An Michigan man whose three sons vanished around Thanksgiving 2010 — has been charged with three counts of open murder just weeks before his scheduled release from prison, where he's served nearly 15 years for unlawful imprisonment in connection with his children's disappearances.
Instead of being released from prison Nov. 29, John Skelton, of Morenci, will be transported to the Lenawee County Jail and booked on charges of open murder, which leaves a jury to decide whether Skelton is guilty of first or second-degree murder if convicted, and three counts of tampering with evidence.
Skelton will be arraigned in Lenawee County District Court.
The brothers — Andrew, Alexander and Tanner (9, 7 and 5) — were last seen at Skelton's home in Morenci on Thanksgiving Day 2010. Their mother, Tanya Zuvers, had sole custody, but allowed the brothers to spend the holiday with their father. She never saw them again.
In the years since, Skelton has offered conflicting accounts, claiming he gave his sons to an underground group to protect them from alleged abuse by their mother, that he'd given them to a woman named Joann Taylor and, separately, that he'd sent them to live with an Amish family. None of those stories were ever substantiated.
