Warren Man To Be Charged With First Degree Murder In Wife's Strangulation
WARREN (WWJ) - A Warren man will be charged with first degree murder in connection with the death of his wife, whose body was found in a shallow grave in northern Michigan.
Loyd DeJohn, 46, was facing a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder — but Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith said Wednesday he'll amend the charges to include one count of first degree murder, premeditated — a mandatory life felony.
Smith said he will also add one count of disinterment and mutilation of a dead body, and one count of aggravated domestic violence.
This will be the second time the charges are amended.
Kimberly DeJohn, 51, disappeared in early May; and — after police found evidence of a struggle at couple's Warren home — Loyd DeJohn was arrested on a domestic violence charge.
Around a month after she was first reported missing, a tip led police to where Kimberly DeJohn's remains were discovered buried on a foreclosed property Koehler Township, Cheboygan County.
The Macomb County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide by strangulation.
"Warren Police never gave up on this investigation," said Smith, in a media release. "They pursued this case all over the state in an effort to bring justice to Kimberly DeJohn and her family."
Police said Loyd Dejohn admitted to getting into a fight with his wife, but claimed she left the house after the scuffle and never returned.
He remains jailed on a $1 million bond. His arraignment on the new charges is scheduled for Thursday morning in 37th District Court in Warren.
