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Judge to decide if sheriff can destroy van Jeffrey Willis used during murders of two Muskegon County women

The Dodge Caravan and evidence removed from inside the van was used by Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson to secure guilty verdicts.

MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. — 51-year-old Jeffrey Willis is serving two life sentences at Michigan's Saginaw Correctional Facility for the murders of Jessica Heeringa in 2013 and Rebekah Bletsch in 2014.

Two separate Muskegon County juries reached guilty of first-degree premediated murder verdicts after long trials in Muskegon County Circuit Court. The conviction on the Bletsch case happened in 2017, and the Heeringa case the following year. 

Willis last appeared in a Muskegon County courtroom in 2018 when he received the second of two life sentences. Monday he appeared by Zoom for a motion hearing.

The "disposition of property" motion filed by the Muskegon County prosecutor's office is asking Muskegon Circuit Court William Marietti for permission to dispose of the silver 2006 Dodge Caravan Willis was driving the day in 2016 when he was taken into custody. The van was key to both homicide investigations. 

The Caravan and evidence removed from inside the van was used by Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson to secure guilty verdicts. 

According to the disposition of property motion filed in July, the van has been "held in the custody of Muskegon County Sheriff's Office since its seizure in May 2016." The motion goes on to say "said property is currently still being held and storage costs have continue to accrue since the property was seized."

The effort to dispose of the van has the support of the two police agencies that investigated the homicides, Norton Shores Police and Muskegon County Sheriff's Office.

Monday Muskegon County Sheriff Michael Poulin told 13 ON YOUR SIDE he hopes "this van never sees the light of day, we'd like to see it destroyed."

Sheriff Poulin says the van is being stored at an undisclosed location in Muskegon County with costs for storage that could eventually be billed to either the Muskegon County Sheriff's Office or Jeffrey Willis.

Poulin doesn't want the van to become a reminder of the crimes Willis committed. "It's an image and it's a remembrance of just pure evil, it needs to be removed and it needs to be destroyed," he said.

The prosecutor's office and Willis now have three weeks to file written briefs on the motion. The judge could rule on the motion at a future hearing in October or November.

In 2020 the Michigan appeals court affirmed the convictions of Jeffrey Willis.

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