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Father of Missing Skelton Brothers Charged With Open Murder in 2010 Case

The filing comes days before his planned release on a prior unlawful‑imprisonment sentence.

Overview

  • Court records show three counts of open murder and three counts of evidence tampering were filed Wednesday in Lenawee County.
  • The alleged offenses are dated Nov. 25, 2010, when Andrew, Alexander and Tanner, then 9, 7 and 5, were last known to be alive, and they remain missing.
  • A judge declared the brothers legally dead in March 2025 after years without answers, noting at the time there was insufficient evidence to prove murder.
  • Investigators cite phone data placing John Skelton on a round trip into Ohio the day after the holiday, a ransacked Morenci home, and a hospital visit for a broken ankle he said followed a suicide attempt, as well as his shifting accounts of handing the boys to others.
  • Skelton remains at Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility with a Michigan DOC release date of Nov. 29, 2025, and faces up to life in prison if convicted on the new charges.