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Muskegon Co prosecutor filing to combine trials against Jeffrey Willis

Posted at 9:17 PM, Apr 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-27 21:17:24-04

MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. — The Muskegon County prosecutor’s office is seeking to combine three separate cases against accused killer Jeffrey Willis to be heard in one trial.

Prosecutor DJ Hilson says they’ve filed a motion to consolidate three different felony cases to be heard at once. Those cases are the attempted abduction of a teenager in 2016, the 2014 murder of Rebekah Bletsch, and the 2016 kidnapping and murder of Jessica Heeringa.

The three cases share evidence and witnesses that point to Willis, the prosecutor says, and that combining them would save time and money, as then they wouldn’t have to bring in witnesses from across the country more than once.

Willis was arrested last spring for allegedly trying to abduct a Muskegon teenager. After his arrest, police built a case suggesting he was behind the Heeringa’s disappearance and Bletsch’s murder.

Heeringa’s body still hasn’t been found.

The motion will be heard by a judge Friday.