UPDATE 12/23/08 – FreePhil was RIGHT! Yes, denizens, it’s true. The family members of Phillip Morris, Mike Wellwood and Alicia Hartner have much to be happy about for Christmas. The murder charges against Phil, Mike and Alicia (!) have been dropped. It appears that I, your loyal ImpQueen, was WRONG. W-R-O-N-G WRONG. So what next? Is Doyle Palmer to blame for the murders of Dennis Langley and Jack Mascow, or will their killers ever be found? I don’t know. All I know is that this is one story I’m happy to revise. Happy Holidays, FreePhil! More details after the jump.
Mike Wellwood, Alicia Hartner, Phillip Morris
Riverview, MI, March 6, 2008 — Somebody tell me why a guy named Phillip Morris needs to jack cigarettes, ’cause I just don’t get that. Alicia Hartner, 18, is accused of being the ringleader of a bizarre little threesome consisting of herself, her live-in boyfriend Mike Wellwood, 19, and her sort of boyfriend Phillip Morris, 22. The trio is charged with the murders of Dennis Langley and Jack Mascow, both 62, last week.
Alicia Hartner and her men are high-school rejects working menial jobs. The victims, Langley and Mascow, owned a vending company that distributed cigarettes. Dennis Langley had been the only father figure Alicia Hartner ever knew, supporting Alicia and her mother financially for a number of years. Although Langley and Alicia’s mother never married, he continued to funnel cash their way even after the breakup. Langley was generous to fault and kept large amounts of cigarette stock and cash in the house, which he shared with his business partner Jack Mascow.
The robbery was supposed to go down as planned last Wednesday night: break in, kill Dennis Langley, steal his stuff and his cash, leave. Mascow was not expected to be there, but when he surprised the stoned trio they stabbed, beat and shot him. Then they went into garage, where they stabbed Langley in the skull and liver. After stealing about two grand in cash and a bunch of smokes, the young murderers torched the garage and left in Langley’s white work van, which they also set aflame a few blocks away. Because they’re smart criminals like that.
Firefighters found Mascow’s body upstairs while fighting house fire at about 11:30 p.m Wednesday. On Thursday, police officers went back to the house and found Langley in the garage. After getting over 100 telephone tips, Alicia Hartner was fingered as the bad girl and arrested on Friday. The bozo boys were arrested on Saturday. Even Hartner’s mother has been questioned in this case, although she has not been charged at this point.
Let’s just get these felons’ Myspaces out there, shall we? Alicia Hartner’s is here and is definitely the most entertaining of the bunch. She has pics of her pipe and her friends and her friend’s five year old son pretending to down multiple fifths of liquor. That’s hawt. Interestingly, although she lived with Mike Wellwood, his Myspace is much lower-key with few details and almost no friends. And here’s Phillip Morris, who is kind enough to have wonderful pics of high Alicia, high Mike, and high himself. In not a single picture is he sober. (and thanks Amber for Phil’s link!)
All three killers were in court on Tuesday for arraignment on two counts of felony murder, two counts of first-degree murder, one count of conspiracy to commit murder, one count of first-degree home invasion, one count of arson and one count of felony use of a firearm. All three pleaded not guilty, and Wellwood and Morris cried like tlittle bitches. Â Hartner showed little emotion and told a judge she needed to get out because she “had a job interview.” Um, that murder thing might make it hard to get that Taco Bell gig, Alicia.
UPDATE 4/30/08 – Alicia Hartner, Mike Wellwood and Phillip “Free Phil” Morris were in court Tuesday for preliminary hearings. Testimony was contradictory on Alicia. Detective Scott Galeski said that “Ms. Hartner was more concerned about her well-being. Her reaction was blank.” But a prisoner in the cell next to Alicia’s refuted that, saying that Alicia cried and insisted she was innocent. Previous witness statements have indicated, though, that Alicia copped to the whole murder, so that remains up in the air.
Witness Joseph Vella, who was tesitfying to get out of drug charges, said that Hartner and Wellwood told him about their plan to rob Dennis Langley prior to the act. Then again, he said, they also told him they were gonna roll a homeless guy for pot to pay their rent, so he didn’t take them seriously.
Not a great deal was reportedly said about Phillip Morris. It’ll be very interesting to see what happens on Thursday afternoon, when Judge Randy Kalmbach is set to rule on whether the trio should be bound over for trial. Will Free Phil be freed? I don’t know, but I’m waiting to find out. Maybe some of his family can come let us know how things went.
UPDATE 5/01/08 – Judge Randy Kalmbach of the 27th District Court in Wyandotte ruled this afternoon that all three defendants will remain in jail and be bound over for trial in Wayne County.
In the meantime, check Alicia Hartner’s new Magic Jail Hair:
UPDATE 5/16/08 – Alicia Hartner, Mike Wellwood and Phillip “Free Phil” Morris were arraigned in Wayne County Court yesterday. According to family sources, Alicia will face a jury on her own, and Mike and Phil will share a jury and be tried together. There is a docket hearing scheduled for June 20, after which the trial is scheduled for sometime in September. All three suspects remain in custody.
UPDATE 08/06/08 – A fourth suspect in the murders of Dennis Langley and Jack Mascow has been arrested. Doyle Palmer, 41 (Myspace) is being held without bail in the Wayne County Jail. At this time, it is unclear what affect, if any, Palmer’s arrest will have on the trials of Alicia Hartner, Mike Wellwood, and Phillip Morris.
Palmer, a single father of two, was arrested primarily based on DNA evidence from a bloody tissue found in the Langley home. At this time, it does appear that he may drive a silver car very similar to that of Philip Morris, who is believed to have provided a gun and a getaway car for the robbery-turned-murder; this evidence, according to Phil’s family, may exonerate him.  At this time, however, all four suspects are being held without bail pending a hearing on August 29.
Here’s Doyle Palmer with his son, taken this summer:
Does Palmer hold the key to the Langley/Mascow murders? Or is he just an unlucky dude who got a nosebleed? As always, we’ll update as information becomes available.
UPDATE 12/23/08 – FreePhil was RIGHT! Yes, denizens, it’s true. The family members of Phillip Morris, Mike Wellwood and Alicia Hartner have much to be happy about for Christmas. The murder charges against Phil, Mike and Alicia (!) have been dropped. It appears that I, your loyal ImpQueen, was WRONG. W-R-O-N-G WRONG. So what next? Is Doyle Palmer to blame for the murders of Dennis Langley and Jack Mascow, or will their killers ever be found? I don’t know. All I know is that this is one story I’m happy to revise. Happy Holidays, FreePhil!
According to the statement released by prosecutor Kym Worthy, “We are dismissing the cases because during trial preparation it was discovered that two of our main witnesses on these three defendants — not on (Palmer’s) cases — were discovered to be untruthful in material ways and were inconsistent with the physical evidence. We simply will not proceed at this time.”
And yes, for the record, this is twice I’ve been wrong about someone’s guilt. TWICE. Not counting the one time I was wrong about someone’s innocence. I think I hear Morbid laughing.
And I thought the flowers would be a nice touch. She can put them on the table for everyone to enjoy tonight when the drinking begins….. LOL
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