MASON - After nearly 15 years, a mother’s persistence may have paid off.
Muriel Kirby sat with a box of tissues on her lap Thursday while investigators announced they had arrested the man they believe killed her daughter in 1986.
David Phillip Draheim was arraigned in 55th District Court on Thursday for the murder of Jeanette Kirby.
Kirby, a 36-year-old state employee from Lansing, was found dead in Riverbend Park in Holt on June 12, 1986. She had been stabbed and raped.
In the years since, Muriel Kirby has been a vocal supporter of victims’ rights, founding the area chapter of Parents of Murdered Children and speaking to journalism students about covering crime victims.
She also kept encouraging investigators to continue the search for the person who murdered her daughter.
“She was a woman on a mission,” said her son, Joe Kirby.
In 1998, the determined mother approached newly elected state Attorney General Jennifer Granholm for help on the case.
“She came in and brought binders of photos and articles,” Granholm said. “She wasn’t looking for a miracle, just a fresh pair of eyes.”
Police were able to tie the key piece of evidence officials say connects Draheim to the murder - plastic handcuffs used to bind Kirby’s wrists - with the help of the Attorney General’s Office investigators.
“It was really these flexcuffs that were the determining piece of evidence,” Granholm said.
A witness from the Holt area told police he had given Draheim a package of the handcuffs, but kept one for himself. The informant had been waiting until 1998 for police to contact him about the case, Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth said.
Michigan State Police Crime Laboratory investigators were then able to match the one flexcuff - a clear strip of plastic - from the witness with the one found on Kirby. The cuffs are marked by the manufacturer with different cutting specifications every 30 days.
Numerous people have told police Draheim frequently had such plastic handcuffs in his possession.
“We’ve put a lot of resources into investigating that’s brought us to the point where we are today,” Wriggelsworth said.
“The Kirby family has been very patient over the years. It’s been very difficult on them.”
Draheim lived and worked near Riverbend Park, police said. He was employed by the Delhi Township water treatment plant and was a Holt volunteer firefighter. He had been seen leaving the park by an Ingham County sheriff’s deputy close to the time of Kirby’s murder.
The Delhi Township man has been serving time for an unrelated Ingham County sexual assault charge and a Leelanau County kidnapping charge.
Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said he’s assembled an “A”-team of prosecutors from his and the Attorney General’s Office to handle the case.
“It’s difficult to try a 16-year-old case in light of the circumstances, but we’re going to give it all we’ve got,” he said.
