CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP, Mich. — An arrest has been made in a Caledonia Township cold case almost three-decades old.
The Kent County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday that 64-year-old Florida resident Garry Dean Artman was brought into custody in Mississippi.
Artman was arrested in connection to the 1996 death of Sharon Hammack after new DNA evidence was discovered, deputies say.
We’re told the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office authorized murder charges as well as a first-degree sexual assault charge.
Hammack was sexually assaulted and killed by strangulation near Kraft Avenue and 76th Street on Oct. 3, 1996, according to the sheriff’s office.
They were able to link DNA found on Hammack's body to another, similar killing being investigated out of Maryland. In 2006, Maryland State Police were investigating the homicide of another woman who was raped and stabbed to death. Police discovered that the victim was in Ontario, California shortly before her body turned up in Maryland. Artman was also cited by police in Ontario, CA around the same time the victim was seen there, and shortly before her body turned up in Maryland, bearing Artman's DNA.
Artman also has an extensive history of criminal sexual conduct. He previously served an 11-year sentence with the Michigan Department of Corrections for first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Artman is expected to be extradited to Michigan soon.
