Michael Curry charged in 1985 killings of wife and children

**RaVen Blackehart** · May 20th, 2009, 10:53 PM

A northwest Georgia man has been charged with killing his pregnant wife and his two young children with a bush-ax 24 years ago in a case a detective never gave up trying to solve, authorities said Wednesday.

Michael Curry, 51, of Dalton, was charged in a Muscogee County grand jury indictment with murder, aggravated assault and feticide and was jailed. He's accused of killing 24-year-old Ann Curry, their 4-year-old daughter, Erika, and 20-month-old son, Ryan, on Aug. 29, 1985, in Columbus.

Curry ran to a neighbor's house screaming, "They killed my wife and kids! Why did they kill my wife and kids?" shortly after arriving home from work that afternoon. He was questioned but never charged.

District Attorney Julia Slater praised Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren for his perseverance in investigating the bush-ax slayings. A bush-ax is a 10-pound tool with a curved blade used to clear heavy brush.

"Chief Boren not only worked the case as a detective in 1985, but empowered detective Randy Long to explore this cold case, discover new information and prepare it for presentation to the grand jury," Slater said in a statement.

She did not disclose the nature of the new information, but said she and other officials would answer questions at a news conference Thursday.

Jail officials did not know if Curry had an attorney.

The day of the killings, police found a bush-ax in the den, where Curry's wife and son were found hacked to death. She had been nearly decapitated and bruises on her arms showed she had tried to block the blows.

The girl was found in the kitchen, where the blade had crashed on her head and across her mouth, breaking her teeth.

Frank Martin, an attorney hired by Curry's family, advised him not to talk to police after an initial interview the night after the killings. The lawyer asked for a tape of the first interview, but police refused.

During a coroner's inquest in 1986, Curry testified he had been threatened by the husband of a co-worker with whom he'd had a three-week affair. The man denied Curry's accusations.

Neighbors reported seeing a green car parked in front of the Curry house the day of the killings, but couldn't say if it was Curry's.

His wife's parents, James and Bernice Johnson, organized a local chapter of the victims' advocacy group VOCAL. They hired an attorney and fought his collecting life insurance.

http://www.buffalonews.com/260/story/677836.html

**Sister Iroz** · May 21st, 2009, 04:46 PM

Michael Lee Curry, accused of 1985 ax killings of his wife and children.

Jim and Bernice Johnson, photographed in 1985 holding photos of their slain daughter and grandchildren.

http://www.ajc.com/gwinnett/content/...x_murders.html

**totallytoddler** · May 21st, 2009, 06:29 PM

That was SO very hard for me to read....I just dont understand these people that kill their children....and spouse...and with an AX???? This just really breaks my heart.

Justice will finally be served.

**Kalehue** · May 21st, 2009, 10:06 PM

Ugh. He looks like an ax-murderer.

This must be a relief to her family after all these years. I hope they have the evidence to nail him.

**Dakota Valkyrie** · May 30th, 2009, 05:47 PM

-

Michael Curry / Brush ax

While Michael Curry is accused of killing three people, he’s actually charged with six counts of murder.

In addition, the 51-year-old faces three counts of aggravated assault and two counts of feticide stemming from the deaths of his wife, two children and unborn child on Aug. 29, 1985.

He faces six counts of murder because authorities have issued the charge in two different ways for each of the deceased. Similarly, he faces two counts of feticide because he is charged in two different ways for the death of the fetus.

Two kinds of murder charges exist in Georgia — malice murder and felony murder. They’re proved differently in court, said Mark Post, an assistant district attorney with the Pataula Judicial Circuit.
[...]
It’s common for those accused of murder to be indicted for both felony and malice murder, Post said. When someone is convicted of both, they join into one count when sentenced.
[...]

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/story/725402.html

Other related:

Did Michael Curry have time to kill his family? (timeline of his day): http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/174/story/725408.html
PDF files:
Michael Curry indictment, Page 1: http://media.ledger-enquirer.com/sme...filiate.70.pdf
Michael Curry indictment, Page 2: http://media.ledger-enquirer.com/sme...filiate.70.pdf
Michael Curry indictment, Page 3: http://media.ledger-enquirer.com/sme...filiate.70.pdf
Michael Curry indictment, Page 4: http://media.ledger-enquirer.com/sme...filiate.70.pdf

**Dakota Valkyrie** · May 31st, 2009, 03:16 PM

Last year a group of elite crime-solvers viewing evidence in the 1985 bush-ax slayings of Michael Curry’s wife and children quickly saw Curry as the prime suspect, the association’s case manager said Friday. Fred Bornhofen, case management director for the Vidocq Society — which 10 times a year invites crime investigators to Philadelphia to have lunch and review unsolved homicides — also said the brutality evident in the hacking deaths of 24-year-old Ann Curry, 4-year-old daughter Erika and 1-year-old son Ryan moved even hardened criminologists.

[...]

That day Columbus police detectives Charlie Fairbairn and Drew Tyner presented the case. Police last week canceled an interview concerning the event, though in a May 21 news conference on Curry’s arrest, Police Chief Ricky Boren thanked the Vidocq Society — particularly Richard Walter, a forensic psychologist and profiler retired from the Michigan prison system.
[...]

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/174/story/734551.html

**mysticviewer** · July 5th, 2009, 09:14 PM

COLUMBUS, Ga. — A northwest Georgia man has been charged with killing his pregnant wife and his two young children with a bush-ax 24 years ago in a case a detective never gave up trying to solve, authorities said Wednesday.

Michael Curry, 51, of Dalton, was charged in a Muscogee County grand jury indictment with murder, aggravated assault and feticide and was jailed. He's accused of killing 24-year-old Ann Curry, their 4-year-old daughter, Erika, and 20-month-old son, Ryan, on Aug. 29, 1985, in Columbus.

Curry ran to a neighbor's house screaming, "They killed my wife and kids! Why did they kill my wife and kids?" shortly after arriving home from work that afternoon. He was questioned but never charged.

District Attorney Julia Slater praised Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren for his perseverance in investigating the bush-ax slayings. A bush-ax is a 10-pound tool with a curved blade used to clear heavy brush.

"Chief Boren not only worked the case as a detective in 1985, but empowered detective Randy Long to explore this cold case, discover new information and prepare it for presentation to the grand jury," Slater said in a statement.

She did not disclose the nature of the new information, but said she and other officials would answer questions at a news conference Thursday.

Jail officials did not know if Curry had an attorney.

The day of the killings, police found a bush-ax in the den, where Curry's wife and son were found hacked to death. She had been nearly decapitated and bruises on her arms showed she had tried to block the blows.

The girl was found in the kitchen, where the blade had crashed on her head and across her mouth, breaking her teeth.

Frank Martin, an attorney hired by Curry's family, advised him not to talk to police after an initial interview the night after the killings. The lawyer asked for a tape of the first interview, but police refused.

During a coroner's inquest in 1986, Curry testified he had been threatened by the husband of a co-worker with whom he'd had a three-week affair. The man denied Curry's accusations.

Neighbors reported seeing a green car parked in front of the Curry house the day of the killings, but couldn't say if it was Curry's.

His wife's parents, James and Bernice Johnson, organized a local chapter of the victims' advocacy group VOCAL. They hired an attorney and fought his collecting life insurance.

A reward fund for information on the killer or killers swelled to $35,000. No one collected.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,520911,00.html

**RaVen Blackehart** · July 5th, 2009, 09:16 PM

http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=19823

**scorpiogirl** · July 6th, 2009, 01:48 AM

He's been free for 24 years? That is so wrong, so so wrong. WTF could have been his motive? His wife was 8 months pregnant, his children were beautiful. Geezus fuck!

**Silvahalo** · July 6th, 2009, 01:57 AM

and lovely mother Ann Curry and unborn baby.

I read this horrific story years back as it left me with a profound sadness, I looked for away to put it past me. There is really no way to make any sense of it, no understanding to find, no peace that will put the world right.

So instead, I imagined this young mother with her children about her, and the love she gave to them and the joy she experienced simply being their mother. At the time of her death and those of her children, including the one growing in her belly, my hope is her very last thought was that love she had for them and held on to it. There would be no time to reason or understand what was happening before her and might her children find their end the same way...no it would be much too fleeting a moment. Her one lingering thought, I pray, I hope were of Erika, Ryan and baby and the love for them. This bringer of death could take their lives but nothing would take away the love they shared. In my heart I am certain, they share that love even now.

Rest in peace Ann, Erika, Ryan and baby, now in the heavens together.

**Dakota Valkyrie** · January 27th, 2010, 06:50 PM

Not a slam-dunk:

When is a suspect “arrested” for a crime? Is it as soon as police handcuff and hold him for questioning, or when he formally is charged?

That’s a question Muscogee Superior Court Judge John Allen must ponder in the case of Michael Curry, who faces murder charges in the bush-ax slayings of his wife Ann, 24, daughter Erika, 4, and son Ryan, 20 months.
[...]

Police were called, and the first two officers there decided Curry was behaving so erratically they needed to wrestle him down and handcuff him.

Then Curry calmed down, they said, and an officer in a marked patrol car took him to police headquarters, where the handcuffs were removed and Curry was left for detectives to interview. Later they took him to the hospital for an exam, and then released him without charge.

That was an arrest, defense attorney Bob Wadkins said in a hearing today before Judge Allen — and if Curry was arrested back in 1985 and not indicted until May 2009, then that 24-year delay has impaired his Fifth Amendment right to due process under the law and his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial.
[...]

Full article: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/174/story/990469.html

**Hellsbells** · July 22nd, 2011, 12:05 PM

Michael Curry sentenced to life in prison for brutal bush ax slayings

Michael Curry, the man convicted of three counts of murder this spring in a trial that captivated Columbus, was sentenced today to life in prison for slaughtering his family with a bush ax.

Superior Court Judge John D. Allen denied a defense motion for a directed verdict of acquittal and sentenced Curry to serve three consecutive life sentences. Curry, 53, must serve 30 years of his sentence before he will be eligible for parole, prosecutors said.

Allen's ruling brought to a close a cold case that shocked the community in 1985 and eluded resolution for more than two decades. It also secured what is by far the biggest victory of District Attorney Julia Slater's career. Slater's predecessors, at least one of whom has criticized her for not seeking the death penalty in heinous cases, declined to prosecute Curry after determining the evidence was not strong enough.

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2011/...ys-future.html

**62julietandvoid** · July 22nd, 2011, 12:17 PM

Better late than never. I guess.

**BreakTheSilence** · July 22nd, 2011, 12:55 PM

RIP Ann, Erika, Ryan and baby! You are gone but will never be forgotten.

I just hope this monster is being tortured beyond words in prison. I hope the other inmates know he is a 3-time baby killer. I hope he hears each child's voice constantly, including the nonstop crying of the new baby. They can't torture this monster enough for my satisfaction. He deserved the same fate they had. He doesn't deserve to sit in prison being taken care of while they are in the ground. It just doesn't seem fair.

RIP again Ann, Erika, Ryan, and baby! I'm so sorry it took over 2 decades to get you the justice you deserved.

**Silvahalo** · July 22nd, 2011, 05:26 PM

3 life terms sentences.
Really, I'd like to hear that he dies by the likes of someone as wicked as he.
His wife's head was almost decapitated, Ryan was close by with such a severe head injury that his wee hand gripped the carpet so tightly it had to be pried away. Little Erica was found in the kitchen with skull fracture her mouth split with broken teeth. The horror that went down that day is just too much....there is no punishment just enough.
I cannot imagine how the family has coped all these years having lost so much. My deepest heartfelt sympathies...
The heavens weep for what was taken from you.
Ann, Erika and Ryan Curry....in the heavens together always.

**AngelFire** · July 22nd, 2011, 07:33 PM

OMG Silva that is the most savage killing I have heard of thus far....oh man am I going to reget saying that

**Silvahalo** · July 22nd, 2011, 11:17 PM

Originally Posted by Mybabiesmomma

OMG Silva that is the most savage killing I have heard of thus far....oh man am I going to reget saying that

@Mybabiesmomma, sadly, I have read some others just like this and one posted here on dd that didn't get much attention. I cannot for the life of me remember the fuckers name. IF I remember I'll let you know if you really want to know but it was the most horrid, savage killing of children I think I've read on and that's saying something.
Stays with me today...3 children i believe said the baby was the devil some shit like that.
ugh, gotta go read something else to get that out of my mind now.