John Douglas White

Case record: John Douglas White

Background

John Douglas White was a former pastor of a small Mount Pleasant church and later a pastor of a small church in Mount Pleasant. He was engaged to Rebekah Gay’s mother and regularly looked after Rebekah Gay’s young son while she was working.

In 1980, White was 22 and living in Battle Creek when he repeatedly stabbed a 17-year-old woman, Theresa Etherton, in the basement of his Battle Creek home. A jury convicted White of attempted murder, and he apologized and asked for help instead of prison time. Calhoun County Circuit Judge Paul Nicolich told White at sentencing: “It is by the sheer grace of God, or whatever, that the victim in this case is still alive”. The judge sentenced him to five to 10 years in prison and recommended mental health counseling in prison.

White later appealed. The appellate court reversed the jury verdict and remanded the case after concluding that defense counsel had not raised an insanity defense. Instead of a new trial, White received a deal under which he was placed on probation for two years and avoided additional jail time as long as he received mental health treatment. White was eventually released from prison in 1983 and placed on probation. The prosecutor who approved the plea deal was Conrad Sindt.

In 1994, White served more than 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the disappearance of a woman in Kalamazoo County. He also had pleaded no contest to a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm for stabbing a woman in Calhoun County.

A Galesburg resident, Frederick Nicholl, had been a friend of White in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including riding in a truck cab with him. Nicholl broke ties after White was charged with the Kalamazoo County killing of Vicki Wall in 1994. Nicholl said White confessed to killing Gay after fantasizing for weeks about murdering the 24-year-old and having sex with her body. Nicholl said White had previously been convicted in 1981 of assault with intent to murder in the stabbing of a 17-year-old woman in Calhoun County. Nicholl said he met White after Nicholl got out of the U.S. Navy in 1984 and that both men worked as long-haul truckers and served in the Navy.

Theresa Morris described trusting White until he stabbed her 15 times in 1980 in the basement of his Battle Creek home. Morris later described how she encountered White again at a Secretary of State office: “I was standing in line, and I heard his voice,” and she said, “And, I'd been hearing that voice in my head almost every day.” She also said, “I turned around, and he's just smiling.” Morris said, “I'm really upset with the system,” and she said, “They promised me he wasn't going to ever hurt anyone again.”

White and his first known victim both described his behavior and mental state, including White stating at sentencing: “I wouldn't listen to people that tried to tell me that I did have a problem, and I realize that now,” and later expressing remorse to Wall’s family in 2013 by apologizing and calling the death a “tragic accident,” without providing details.

White asked for a court-appointed attorney when he was charged with first-degree murder in 2012.

White’s criminal history was described as including two convictions for violent crimes, and a Center for Forensic Psychiatry report found White mentally competent to stand trial.

The offence

On Oct. 31, 2012, White killed Rebekah Gay, a neighbor in Isabella County, inside Gay’s home in Broomfield Township. Police said White went inside and attacked Gay in the hallway using a mallet to hit her several times on the head and tightened a zip-tie around her neck to stop her breathing.

Police said Gay’s 3-year-old son was present during the attack and that White cared for the boy before delivering him to his father after dressing him in his Halloween costume. Police also said White undressed Gay’s body, and later he told police he did not remember if he had sex with her.

White confessed that he had thought about killing Gay for about two weeks before the attack and that he watched pornography that depicted necrophilia. In court and police accounts, White stated that he struck Gay on the head with the mallet until she was unconscious and then tightened the zip-tie around her neck until she stopped breathing. A court record summarized White’s statement that he was having bad thoughts for about two weeks about killing Rebekah Gay and then having sex with her dead body.

White told police that after killing Gay he disposed of her body near the intersection of Pickard and Coldwater, where he directed officers to look. Police said investigators later found Gay’s body in a rural area in Isabella County. Police described the circumstances of the slaying as similar to the circumstances of Vicky Sue Wall in 1994.

Police said White drank several beers before going to Gay’s mobile home, and he was described as having been evasive with deputies. Police said he made a false call about being last seen near Gay’s home at 6:50 a.m. Oct. 31 and later admitted he had lied to officers.

White told police that he tried to get an erection but could not.

White loaded Gay’s body, bloodied towels he said he used to clean up Gay’s blood, and the rubber mallet into a large garbage bag. He said the bag ripped and items spilled out. White also told police he threw Gay’s purse, phone and car keys in the trailer park trash container and disposed of other items at the intersection where Gay’s body was found. Police said White drove Gay’s car to the nearby Barn Door bar parking lot to make it appear that she had been abducted.

Police said that after the killing, White returned to Gay’s home and dressed Gay’s 3-year-old son in his Halloween costume before dropping him off with the boy’s father. Earlier in the case, after Gay disappeared and was missing, White asked his roughly 14-member congregation to pray for her, with quotes attributed to her mother in court.

Gay was 24 years old at the time of the killing.

At the time of the offence, White was engaged to Gay’s mother, and he was a pastor of Christ Community Fellowship church in Deerfield Township, about 120 miles northwest of Detroit.

Investigation

Police said White confessed after being questioned by Isabella County sheriff’s deputies. The sheriff’s office credited Detective Sgt. David Patterson with establishing rapport with White, leading to the confession.

White’s confession included details about the mallet, zip-tie strangulation, the necrophilia pornography, and his intent or fantasy about having sex with a dead body.

White was initially arrested on Oct. 31, 2012 on charges of first-degree murder and open murder after police say he confessed to Isabella County Sheriff deputies that he killed Gay inside her home earlier that morning.

An Isabella County public defender was appointed to represent White after he was arraigned by video on Nov. 1. Isabella County Prosecutor Risa Scully issued a media release on Nov. 1 and declined to comment further on the pending case.

Police described an ongoing evidence collection effort even after the confession. The Michigan State Police crime lab found blood in both Gay and White’s trailers and blood and a necklace in the back of White’s truck, as recorded in court filings summarizing White’s statement.

An autopsy on Gay’s body was being completed in Grand Rapids, with expectations for a full report in four to six weeks.

Police said there was a report the sheriff’s office received that White was last seen near Gay’s home at 6:50 a.m. Oct. 31, but White later admitted he had made that call and lied to officers.

Arrest

White was arrested on Oct. 31, 2012 on charges of first-degree murder and open murder in connection with the death of Rebekah Gay.

On Nov. 1, White was arraigned by video and faced a preliminary examination in Isabella County Trial Court.

Trial

On Jan. 10, 2013, Isabella County trial court officials scheduled a Jan. 24 preliminary hearing for White on charges including one open count of murder and first-degree premeditated murder connected to Gay’s Halloween death.

On Jan. 23, 2013, White waived his right to a preliminary hearing, and Isabella County Trial Judge Mark Duthie bound the case over to Circuit Court. A pre-trial hearing was scheduled for Feb. 25.

White’s mental competence to stand trial was determined based on a report from the Center for Forensic Psychiatry.

In 2013, White pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as a habitual third offender. The plea and conviction were tied to Gay’s death on Oct. 31, 2012.

During the sentencing proceeding, her mother, Sally Gay, made statements in court, including: “For 20 excruciating hours we prayed that Rebekah” would come home, and “She was not yours to take. How dare you.” Sally Gay asked the court to show White the lack of mercy he showed her daughter.

The sentencing judge, Isabella County Chief Circuit Judge Paul Chamberlain, ordered a sentence requiring White to serve from 56 to 85 years behind bars, stating the judge saw no reason White should ever leave prison. The judge noted White had two prior convictions for attacking women.

Sentencing

On April 19, 2013, Isabella County Chief Circuit Judge Paul Chamberlain sentenced White to at least 56 years in prison for killing Gay. The sentence required White to serve from 56 to 85 years behind bars.

Earlier sentencing in May 1995 was tied to a prior conviction. On May 8, 1995, White was sentenced to 8 to 15 years in prison and was released on Feb. 11, 2007 after serving nearly 12 years for manslaughter in the death of a 26-year-old woman in Kalamazoo County. He had pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 1994 and received the 8 to 15 year prison sentence in May 1995.

On April 18, 2013, White was sentenced to 56 years in prison after pleading guilty.

Appeals

No appeals were described for the 2012 case.

A prior appeal was described for the 1980 attempted murder conviction. White appealed and won claiming his attorney made a mistake by not raising an insanity defense. The defense attorney was being paid by White’s father, who did not want to spend $1,000 or more for an independent psychiatric exam needed to claim insanity. The state Court of Appeals reversed the jury verdict and remanded the case.

Outcome

White was sentenced to at least 56 years in prison in 2013 for second-degree murder as a habitual third offender connected to the death of Rebekah Gay in 2012.

On Aug. 28, 2013, White committed suicide by hanging himself in his prison cell. He was found after 4 a.m. on Aug. 28 by facility officials at the Michigan Reformatory in Ionia, where he was jailed. He suffered from self-inflicted asphyxiation and was pronounced dead at 4:38 a.m. Attempts were made to resuscitate him, including by correctional staff, health care professionals, and emergency medical technicians, but they were unsuccessful.

Aftermath

After White’s death, the Michigan Department of Corrections released additional information about the apparent suicide.

White’s congregation and members had previously sought prayer and support for Gay after she was missing, and church members described that they were aware of White’s criminal past when he joined the church.

White had asked for other church members to start a prayer chain before being arrested and described feelings that the police were giving him a hard time, with quotes from a church elder describing his request for prayer.

White’s son, Gabriel White, said his father did not change and did not engage or accept help despite acknowledging he was mentally sick.

Detective and deputy statements described the killing as something they believed would happen again, and relatives sought creation of a registry for violent offenders.

In 2012, the sheriff said: “He just basically said he was attracted to her, thought she was a very cute girl. It's