Michael J. Devlin

Michael J. Devlin

Michael J. Devlin (born in November 1965) is an American from Kirkwood, Missouri. He is best known as a suspect in the kidnapping of two boys.

Background

Before his arrest, Devlin worked as a manager for Imo's Pizza and as a part-time funeral home worker at Bopp Chapel in Kirkwood.

Alleged crimes

On January 12 2007 Devlin was taken into custody and charged with the January 8 2007 abduction of a 13-year-old boy. The boy was found on Friday, January 12. Upon his discovery, law enforcement officials found another missing teenage boy. The teenager disappeared on October 6 2002 at age 11 while riding his bike to a friend's house in Richwoods, Missouri. No one heard from him again until he was discovered in Devlin's Kirkwood, Missouri apartment. The children were discovered after police noticed Devlin's white pickup truck, which matched the description of a vehicle in the vicinity of the younger boys disappearance, in the parking lot of his apartment complex where they were serving an unrelated warrant at the time. The teenager (aged 15 at the time of his discovery) lived with Devlin, masquerading as father and son. It is believed that he was given the last name 'Devlin' by Michael Devlin. He was separated from his family for a total of four years and three months. Both boys were reunited with their families after their discovery.

Prosecution

Devlin was charged with one count of kidnapping in Franklin County as well as one count of kidnapping and armed criminal action in Washington County. On January 18 2007 Devlin pleaded "not guilty" via closed circuit television on the charges of child kidnapping despite the fact that the two boys were found in his apartment. Devlin has a preliminary hearing set for March 15 2007. Prosecutors in the case said the 41-year-old suspect already confessed The investigation is currently ongoing, and Devlin faces numerous state and federal charges. He is being held at the Franklin County Sheriff's Department on a $US1 million cash-only bail. He also has a $US3 million bond in Washington County. In a January 2007 interview with the New York Post, Devlin was quoted as saying "I don't know how I'm going to explain myself to my parents." During the same interview he claimed to have been happy during the years of having a kidnapped child, and lonely prior to that since most of his friends had gotten married and disappeared.

On February 5, 2007, St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch added 71 new felony charges to the existing charges previously filed by Washington and Franklin County Prosecutors. The first 18 counts (one count of kidnapping and 17 counts of forcible sodomy) pertain only to the kidnapping of the younger boy. The remaining 53 charges are kidnapping and forcible sodomy charges related to the abduction of the teenager. Each of these individual counts is a felony and carries the possibility of life in prison.

On February 6, 2007, a motion by attorneys for Michael Devlin for a gag order against the New York Post and reporter Susannah Cahalan was denied in Franklin County Court. Franklin County Associate Circuit Judge David Tobben also denied a motion for her to turn over her notes to the the attorneys, and denied or refused to immediately hear two other requests by Devlin's attorneys.

On February 28, 2007 a felony indictment in Franklin County charged Devlin with one count of child kidnapping and one count of armed criminal action for allegedly using a deadly weapon in kidnapping Ownby. This grand jury indictment replaces the previous Franklin County kidnapping charge against Devlin and adds the weapon charge.

On March 1, 2007, Devlin was charged in federal court with four counts of producing child pornography and with two counts of transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity in both Arizona and Illinois. According to prosecutors, all six counts relate to the kidnapping of the older child.

On April 16, 2007 Washington County prosecutor John Rupp filed additional charges against Devlin, accusing the 41-year-old former pizzeria manager of attempted murder, kidnapping, armed criminal action, three counts of forcible sodomy and one count of attempted forcible sodomy.

Other Cases

Soon after Devlin's arrest, prosecutors and investigators from Washington, Franklin, St. Louis and Lincoln counties, along with the FBI, the Highway Patrol, and Kirkwood and St. Charles police, formed a task force to investigate Devlin's possible involvement in other unsolved cases.

Investigators have previously confirmed they were checking for potential connections between Devlin and at least four cases in Missouri, one in Illinois and one in Minnesota, cases that date to the late 1980s. Until his arrest in January, Devlin had no criminal record.

Cases under investigation include those of:

• Scott Kleeschulte, who was 9 when he disappeared while riding his bike near his home in St. Charles, Missouri, during a thunderstorm in June 1988.
• Jacob Wetterling, 11, who was abducted by an armed man in St. Joseph, Minn., on October 22, 1989, while riding his bike with his younger brother and a friend.
• Charles "Arlin" Henderson, then 11, who disappeared in 1991 while riding his bike on a rural road in Moscow Mills, about an hour's drive from St. Louis.
• Steven Kraft, then 12, from Benton Township, Michigan, disappeared on February 15, 2001. Kraft was last seen near his home walking his two dogs between the hours of 7 and 8 p.m. and failed to return home for dinner. Although his two dogs were subsequently located, Kraft was not found with them.
• Dalton Mesarchik, a 7-year-old kidnapped in March 2003 from his front lawn in Streator, Ill., and found dead the next day on the banks of the Vermilion River.