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Lifer
NEW BALTIMORE -- Patrick Selepak and Samantha Bachynski spent several hours torturing and then killing Scott Berels inside his home, police said in revealing new details of the brutal slayings of Berels and his wife, Melissa.
"This was a horrific crime," William Cataldo, chief of the Macomb County Prosecutor's homicide unit, said of the two slayings that were followed by a third a few days later. "The torture took place over a period of several hours."
And it was a CVS drug store receipt for duct tape that ultimately led police to the accused killers.
"Scott was tied up with duct tape and an extension cord," Cataldo said of the Feb. 15 slayings.
"Then he was brutally beaten in the hands, face and head with the butt of (an) AK-47 assault rifle.
"They then put a sock in his mouth, covered it with duct tape, then beat him in the face some more," Cataldo said. "Then they used a hypodermic needle to inject bleach into his veins."
Wife was first to die
Police said first Melissa Berels was strangled. After she died, authorities contend, Selepak left the house to buy beer, leaving Bachynski at the Berels house to guard the bound and gagged Scott. Empty beer containers were discovered in the house later.
"They turned into a regular Bonnie and Clyde," said Shannon Martin of North Carolina, Selepak's sister.
The details of the New Baltimore murders emerged just as authorities in Flint were detailing the last days of Winfield "Fred" Johnson, 53, of Clio, whose frozen body was discovered in the back of a pickup occupied by Selepak, 27, and Bachynski, 19, in Owosso on Tuesday.
Police said Johnson invited the couple to his home, where they holed up for three days. Then, after Johnson tried to leave Selepak and Bachynski, they shot him twice, strangled him and also wrapped his body in plastic, police said.
Authorities said the couple met last year on the Internet. They were engaged Jan. 10.
"They celebrated their engagement that same day by stealing a handgun from the Gibraltar Trade Center in Mount Clemens," New Baltimore Police Chief John Bolgar said.
After stealing the handgun, Selepak and Bachynski launched a statewide crime spree that ended in torture and death, police said.http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060223/METRO/602230399
"This was a horrific crime," William Cataldo, chief of the Macomb County Prosecutor's homicide unit, said of the two slayings that were followed by a third a few days later. "The torture took place over a period of several hours."
And it was a CVS drug store receipt for duct tape that ultimately led police to the accused killers.
"Scott was tied up with duct tape and an extension cord," Cataldo said of the Feb. 15 slayings.
"Then he was brutally beaten in the hands, face and head with the butt of (an) AK-47 assault rifle.
"They then put a sock in his mouth, covered it with duct tape, then beat him in the face some more," Cataldo said. "Then they used a hypodermic needle to inject bleach into his veins."
Wife was first to die
Police said first Melissa Berels was strangled. After she died, authorities contend, Selepak left the house to buy beer, leaving Bachynski at the Berels house to guard the bound and gagged Scott. Empty beer containers were discovered in the house later.
"They turned into a regular Bonnie and Clyde," said Shannon Martin of North Carolina, Selepak's sister.
The details of the New Baltimore murders emerged just as authorities in Flint were detailing the last days of Winfield "Fred" Johnson, 53, of Clio, whose frozen body was discovered in the back of a pickup occupied by Selepak, 27, and Bachynski, 19, in Owosso on Tuesday.
Police said Johnson invited the couple to his home, where they holed up for three days. Then, after Johnson tried to leave Selepak and Bachynski, they shot him twice, strangled him and also wrapped his body in plastic, police said.
Authorities said the couple met last year on the Internet. They were engaged Jan. 10.
"They celebrated their engagement that same day by stealing a handgun from the Gibraltar Trade Center in Mount Clemens," New Baltimore Police Chief John Bolgar said.
After stealing the handgun, Selepak and Bachynski launched a statewide crime spree that ended in torture and death, police said.http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060223/METRO/602230399
