Left, from top to bottom: Alexander, Tanner, and Andrew Skelton (WDIV). Right: John Skelton (Michigan Department of Corrections).
A Michigan man who was about to complete a prison sentence for the false imprisonment of his three young sons is set to remain behind bars.
John Skelton, 53, was charged with the murder of his three sons — Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5 — more than a decade after anyone saw them alive. Fifteen years ago, Skelton refused to return the boys to his ex-wife after they spent Thanksgiving with him. He concocted several stories about where they were, including dropping them off with an "underground sanctuary" to be cared for by a trio of strangers. Months after the boys were legally declared dead, authorities alleged that Skelton killed them and hid their bodies.
Skelton is now being held behind bars at the Lenawee County Jail on $60 million bond.
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The new charges were announced on Nov. 12, a couple of weeks before Skelton was scheduled to be released from prison after serving a sentence for the false imprisonment of the three boys. He was convicted in 2011, about a year after the boys went missing. Until last week, he was never charged in connection with the boys' deaths.
Local ABC affiliate WTVG reported that police interviewed Skelton in prison earlier this month ahead of his release in hopes that he would provide information that would help find the children. According to an affidavit obtained by WTVG, Skelton was "uncooperative" with police and did not give them any new information.
Further, the affidavit said that Skelton "consistently misled" authorities ever since the boys went missing in 2010. The purported "underground sanctuary" that Skelton claimed "[kept] children safe from harmful situations" does not exist, police said. While specifics about the new evidence were not included in the affidavit, police said that Skelton made conscious attempts to conceal his sons' bodies to prevent anyone from finding out how they died.
According to the affidavit, Skelton searched the internet for different ways to kill people during November 2010, the time period leading up to the Thanksgiving the boys disappeared. When Skelton's ex-wife, Tanya Zuvers, went to get her sons after the holiday was over, she found out that they were gone. Skelton was also hospitalized after he injured himself during a failed attempt to take his own life. When he provided several different stories about where the boys were, Zuvers reported them missing.
Police said that Zuvers asked to end her marriage to Skelton two months prior and was seeking sole custody of the children.
Skelton was charged with three counts of open murder and tampering with evidence. His next court date is scheduled for Nov. 24.