Court Watching: Mark Germano bound over to circuit court for VBT murder

Mark Allan Germano, 45, of Van Buren Township has been bound over to circuit court to face a charge of first-degree murder that could bring him life in prison, if convicted. He was scheduled to be at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice on Oct. 4 for an arraignment on the information.
Germano is charged with the June 4 shooting death of Edward Kuehn, 38, in the Tim Horton parking lot on Rawsonville Road. He also faces a felony firearms charge.
Germano has been held in the Wayne County Jail without bond since his arrest on June 4.
On Sept. 27, 34th District Court Judge David Parrott held Germano’s preliminary exam. After listening to three Van Buren Township police officers testify and hearing 20 minutes of a dispatch recording on the day of the murder, Judge Parrott bound Germano over to the higher court for trial.
The first two rows of the district courtroom audience was filled with family of the victim, many wearing white T-shirts with a picture of Kuehn’s face on the front. Extra police officers were present in the courtroom.
State Prosecutor William Lawrence conducted the examination, calling Officer David Champagne as his first witness. Officer Champagne testified he had been called to Holly Lane to speak with Kuehn’s father about the whereabouts of his son and then at about 7:30 a.m. he got a communication from dispatch of a possible location at Tim Horton’s on Rawsonville, where Kuehn’s red Ford Taurus had been spotted.
Officer Champagne testified he got to Tim Horton’s at about 7:45 a.m. and saw the Taurus and ran the plates that showed it belonged to Kuehn. He said he approached the driver’s side of the car and there was a pool of congealed blood on the ground under the door and a bullet hole in the window.
He said the driver had bullet holes to his eye and cheek area and was covered with blood on his face and shoulder to shoulder on his chest. He said four feet from the front passenger window and door he found a shell casing.
Champagne testified Tim Horton’s closed until police were done with the scene and Champagne blocked off the area with tape.
The second witness was Officer Chris Hayes who testified he had just come into the police department to book a prisoner when a dispatcher asked for his assistance.
Officer Hayes testified dispatcher Whitney Martin said there was a person on the phone who said someone killed someone. She said the person responsible was identified as Mark Germano and the officer realized he knew Germano.
That’s when the prosecutor played 20 minutes of a dispatch recording. The recording showed police calling Germano who they thought was in the barn behind his house on Bemis Road. Finally, Germano answered the phone and said he was actually out behind his barn. He had entered the barn and then exited out the back door and went into the woods and he was armed.
On the recording, Germano said his wife of nine years was going with a single man and she’s lying about it. He said he loves her with all he’s got and he couldn’t stand the thought of that man being in his house while he was gone.
“I lost my mind…” Germano said of the shooting. “… I caught up with him.”
Dispatcher Martin said they didn’t know where Kuehn was and Germano said he was at Tim Horton’s on Rawsonville Road.
“I never cheated on my wife. I would never disrespect her,” Germano told Martin. “I worked all night…”
Martin asked Germano to talk to Officer Hayes and Germano said, “I know him.”
“How ya doin’?” Officer Hayes began and Germano replied, “I lost my f—ing mind. She kept lying to me… Yes, I shot him… I woke him up. He was sleeping… Messing with a married woman … five in the morning…”
He said he smashed in the passenger window of Kuehn’s car.
Officer Hayes and dispatcher Martin pleaded with Germano not to harm himself and to come out of the woods and put down his gun.
The recording ended and reportedly Germano surrendered to police after talking with his stepson on the phone.
Under cross-examination by Germano’s court-appointed attorney James Schlaff, Officer Hayes said he knew Germano from a traffic stop where Germano talked with the officer about prior problems with his wife.
Third witness was Sgt. Michael Papin who testified about talking with Mrs. Germano who said her husband was quite upset and distressed. He said he was informed the victim was at Rawsonville Road and the defendant was not in his house.
He testified police, who had surrounded the barn, noticed the defendant in the back of the property, to the north of the house, about 60 yards away. He was holding a handgun and police asked him to drop the handgun and he did and raised his hands. Then, police put him in handcuffs.
“He was a little upset with himself. And, he was tired,” Sgt. Papin testified.
Richard Diniel Brown
Richard Diniel Brown, Jr., 26, waived his preliminary exam on a charge of receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle in Sumpter Township on Dec 29, 2016. He was bound over for an arraignment on the information in circuit court on Oct. 11. He is free after posting $5,000/10% bond. Sumpter Officer Joseph Balowski is the officer in charge of the case.