39
and that means the
suspect in the murders
00:15:42
has never been arrested
for a serious crime.
00:15:45
The DNA sample, however,
leads Michigan investigators
00:15:49
to a similar crime
in another state.
00:15:54
JOEL SCHULTZE: In 2008, we had a
CODIS association, what we refer
00:15:59
to as a forensic hit,
which is a case-to-case hit
00:16:02
with a case out of Maryland.
00:16:04
And exchanging
information, we found
00:16:07
that it was a 2006 homicide
that occurred in Maryland.
00:16:11
We issued that report
to the investigators,
00:16:14
and then they were able
to talk with the Maryland
00:16:16
investigators, the local ones.
00:16:18
They had some
information in Maryland
00:16:20
that pointed towards
the suspect being--
00:16:23
possibly being a truck driver.
00:16:25
PAUL VAN RHEE: That case was
a young female that was also
00:16:29
found on the side of the road.
00:16:30
She had been killed by stabbing,
and her name was Dusty Shuck.
00:16:37
She was found on the side
of the highway in Maryland.
00:16:40
And she also had DNA evidence
from potentially the suspect
00:16:45
on her, and that
DNA evidence on her
00:16:48
matched a DNA profile that was
obtained from Sharon Hammack.
00:16:52
We had DNA, but we have no
one to match it up to because he
00:16:56
was never in the system.
00:16:57
So basically, we
were up in the air.
00:16:59
And he would either
have to get caught,
00:17:01
or we would never find him.
00:17:03
NANCY GRACE: So far, this serial
killer stays just out of reach
00:17:07
for the Kent County Sheriff's.
00:17:09
That is until they hear
the infamous Golden
00:17:13
State Killer has
been caught using
00:17:16
a brand new forensic science--
00:17:19
investigative genetic genealogy.
00:17:23
PAUL VAN RHEE: With a
good-enough DNA profile
00:17:26
or suspect DNA
profile, that it was
00:17:29
possible to submit
that DNA for processing
00:17:33
and utilize different databases
that contain genetic genealogy
00:17:38
to be able to find relatives
of this potential suspect
00:17:44
in order to drill down
and locate or provide
00:17:48
a name for potential
suspects that were involved
00:17:51
in any related cases like this.
00:17:54
JOEL SCHULTZE: So we took a
portion of that extracted DNA
00:17:57
from the electric blanket and
sent it to an FGG company,
00:18:01
Identifinders.
00:18:03
NANCY GRACE: Identifinders
International
00:18:05
is a company that specializes
in forensic genetic genealogy,
00:18:10
its leader, Dr. Colleen
Fitzpatrick, a pioneer
00:18:14
in this emerging science.
00:18:17
And they developed
their DNA for profile,
00:18:20
which, again, is different
than what we look for.
00:18:22
And the power of the FGG in that
search is that they can go out
00:18:27
to third, fourth, fifth
cousins twice removed as far
00:18:31
as relationships.
00:18:33
And then the second
part of that, then,
00:18:35
is once they get these
searches and some names
00:18:37
back as doing the genetic
genealogy portion,
00:18:40
and they're building these
family trees, where they're
00:18:42
finding a common ancestor--
00:18:45
and typically, in the
cases I've seen, it usually
00:18:47
goes back to the 1700s or so.
00:18:50
I've seen it go back further.
00:18:51
I've seen it stop in the 1800s.
00:18:53
And once they find
that common ancestor,
00:18:55
they build a family tree
back to the evidence
00:18:57
and typically will come back
with an investigative lead
00:19:00
of the one generation.
00:19:02
And then the investigation
starts kind of all over again
00:19:05
for the Kent County
Sheriff's Department.
00:19:08
NANCY GRACE: Genealogists
at Identifinders
00:19:11
make a remarkable
breakthrough, but now they
00:19:15
must combine their
resources with Michigan
00:19:18
police to catch a killer.
00:19:21
JOHN TUINHOFF: They identified
a distant relative family
00:19:25
that I started to investigate to
try to get a DNA sample from one
00:19:30
of them so that we
could get closer
00:19:32
to identifying our suspect.
00:19:33
I knew if I obtained
a DNA sample
00:19:35
from someone in that family--
00:19:37
and they will get us a lot
closer to our perpetrator
00:19:41
to help us to identify them.
00:19:43
I made contact with a distant
family member of our perpetrator
00:19:47
in Caro, Michigan.
00:19:49
The family member was
extremely cooperative with me.
00:19:54
I explained to them the
situation and what we were
00:19:57
investigating, and
they voluntarily
00:19:59
provided me with a DNA sample.
00:20:02
I resubmitted it to
Identifinders International.
00:20:05
And at that time, they
realized that they
00:20:10
were close to the suspect, but
now they could get a lot closer.
00:20:15
And they came up with
a target family for me.
00:20:18
JOEL SCHULTZE: It
was one of our first
00:20:19
that we did through
the laboratory,
00:20:21
so I was hopeful and excited
when they did come back
00:20:24
with a set of brothers that they
said needed to be investigated.
00:20:28
And now it's up to
the investigators
00:20:30
to investigate that
family of brothers
00:20:33
and get a known
from those brothers
00:20:36
so that we can compare it back
to the evidence in the crime.
00:20:39
I can actually remember
where I was when the phone
00:20:41
call came in from them.
00:20:43
I was actually at my
daughter's basketball practice.
00:20:45
And I saw the phone number
that was calling me,
00:20:48
and I knew it was
probably good news.
00:20:50
And in fact, it was.
00:20:52
Genealogist Linda Doyle
told me over the phone
00:20:54
that she had just
forwarded me an email,
00:20:57
and she had identified
a target from a family
00:21:01
that she believed was
going to be my perpetrator.
00:21:03
Perpetrator was one of
four biological male sons
00:21:07
of Wilfred and Donna Artman.
00:21:11
NANCY GRACE: Kent County
sheriffs now closer
00:21:14
than ever to cracking
this case, investigators
00:21:18
begin to focus on the
backgrounds of all four
00:21:21
for brothers to isolate
a likely suspect.
00:21:27
JOHN TUINHOFF: We knew
the perpetrator was male,
00:21:29
so we had to go through
and identify which
00:21:32
one of the brothers had
ties to Grand Rapids
00:21:34
and look for anything in his
background which would lead
00:21:37
us in the direction
that he would
00:21:39
most likely be our perpetrator.
00:21:41
And one of the four brothers had
an extensive criminal history
00:21:45
for sexual assault. And he,
at one point, was a resident
00:21:50
of Grand Rapids in the '90s.
00:21:52
And when we did background
investigations on these four
00:21:55
brothers, it became
very apparent
00:21:57
right away that one of the
brothers, Garry Artman,
00:22:00
was more likely the suspect
that we needed to focus on.
00:22:05
BLAIR LACHMAN: So Garry was in
the military for three years.
00:22:08
He was discharged
for a sexual assault
00:22:11
while he was in the military.
00:22:12
While he was awaiting trial
for that sexual assault,
00:22:16
he raped a 15 or
16-year-old girl
00:22:19
at knifepoint multiple times.
00:22:21
He was convicted of
that rape and got
00:22:23
sentenced to 16 to 30 years.
00:22:25
He only did 11 of those years.
00:22:28
After he got out of prison, he
moved to the Grand Rapids area,
00:22:32
which is where he
resided during the time
00:22:34
that Shannon Hammack
was found murdered.
00:22:36
There was another
sexual assault
00:22:38
during his time in prison,
and he was investigated
00:22:41
as a potential suspect.
00:22:42
And we read those reports,
and they were pretty telling,
00:22:46
which included a statement made
by him to one of the deputies
00:22:49
that the reason he was even
in prison in the first place
00:22:52
is that he was
leaving witnesses.
00:22:54
In other words, he
didn't kill his victims.
00:22:57
JOHN TUINHOFF: When I saw
Garry Artman's criminal history
00:23:01
and started reviewing some
of the prior police reports
00:23:04
of the violence of his sexual
assaults on these victims from
00:23:08
the early 1980s and late 1970s,
sometimes you just know that
00:23:13
this is the guy
we need to target,
00:23:14
and this guy matched
everything for what
00:23:18
we are looking for for the
murderer of Sharon Hammack.
00:23:21
BLAIR LACHMAN: He was a recluse.
00:23:23
He was an over-the-road
truck driver.
00:23:24
He didn't have
many close friends.
00:23:26
We talked to his brothers,
talked to the victims
00:23:28
of the sexual assaults.
00:23:30
They all painted
the same portrait--
00:23:31
a very dark, scary man who
they were all afraid of,
00:23:36
uncomfortable with,
capable of the heinous acts
00:23:40
that we're talking about.
00:23:41
That was a pretty
consistent theme.
00:23:43
All those things raised
our eyebrows to the point
00:23:47
where we knew we were
really on the right path,
00:23:50
but it wasn't enough
just to stop there.
00:23:52
We had to keep
taking all the steps.
00:23:55
NANCY GRACE: Detectives
are almost certain they've
00:23:58
got their serial killer, but
they need concrete evidence
00:24:02
to make an arrest.
00:24:04
PAUL VAN RHEE: We continued
to monitor where he lived
00:24:06
at the time, which
was in Florida,
00:24:08
continued to learn
who he was working for
00:24:11
and try to learn what his
potential routines were.
00:24:15
And we also started to
ping his cell phone.
00:24:19
We were able to get his
cell phone information.
00:24:21
We were pinging his phone
so we could track where
00:24:23
he was located at the time.
00:24:25
We had meetings with the Kent
County Prosecutor's Office,
00:24:29
along with several
detectives, and we decided
00:24:32
that based on the
evidence that we had,
00:24:35
we had enough to get a
warrant for his arrest,
00:24:37
based on the information
that we had obtained.
00:24:40
NANCY GRACE: The net is now
closing in on a prime suspect.
00:24:45
Name-- Garry Artman.
00:24:47
Is Artman the man
who so cruelly dumped
00:24:51
Sharon's body on the side of the
road like trash back in 1996?
00:24:56
We find out next on
"Bloodline Detectives."
00:25:00
[AUDIO LOGO]
00:25:03
[AUDIO LOGO]
00:25:06
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
00:25:08
NANCY GRACE: Grand
Rapids, Michigan, 2022,
00:25:11
police investigating the 1996
murder of a 29-year-old mother,
00:25:17
Sharon Hammack, her body found
dumped on the side of the road.
00:25:21
There have been no solid leads
for over 20 years, until now.
00:25:26
The science of investigative
genetic genealogy
00:25:30
leads detectives to
Garry Artman, a truck
00:25:34
driver prone to violence.
00:25:37
Now, they close in
to make an arrest,
00:25:40
an arrest of a
suspected serial killer.
00:25:43
Their plan is to arrest
Artman during a traffic stop
00:25:48
as he drives through the
state of Mississippi.
00:25:52
PAUL VAN RHEE: I was
involved in tracking
00:25:54
Mr. Artman while he was
moving towards the state
00:25:58
of Mississippi.
00:25:59
I had contact with the
Mississippi State police,
00:26:02
and we were able to, based on
his cell phone location data
00:26:07
and knowing that he was driving
a certain type of truck,
00:26:10
they were able to locate him on
the highway and make an arrest.
00:26:28
PAUL VAN RHEE: On
September 22, 2022,
00:26:30
we conducted a traffic stop
on the highway in Mississippi.
00:26:33
From that traffic
stop, Mr. Hartman
00:26:35
was located as the driver
of that semi truck.
00:26:38
And he was taken into
custody at that time.
00:26:41
He was somewhat cooperative
with investigators at that time
00:26:46
and officers on the scene.
00:26:48
And it was just surreal
for me at that time
00:26:52
because there was always such a
huge concern that we didn't know
00:26:56
if he would have the tendency
to go out and continue
00:27:00
doing violent things to people.
00:27:02
So once he was in
custody, that was
00:27:04
a relief to all of us
investigators at the Kent
00:27:06
County Sheriff's Office.
00:27:08
Now we had to
continue doing our job
00:27:09
so that he wouldn't be
able to hurt anyone else.
00:27:12
BLAIR LACHMAN: He is
arrested and taken
00:27:13
to the jail in Mississippi.
00:27:15
At the jail, he is
read his rights,
00:27:18
and he waives his rights.
00:27:19
And he does an interview
for about three hours
00:27:20
with the sheriff's department.
00:27:23
PAUL VAN RHEE: With any
interview like this,
00:27:25
our goal, obviously, is to--
00:27:27
to hopefully get a confession.
00:27:29
Because it had been so long
since the homicide took place,
00:27:33
we wanted to not only
get a confession,
00:27:36
but first of all, confirm
a lot of the things
00:27:39
that we had found
in his background.
00:27:41
My intention was to
start out in the past
00:27:45
and hopefully have
him talk to me
00:27:47
about what his
timeline in life was,
00:27:51
especially after he
got out of prison.
00:27:53
And he was very open
to talking about that.
00:27:56
BLAIR LACHMAN: He
denied killing women,
00:27:58
openly admitted that he used
prostitutes in Grand Rapids
00:28:02
frequently.
00:28:03
He acknowledged that
he thought women,
00:28:05
in general, but particularly
prostitutes, were beneath him.
00:28:08
They were just objects.
00:28:10
He actually used the word--
they're "pieces of meat."
00:28:28
JOHN TUINHOFF: The demeanor
that I reviewed from watching
00:28:31
his interview and also
from the traffic stop
00:28:33
was he didn't seem
surprised that he
00:28:37
was arrested for a murder.
00:28:39
He was very calm,
would answer questions.
00:28:43
To me, thinking, if you were
being accused of a murder,
00:28:47
you would think
that you would be
00:28:49
putting up a defense to
the investigators saying,
00:28:53
I didn't do this.
00:28:54
But Garry Artman didn't
really ever say that and just
00:28:59
acted like he didn't know
what we were talking about.
00:29:19
PAUL VAN RHEE: He denied
being part of what happened
00:29:23
to Sharon this whole time.
00:29:25
I brought it up several times.
00:29:28
I told him that we knew that
he had murdered Sharon based
00:29:31
on the evidence that we had.
00:29:33
And he never really
reacted to that.
00:29:37
We had previously
gotten some information
00:29:39
from one of his recent
coworkers, a female.
00:29:42
She had said that when he
left his employer, he said,
00:29:47
it's a good thing
that I'm leaving,
00:29:49
or something bad
might have happened.
00:29:51
I brought that up
to Garry Artman,
00:29:53
and he immediately reacted.
00:29:55
He became incredibly angry.
00:29:57
He was swearing at me.
00:29:59
I was very surprised by it
because up to this point,
00:30:01
he hadn't had much
of a reaction.
00:30:03
And I said, Garry, why are you
so angry at me for saying that?
00:30:09
He said, well,
because it's a lie.
00:30:12
And I said, Garry, I've called
you a murderer to your face
00:30:15
this whole time, and
you've never once reacted.
00:30:18
And he said, well, that's
because I can't defend that.
00:30:22
It was the first time that he
had had a significant reaction.
00:30:26
And it was the first time
that I saw his short temper.
00:30:32
NANCY GRACE: During
the interview,
00:30:33
detectives roll the dice on a
very crucial piece of evidence.
00:30:38
They take a DNA swab
from Garry Artman.
00:30:41
Why?
00:30:42
To confirm, without
a doubt, it's
00:30:45
his DNA on that blanket
in which Sharon Hammond
00:30:50
was found wrapped back in 1996.
00:30:56
PAUL VAN RHEE: During
that interview,
00:30:57
we did take a moment to
take a DNA sample from him,
00:31:00
and we immediately
had that shipped
00:31:01
back to Michigan for
comparison with the MSP labs.
00:31:04
JOEL SCHULTZE: They flew
the buccal swab to us.
00:31:07
And that's kind of a pretty
straightforward test.
00:31:10
And I think we
turned that around
00:31:12
in six hours with a
report out in, like,
00:31:14
a total of eight hours.
00:31:17
NANCY GRACE: The
buccal swab is a match.
00:31:19
After all this time, police can
finally inform Sharon Hammack's
00:31:24
family the man who caused so
much pain for 25 years-plus
00:31:31
has been caught.
00:31:34
We thought that
they just gave up.
00:31:36
And after my mom died, we never
heard anything from anybody.
00:31:40
And then one day, a detective
knocked at my sister Terri's
00:31:44
door and said, we can't
wait to tell you this,
00:31:47
but we've solved
your sister's murder.
00:31:50
I looked up at my
mother, and I said,
00:31:52
we finally got justice, Mama.
00:31:54
[CRYING] We're gonna
get justice for her.
00:31:58
And I'm sorry you're not
here, but you're gonna be
00:32:01
up there celebrating with her.
00:32:05
NANCY GRACE: The DNA match
is fantastic evidence,
00:32:08
but investigators plan to
leave no stone unturned.
00:32:13
Before taking Garry
Artman to trial,
00:32:16
the Kent County sheriffs
and the district attorneys
00:32:19
get a search warrant
for Artman properties.
00:32:23
We see what explosive
evidence they find there
00:32:27
next on "Bloodline Detectives."
00:32:30
[AUDIO LOGO]
00:32:34
[AUDIO LOGO]
00:32:38
NANCY GRACE: 2022,
White Springs, Florida,
00:32:41
detectives have Garry Artman
in custody for the 1996
00:32:46
murder of a young
mom, Sharon Hammack,
00:32:49
in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
00:32:51
Artman, a truck driver,
is arrested at a traffic
00:32:55
stop in Mississippi.
00:32:57
Now, investigators want to
search Artman's storage unit.
00:33:02
PAUL VAN RHEE: Part of the
information that we received
00:33:04
during the interview was the
fact that he had a storage
00:33:07
unit where he lived in Florida.
00:33:10
Based off that information, we
were able to obtain a search
00:33:12
warrant for that
storage unit in Florida
00:33:15
and conducted a search there.
00:33:17
During that search, we
located several journals
00:33:20
that appeared to be
writing from Garry Artman.
00:33:23
We located several
different bibles
00:33:26
with scriptures highlighted and
other writing within the bibles
00:33:31
as well.
00:33:32
We located women's
panties and women's
00:33:36
bras that were put in a bag that
was in the storage unit as well.
00:33:41
And all these items
were taken back
00:33:43
to Michigan for further review.
00:33:45
He was a man
that kept journals.
00:33:48
He wrote down all of
his feelings, quotes.
00:33:52
He basically told us about
his hatred for women.
00:33:56
Any woman in high school
that turned him down,
00:33:59
it stemmed this
hatred and anger.
00:34:02
And he thought, if they're not
going to give me what I want,
00:34:06
I'm going to take
it from other women.
00:34:07
And that's what
he started doing.
00:34:10
PAUL VAN RHEE: He had
many writings about women,
00:34:13
specifically prostitutes.
00:34:15
A lot of his writings,
he referred to these
00:34:18
prostitutes as "slaves."
00:34:19
He referred to his work
as being told by God to--
00:34:25
that it was his work to do
whatever he was writing about.
00:34:29
ELIZABETH BARTLETT: He
talked about murdering
00:34:31
women out of morality.
00:34:33
It was, like, his right to do.
00:34:35
He mentioned raping 152 girls
and showed no remorse for that.
00:34:42
Given his meticulous notes and
the things that he collected
00:34:46
and kept, I believed
that there are at least
00:34:49
152 women that he raped.
00:34:53
NANCY GRACE: Equipped
with strong evidence,
00:34:56
Kent County District
Attorneys now ready to face
00:34:59
Garry Artman in court.
00:35:03
ELIZABETH BARTLETT:
My goal for this trial
00:35:06
was to tell Sharon Hammack's
story without her being here,
00:35:10
really focusing on her as a
person, and the brutal way
00:35:17
that he treated her,
and just painting
00:35:19
that picture for the jury.
00:35:21
They were filled with heartbreak
and compassion for Sharon.
00:35:27
They did not judge
her in any way.
00:35:29
Some of the quotes that were
read from Garry Artman's journal
00:35:33
in court, their faces changed
to hatred and disbelief
00:35:38
that there is somebody out
there that is so monstrous.
00:35:43
BLAIR LACHMAN: He showed
zero signs of remorse.
00:35:45
He did engage, and
not in a good way.
00:35:48
He would act up, say
some funky things
00:35:50
during the course of trial.
00:35:51
Like, he commented on his
knots and how good they were.
00:35:54
And we put the part
about him saying,
00:35:56
women are just a piece of meat.
00:35:58
He openly acknowledged
they are in the courtroom.
00:36:02
The sense we got was the
jury was disgusted by him.
00:36:05
I think they were.
00:36:07
It wasn't just that he
killed and raped her.
00:36:09
I think the volume of rapes--
00:36:12
I mean, he admitted to
150 rapes in his letters.
00:36:15
He explained some
of his rationale
00:36:16
in some of his journals.
00:36:18
And I think they were
disgusted by him.
00:36:20
I think it was hard not to be.
00:36:22
NANCY GRACE: It doesn't take
the jury long to decide the rest
00:36:26
of Garry Artman's future.
00:36:29
JOHN TUINHOFF: Sometimes
this can take a while.
00:36:31
Some murder cases, it could
take, you know, two days.
00:36:34
The prosecutors
and the detectives,
00:36:37
we decided that we were just
gonna walk down the street
00:36:39
to grab something to eat.
00:36:41
But while we were
ordering our food,
00:36:44
we got a call from the
court saying the jury
00:36:46
had already reached a verdict.
00:36:48
The only time I think I
get a little bit nervous
00:36:50
is when the jury is coming back
in after they have a verdict.
00:36:52
And there's that unknown
moment where you don't know
00:36:56
what they're gonna say or do.
00:36:58
But it was a 30-minute verdict,
so we felt pretty comfortable.
00:37:03
When you have a 30-minute
verdict, it's usually
00:37:04
favorable to the prosecution.
00:37:07
NANCY GRACE: The
jury finds Garry
00:37:08
Artman guilty on three counts--
00:37:11
open murder, felony murder,
and first-degree criminal sex
00:37:16
conduct.
00:37:17
And he is sentenced
to life behind bars.
00:37:23
PAUL VAN RHEE:
Even though he made
00:37:25
it that long without getting
caught, I'm glad for the family
00:37:28
that they were able to get
their closure with this trial.
00:37:32
TINA DE YOUNG: Is
there still heartache?
00:37:33
Yes.
00:37:34
There will always be heartache.
00:37:36
I prayed to God that he
would give me the answer.
00:37:39
That's all I ever wanted
for her, was justice.
00:37:42
She deserved that.
00:37:44
That monster can't
hurt nobody else.
00:37:47
BLAIR LACHMAN: I'm
confident that Garry Artman
00:37:50
thought no one would care.
00:37:51
Because she was a prostitute, I
don't think he thought anybody
00:37:54
would care a year later.
00:37:56
I didn't think he thought
anybody would care five years
00:37:58
later, and I definitely don't
think he thought anybody
00:38:00
would care 27 years later.
00:38:02
PAUL VAN RHEE: No
matter what that person
00:38:04
does in their lifestyle, we
treat all of these scenes
00:38:07
and all of the
homicides the same,
00:38:09
no matter what the background
of the individual is.
00:38:14
NANCY GRACE: Without
the incredible work
00:38:16
of the "Bloodline
Detectives" and the science
00:38:18
of investigative genetic
genealogy, this case
00:38:22
would never have been solved.
00:38:26
Boy, we've come a long way
since 1996, between cell phones,
00:38:30
technology, DNA, familial DNA.
00:38:34
There's just so much more we can
do in solving crimes and giving
00:38:38
people their justice today.
00:38:40
ELIZABETH BARTLETT:
Forensic genetic genealogy
00:38:42
is such a wonderful
tool now, looking
00:38:44
back on these cold cases.
00:38:46
It changes the game.
00:38:48
Cases that would otherwise
go unsolved forever
00:38:52
now have a chance.
00:38:55
PAUL VAN RHEE: I think
the highlight of this case
00:38:57
was just seeing how
this genetic genealogy
00:39:00
can work with these cold cases.
00:39:02
And it gives me
hope that there's
00:39:04
additional cases that can be
solved in the same manner.
00:39:08
NANCY GRACE: Now,
Sharon's family
00:39:10
can finally close this awful
chapter of their lives.
00:39:15
I loved the way we
hugged each other.
00:39:18
And we always told each
other we loved each other.
00:39:20
And my last conversation with
her, it wasn't very nice.
00:39:26
And we didn't end the
conversation with "I love you."
00:39:29
And that--
[SIGHS, SNIFFLES] I know
00:39:33
she knows I loved
her and just as much
00:39:36
as I know that she loved me.
00:39:38
She's a beautiful person that
went down the wrong path.
00:39:43
And I wish she wouldn't have
because she was beautiful--
00:39:47
her smile, her soul, everything.
00:39:49
She was a beautiful
person, and she
00:39:51
did not deserve to have her
life ended at such a young age.
00:39:57
PAUL VAN RHEE: At the
time, we had over a dozen
00:39:59
similar incidents
in the Grand Rapids
00:40:02
area during the late 1990s.
00:40:04
And if I was able to
interview him again,
00:40:07
the most important thing
I would want to know
00:40:09
is what other homicides
out there was he a part of.
00:40:14
The incredible work of
the "Bloodline Detectives"
00:40:17
goes well beyond the tragic
murder of Sharon Hammack.
00:40:22
Between 1993 and 1996, 17 women,
many of whom were sex workers,
00:40:30
disappeared in the
Grand Rapids area.
00:40:33
Some of them were
never even found.
00:40:37
11 of them, including Sharon
Hammack, were murdered.
00:40:42
On his deathbed,
2024, Garry Artman
00:40:47
confessed to 10
of those murders,
00:40:50
plus the murder of a
Florida woman back in 2012.
00:40:57
I'm Nancy Grace, and I want
to thank you for joining us
00:41:00
here on "Bloodline Detectives."
00:41:03
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