The Murder of Ranae Chupik

For this episode I watched Fog of Murder, a new show I came across. It’s season 1 episode 1, titled ‘Romance Roulette.’

A 41 year old woman is killed in a small Michigan town.

Background

Ranae Chipuk lived in Royal Oak, Michigan, and worked as a hairstylist. Her friends described her as not very punctual, but very good at her job. Ranae was also described as beautiful, vibrant and kind. Her friends said that she would draw a lot of attention from everyone.

Ranae was also a mom, her son Jacob, was 17 years old at the time of her death. He mostly lived with his dad, but they were still close.

A Horrible Discovery

On September 18, 2011, Ranae was scheduled to work, and it was very suspicious when she didn’t show up. She had a few close friends at her job, their names were Courtney and Erin. They were all excited to work together that night, and the two friends decided to go over to Ranae’s after work to see what was going on.

They were both interviewed on the episode. They said they arrived at Ranae’s apartment around 9:30pm. They knew she had a sliding door that had to be accessed by going on the roof. They went upstairs, the door was unlocked, but they stood in the doorway calling out for Ranae. Courtney said she got nervous after she didn’t hear anything back, so they went downstairs.

As they were leaving, an older man approached them. He was identified as the landlord, who also lived next door. They explained what was going on, and he went into the apartment with them. All the lights were turned off, the house was messy, drawers were pulled out and clothes were all over the place.

Ranae was found underneath a comforter style blanket. Her friends said her long blonde hair was matted with blood. Ranae was obviously dead, and the landlord advised them to call 911. Courtney said she dialed, but handed the phone to the landlord and went outside to wait for the police.

The Investigation

Don Swiatkowski with the Royal Oak police department was the lead investigator. He said he arrived at the scene around 11:30pm, and there were already police officers at the scene, and it was taped off.

Det. Swiatkowski said the apartment was small, the front door led to the kitchen and common area. Ranae was found in the common area, her torso and head was covered with the blanket. The police said the killer either covered her because they didn’t want to look at what they did or because they stayed in the apartment for awhile.

Ranae had been stabbed twelve times, and the police believed she was killed by someone she knew.

The police continued to search the scene. There were no signs of forced entry, but the police dusted for fingerprints, and sent them in for testing. A cell phone charger was found, but no cell phone.

The police wanted to focus on who Ranae last spoke to or saw the night she was killed.

Suspects

Ranae’s friends Courtney and Erin said they stayed outside for several hours talking to the police. The police asked them who could’ve done this. Courtney was very suspicious of the landlord, and knew that she didn’t have the best relationship with her ex-husband.

The landlord, a man named John Ksiazek, said he felt like a real suspect after seeing how the police looked at him. He provided them with paperwork to prove he was the landlord. He also said he was in his shop, working with a cinder block the whole night. He said he didn’t hear anything, and some other neighbors didn’t hear anything either.

John said he had cameras set up, but they weren’t recording at the time. He did say that he saw a younger male around 10-11pm. He said he went out to speak to him, and the man was looking for Ranae. John also said the man looked young, around 20-21 years old with blonde hair. John the landlord was eventually ruled out, and seemed like he wanted to help.

The next suspect was Ranae’s ex-husband, who was a police officer in a town called Clarkston. The relationship between the couple was described as not good, but later described as cordial. Another friend of Ranae’s said they fought a lot, but there wasn’t any police reports or restraining orders filed. The ex-husband was eventually ruled out.

The next suspect was a man named Steven Parker, who Ranae had dated until he turned religious. Steven would apparently lecture Ranae about her lifestyle, and even showed up at her work one day.

While the police were looking into Steven, they found a “manifesto,” which was various videos that he created preaching about various topics such as the end of time. When the police went to speak to him, he told them he had a vision of Ranae’s death, and knew her lifestyle would lead to her death. It turned out that this guy didn’t not kill her, but he was a creep.

The Evidence

On September 20, 2011, 7 hours into the investigation, the police went back to the area near Ranae’s apartment to search for any additional evidence.

In the back area of the apartment, there were two dumpsters. In one of the dumpsters the police found a plastic bag filled with evidence. In the bag was, four cloth rags, an empty wine bottle, a large kitchen knife, a broken steak knife with the handle and blade broken. The knives were determined to be from Ranae’s kitchen.

Ranae’s cell phone was eventually located as well, in a bush. It was collected and sent in for testing. The police also obtained the cell phone records, and determined she had spoken to a few people on the night she was killed.

The Cell Phone Records

The first person she spoke to was a friend named Richard Mackie, who was interviewed in this episode. He said he met Ranae in 1990, and he described her as outgoing and fun. Richard said that Ranae asked him to come over for a few drinks that night, but he told her he was going to bed. Richard also told the police that Ranae had been on a date with a married man that night. Richard and Ranae spoke at 11pm, and she told him there was a knock on the door and that she had to go. This was right before Ranae was killed.

The married man, who was not named, called the police after information about Ranae’s death came out. He confirmed that he did have an affair with Ranae, and was with her on the night she died. He said that they went to dinner, went back to her apartment, and he left around 8pm. The married man was eventually ruled out.

The police found one more phone number in Ranae’s records. It was a 786 number, and the police said this person was now the prime suspect.

The Confession

A police dispatcher received a call from a woman, who said she had information about Ranae’s death. The woman said that the person confessed to her son Kevin, and that the person had a stab wound to his chest.

Kevin Kaminske was interviewed in this episode, and he said that the person who killed Ranae was his friend Chris Hearn. Chris Hearn had met Ranae at a bar after he moved to Royal Oak. Kevin said that Chris had piercing blue eyes, and Courtney had said earlier in the episode, that they met this man with piercing blue eyes at the bar. Kevin said that the relationship between Ranae and Chris was weird, and that Chris complained that Ranae walked all over him.

Kevin said that he started recording the conversation when Chris started talking. A part of this recorded conversation is played in this episode. Chris said he went over to Ranae’s, after she blew his phone up. Chris said they started fighting, and Ranae swung an empty wine bottle at him. He said everything happened so fast, he grabbed the bottle and hit her with it. He then said he grabbed a knife and stabbed her.

Chris said he stayed in the apartment all night cleaning up the scene, he hid the cell phone, along with the rest of the evidence. He said he finally left really early in the morning.

In Ranae’s autopsy report, it showed that she was stabbed twelve times and had a 3 inch laceration on her eye from the wine bottle. Chris’s story matched what he had just told Kevin.

Arrest and Conviction

On September 21, 2011, Chris Hearn was arrested. He had a cut on his palm and on his other hand. The police believed it was from holding the knife. His fingerprints were also a match to the prints collected at the crime scene.

In March 2012, six months after Ranae’s death, Chris entered a no contest plea to second degree murder. This means that it’s not a plead of guilty, but that there’s evidence that the defendant is guilty.

Chris was sentenced to 48-90 years in prison. Chris said in court:

“I hope one day you can forgive me. “I am not a monster.” “If I was sober and in my right mind, this would have never happened.”

Courtney, Ranae’s friend, said she was surprised that Chris killed her. She believed that it was the religious ex-boyfriend.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It’s heartbreaking that Ranae was murdered because someone claims that they were not in their right mind AND said it was self-defense. It is not self-defense when you chose to stab someone that many times. Maybe he wasn’t sober, but he still took someone’s life. He affected so many people’s lives and his own. He deserves the lengthy sentence he received, and probably should be in prison forever. If he could kill someone after getting upset with them, then who knows what else he could do if he gets upset again.

Sources

https://patch.com/michigan/royaloak/ranae-ann-chupick-remembered-as-beautiful-vibrant

https://www.candgnews.com/news/man-charged-royal-oak-woman%e2%80%99s-murder

https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2011/09/23-year-old_ex-boyfriend_charg.html

https://patch.com/michigan/royaloak/christopher-hearn-sentencing-today-in-stabbing-death-d6b5fce6a2