The Murder of April Millsap
For this case I watched an episode of On the Case with Paula Zahn. It’s season 14 episode 7, titled ‘Path of Tears.’
A 14 year old girl is killed when she’s out walking her dog.
Background
April Millsap was a 14 year old girl from Armada, Michigan. Armada is a small town, 35 miles from Detroit.
April was an only child, and lived with her mom, Jennifer and her step-dad, David.
April Millsap
The Murder
On July 24, 2014, April went out to walk her beloved Border Collie, Penny. They went on a bike trail that was close to April’s home, and they left around 6pm.
A husband and wife, who were also walking on the trail found Penny walking around by herself, just a few minutes later. Penny led the couple to a ravine, where April was found dead. They called 911, and said they thought they just found a dead body.
Detective Rebecca MacArthur of the Michigan State police was one of the first to arrive at the scene. She was interviewed, and she said once they got to the scene, they found April’s clothing had been ripped off of her. Her shorts and underwear were around her ankles. It would later be determined that she had not been sexually assaulted. She had also been stepped on, and her autopsy would later determine her cause of death was suffocation by the shoe being pressed on her throat.
April was not identified right away, and the police searched the area for any of her belongings.
April was identified after her mom, Jennifer, arrived at the scene and told the police that her daughter was missing. Jennifer described April and her dog, Penny, and the police determined that April was their victim. Jennifer was heartbroken, her only child was dead.
Investigation
The police asked Jennifer if April had taken anything with her. She said yes, she took her cell phone and black backpack. She said that April left around 6pm, and she started contacting April’s friends and boyfriend after April didn’t come home after an hour.
April’s boyfriend, Austin, had been with Jennifer when she came to the scene. Austin said he missed a strange text from April, that was sent at 6:28pm. The text read:
“I almost got kidnapped. Omfg.”
The police were shocked, and they wanted to locate April’s phone. They were also suspicious of Austin. They thought it was strange that he hadn’t seen April’s text message. Austin told the police that he was picking up food with his friend at that time, which the police later confirmed through surveillance video from the restaurant. He also passed a polygraph test.
A Fitness App
The police were back to square one. The police sent out officers, troopers and scent dogs to try to find her phone, and obtained her phone records. The dogs were able to track April’s scent and her phone was found a mile away from where she was found. It was near a residence that had a long driveway, surrounded by foliage.
While the police were searching through April’s phone records, they found that April had a fitness app that had tracked her movements and speed on the day she died. At 6pm she left her house, and was walking at a speed of 4mph. At 6:20pm, her speed picked up and there was 15 minutes of frantic activity. It was determined that April had fought back, but was overpowered.
However, the police caught a break because the killer had taken April’s phone, so their route was also tracked through the app. April’s backpack was found because of the app, it was found discarded in a field.
Witnesses Come Forward
More than 100 police officers from various agencies were sent to find April’s killer. They went back to the trail and to find people who had been on the trail on the day April was.
There were several witnesses that said they saw an angry man on a blue and white motorcycle that day, which was weird because motorized vehicles weren’t allowed on the trail. One of the witnesses said she saw April and the man fighting, but she didn’t think April was in danger.
Another witness said they saw the motorcycle parked, and then saw the man standing in the brush. The witness locked eyes with this man, and said his eyes were piercing, and he looked like he had been caught doing something. The witness was able to create a composite sketch, and an all points bulletin was put out.
The police sketch
The police once again tracked the route that April’s phone provided. The police were able to obtain surveillance from a street nearby. The motorcyclist was caught on camera at 6:49pm, but he was wearing a helmet and the police couldn’t make out any facial features.
The Blue and White Motorcycle
Trooper Raymond Pechman was driving home from work one day, when he spotted a blue and white motorcycle, parked in a driveway. It matched the description that was given by several witnesses, so he went up to the house and took pictures of the motorcycle and the address of the home.
Trooper Pechman showed his colleagues the pictures, and he was given the go ahead to talk to the homeowner. The homeowner said the motorcycle belonged to his friend, James VanCallis, who lived 40 miles outside of town.
James VanCallis
The police ran 32 year old, Van Callis’ background, and found nothing that stood out. They wanted to go question him, so Trooper Pechman drove an hour to his house. When he arrived, James was cooperative and answered all his questions. James said he went to Armada that day around 6pm to visit his brother. He said he stayed there until around 8pm. Trooper Pechman asked James one more question, what shoes were you wearing that day? James showed him a pair of sneakers, but the tread pattern didn’t match the crime scene. Pechman left, but he said he had a weird feeling about James. James was not ruled out, but there was no evidence he was there that day.
Trooper Pechman returned the following day to question James. He said he wanted to make sure he didn’t miss anything, and asked James to write a statement. This time, James refused and said he had things to do.
James VanCallis
Once again, Pechman had a weird feeling about James. It was even more strange that he didn’t cooperate just 24 hours after he had been so helpful. Pechman was also surprised about James and the composite sketch, they looked very close in appearance.
The police looked into his alibi, and determined that he didn’t arrive at his brother’s house when he said he did. The police obtained his cell phone records, and his phone put him at a gas station next to the crime scene. Detective MacArthur said James could have arrived at the trail around the time that April was out walking and killed.
The police had enough evidence to obtain a warrant to search James’ home. They didn’t find anything linking James to the murder of April, but they did find marijuana plants that he was growing. He was arrested and taken into custody on drug charges.
James’ Girlfriend Comes Forward
After James was arrested, his girlfriend, Krystal Stadler wanted to talk. She said she was James’ hostage, and he wouldn’t let her leave the house. She said he was abusive and controlling.
Krystal said she came forward after seeing how much pain April’s parents were in, and after James was acting strange. She said she woke up the morning after the murder to James cleaning his shoes. He said he had spilled some oil on them. She also said James said he had messed up and needed her to stand by him, she didn’t know what that meant until the police came to talk to James.
Krystal kept talking, she said James had shown them a different pair of shoes, not the shoes he was wearing and cleaning. Krystal said the shoes he was wearing were a black and white pair of Air Jordan’s, and they could see a picture of James wearing them on his Facebook page.
After Krystal’s statements, the police went to search James’ house one more time, and couldn’t find the pair of Air Jordan’s.
To determine if the shoes matched the crime scene, the police ordered the exact same pair to test out. The sneakers were a match, and this was really heartbreaking, but the police said that they could make out the Air Jordan outline on April’s face. If anyone isn’t a sports fan, the Air Jordan pattern is of a man with a basketball.
James VanCallis was arrested in jail, and charged with April’s murder.
James VanCallis mugshot
Trial and Conviction
On January 20, 2016, James went on trial in Macomb County.
Jennifer said she was surprised at how smug and stone cold he was, and she said he was smirking and laughing.
The prosecution said that James was a violent predator. They also said they didn’t have DNA or fingerprints, but they had plenty of evidence that showed James was the killer. They had witnesses, phone records, a fitness app and surveillance footage of James leaving the scene.
The prosecution also said April tried to contact her boyfriend that she was about to be kidnapped, but then she was able to get away or so she thought. James had caught up to her, and for fifteen minutes he attacked her, and took her belongings to discard.
James’ defense and James himself said there was no evidence to put him at the scene, and that he was innocent.
After six hours of deliberation, James VanCallis was found guilty of first degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole.
Other
In July 2015, the April Millsap community garden was created, at the opening of the trail. There are pictures of April, and a statue of Penny. Penny was able to lead people to April’s body that day, and without that there’s a possibility that April wouldn’t have been found.
April and Penny
FINAL THOUGHTS
WHAT A PIECE OF SHIT. This man broke the rules of the trail, saw April, followed her and murdered her. He thought he could control her because he was an older man, and he loved to control people. April was unable to fight him off because he overpowered her. She was minding her own damn business and was just walking her dog. She was truly at the wrong place at the wrong time, but James would probably have killed someone else if April hadn’t been there. I hope he rots in prison forever.
There are truly a lot of brave people in this episode, the detectives, Krystal, and April’s parents. Penny is also brave, and this is the reason dogs should be praised!
Sources
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-charged-with-murdering-armada-michigan-teen-april-millsap/
https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2018/01/13/court-conviction-stands-in-april-millsap-murder/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/10/teen-ambushed-beaten-april-milsap/17022019/
