Marvin Gabrion
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Marvin Charles Gabrion (born October 18, 1953) is an American murderer, rapist, and suspected
serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
convicted of the 1997 kidnapping and murder of 19-year-old Rachel Timmerman, of
Cedar Springs, Michigan Cedar Springs is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,509 at the 2010 census. Cedar Springs is a northern city of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area and is about north of Grand Rapids. History The area w ...
. Timmerman and her 11-month-old daughter, Shannon, disappeared two days before Gabrion was set to stand trial on rape charges filed by Rachel the previous summer. Rachel's body was found in Oxford Lake, weighted down by cinder blocks. Shannon remains missing, but is presumed deceased. Although Gabrion was not tried for killing Shannon, court documents describe her murder as "virtually undisputed." Gabrion is also the prime suspect in the disappearances and murders of several other people, including an additional witness who was set to testify against him in the trial for rape, his handyman, another potential witness and family friend, and an unknown man. The bodies of these people, who were witnesses to his case, are yet to be found, but various items belonging to them were recovered from his home. The case received national attention both for the brutality of the crime and for the controversial sentence. Michigan abolished the death penalty in 1846, but as Timmerman's body was found within the
Huron–Manistee National Forests The Huron–Manistee National Forests are two separate national forests, the Huron National Forest and the Manistee National Forest, combined in 1945 for administration purposes and which comprise of public lands, including of wetlands, extend ...
, a federal government-owned forest; the murder was therefore also a violation of U.S. federal law, which authorizes the death penalty irrespective of local state law. Gabrion, who was tried in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, thus is the first person sentenced to death by a federal court located in a non-death penalty state since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988. On December 23, 2024, Gabrion's death sentence was commuted to life without parole by President
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
.


Early life

Gabrion is the fifth of six children of Marvin Sr. and Elaine Gabrion. Gabrion's father was an alcoholic who reportedly abused him. Gabrion's parents were often absent from the home, leaving his sisters to care for Gabrion and his brothers. Gabrion's sister Yvonne remembered when her mother threw a butcher knife at her father.


Assault charge

On August 7, 1996, Rachel Timmerman reported to
Newaygo County Newaygo County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 49,978. The county seat is White Cloud. The county was created in 1840, and was organized in 1851. It was either named for a ...
Sheriff's department that she had been raped by Marvin Gabrion. The previous evening, she had been invited to a card game by a family friend named Wayne Davis and a classmate of Rachel's named Mikey Gabrion. Davis and Gabrion arrived to pick up Timmerman along with Gabrion's uncle Marvin. On the way to the card game, Marvin Gabrion allegedly forced Davis and Mikey Gabrion out of the car before driving off and raping Rachel. Gabrion was arrested and charged with the crime.


Disappearances

On June 3, 1997, two days before Gabrion's trial on the charge of rape, Timmerman left the house with her 11-month-old daughter Shannon, telling her family she was going on a date with a man she met at work. Her father soon received a letter stating that she planned to leave town and elope. The prosecutor and the judge presiding over the case also received letters in Timmerman's handwriting stating that the rape allegations were fabricated and that she wished to drop the charges against Gabrion. Another letter identified the man she left with as "Delbert." Rachel's family believed the letters were legitimate, and her disappearance was not investigated at the time.


Investigation

On July 5, 1997, two fishermen found Rachel's body in Oxford Lake chained to
cinder blocks A concrete block, also known as a cinder block in North American English, breeze block in British English, or concrete masonry unit (CMU), or by various other terms, is a standard-size rectangular block used in building construction. The u ...
and her face wrapped with
duct tape Duct tape or duck tape is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. A variety of constructions exist using different backings and adhesives, and the term "duct tape" has been genericized to refer to all o ...
. According to the
coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...
, she was alive when she entered the lake and died from
drowning Drowning is a type of Asphyxia, suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Submersion injury refers to both drowning and near-miss incidents. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where othe ...
. Gabrion quickly became a prime suspect in her death. A search warrant was executed for his residence and keys that matched the
padlock Padlocks are portable Lock (security device), locks with a shackle that may be passed through an opening (such as a chain, chain link, or hasp staple) to prevent wikt:use, use, theft, vandalism or harm. Naming and etymology The term '':wikt: ...
used to secure Rachel's body were found at Gabrion's home, along with concrete blocks stained with the same paint as the ones retrieved from the lake. Marvin's nephew, Mikey Gabrion, led police to a campsite that had frequently been used by his uncle. Gabrion's tent was found there, along with
bolt cutters A bolt cutter, sometimes called bolt cropper, is a tool used for cutting bolts, chains, padlocks, rebar and wire mesh. It typically has long handles and short blades, with compound hinges to maximize leverage and cutting force. A typical bolt c ...
, chain, duct tape, a woman's hair clip, and nipples for a baby bottle. Gabrion's neighbors reported that Gabrion had a
handyman A handyman, also known as a fixer, handyperson or handyworker, maintenance worker, maintenance man, repairman, repair worker, or repair technician, is a person who is knowledgeable in skills such as basic carpentry, plumbing, minor electrical w ...
named John Weeks. Investigators contacted Weeks' girlfriend, who identified a photo of Gabrion as a man introduced to her as "Lance". She reported that Lance had left the area with Weeks and she hadn't heard from him and was unsure of how to get hold of him. She also reported to police that on one occasion she caught John on the phone with a girl named Rachel. When she confronted him, she was told that he was trying to do a favor for Lance, who was interested in being set up with her. Authorities believe that Weeks was the mystery date who picked up Rachel and Shannon on the day they were last seen and that he arranged the date at the behest of Gabrion. The search for Gabrion lasted two months until they received a tip that Gabrion was set to receive a
social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...
check from a post office in
Sherman, New York Sherman is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. It is an interior town in the county, west of Chautauqua Lake. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 1,618. The town contains the village of Sherman. History The area w ...
.
FBI agents The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. An agency of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is a member of ...
covertly staked out the location and he was arrested as he left the post office. Timmerman's daughter, Shannon, has never been found. However, it is "virtually undisputed" that Gabrion caused her death.


Other disappearances

Gabrion is a suspect in the disappearance of several other people. Gabrion lived in a house owned by a man named Robert Allen, who went missing in 1995. Gabrion cashed Allen's Social Security checks and lived in his home until 1997. Gabrion was
convicted In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a trial by jud ...
of social security fraud in July 1998 for his use of Allen's checks and sentenced to five years in
federal prison A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for people who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), people considered dangerous (Brazil), or those sen ...
. Wayne Davis, the family friend who invited Timmerman the night she was raped, disappeared in February 1997. Davis was set to
testify Testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. Law In the law, testimony ...
against Gabrion at the upcoming
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
trial. Davis' residence was largely undisturbed aside from a stolen stereo system. It was later discovered that Gabrion had attempted to pawn it. In July 2002, canoeists found Davis's body in Twinwood lake, another body of water in the same national forest where Rachel's body was found. John Weeks's whereabouts are also unknown. Gabrion was the last known person to see him alive in June 1997. Weeks and Allen are presumed
deceased Death is the end of life; the Irreversible process, irreversible cessation of all biological process, biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former o ...
. Gabrion remains the
prime suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television series devised by Lynda La Plante. Broadcast on ITV between 1991 and 2006, it stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater Lo ...
in the disappearances of the three men but has not been charged.


Trial

Gabrion was tried in 2002 for the murder of Rachel Timmerman. The
prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...
presented testimony from multiple
witnesses In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...
who described Gabrion's propensity for violence, including other physical and
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...
s. Two witnesses testified that their homes had been set on fire following altercations with Gabrion. Another woman described how Gabrion trained a rifle on her and her two-year-old child. Evidence implicating Gabrion in the disappearances of Allen and the other men was also admitted. The trial was also noted for the judge's decision to deny the defendant's right to fire his counsel and defend himself in court due to Gabrion's erratic behavior and frequent disruption of court proceedings. In full view of the jury, Gabrion punched his defense attorney in the face and committed 40 major infractions. At the Calhoun County Jail, Gabrion filed numerous bizarre motions using "abusive and obscene language." During his appeal, the appellate court affirmed that the District Court had every reason to deny Gabrion's right to represent himself, noting that his erratic and disruptive behavior would certainly have continued if he had the opportunity. The
defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...
countered that Gabrion's
temperament In psychology, temperament broadly refers to consistent individual differences in behavior that are biologically based and are relatively independent of learning, system of values and attitudes. Some researchers point to association of tempera ...
and actions were the results of multiple
car accident A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...
s that had resulted in
brain injuries Brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating trauma-induced damage. A common c ...
as well as a troubled childhood. He was convicted and was sentenced to death.


Death penalty debate

'' United States v. Gabrion'' is considered a landmark case for its use of the death penalty in a non-death penalty state. Capital punishment has been abolished in Michigan since 1846. Michigan was the first English-speaking jurisdiction to eliminate the death penalty. Federal jurisdiction allowed prosecutors to seek the death penalty in the case. Rachel's body was found on
federal land Federal lands are lands in the United States owned and managed by the federal government. Pursuant to the Property Clause of the United States Constitution ( Article 4, section 3, clause 2), Congress has the power to retain, buy, sell, and regu ...
in
Manistee National Forest The Manistee National Forest is a national forest located in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It has a total area of . It was established in 1938, and combined with the Huron National Forest in 1945 for administrative purposes, creating the Huro ...
, allowing prosecutors to try Gabrion in federal court and seek the death penalty on federal charges. This sentence is not provided for under Michigan law. Gabrion was the first person in the United States to receive the death penalty for a crime committed in a non-death penalty state since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988, as well as the first person to be sentenced to death in the state of Michigan since 1937. During the trial, Gabrion's defense argued that she might have been killed outside Manistee National Forest before being transported into the park to be disposed of. Therefore, the murder occurred on state property instead of federal property. The jury found, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Gabrion killed Timmerman inside the national forest. In 2011, Gabrion appealed both the conviction and the sentence. The defense maintained that jurors should have been told that had Gabrion been tried in state court, he would not have faced the death penalty. In his appeal, Gabrion's defense argued that under the Eighth Amendment and the Federal Death Penalty Act, Gabrion was entitled to argue to the jury during the penalty phase of his trial that they should consider any "residual doubt" that he killed Timmerman inside the national forest. The conviction was upheld, but the sentence was overturned. In their decision, the court wrote,
The case was not brought to serve a special national interest like
treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...
or
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
different from the normal state interest in punishing murder. The
jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...
should be allowed to consider whether one or more of them would choose a
life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...
rather than the death penalty when the same jury considering the same defendant's proper
punishment Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon an individual or group, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a deterrent to a particular action or beh ...
for the same crime but prosecuted in
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
state court could not impose the death penalty.
In 2013, the
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of K ...
sitting ''
en banc In law, an ''en banc'' (; alternatively ''in banc'', ''in banco'' or ''in bank''; ) session is when all the judges of a court sit to hear a case, not just one judge or a smaller panel of judges. For courts like the United States Courts of Appeal ...
'' overturned the earlier decision by a three-judge panel and the death penalty was reinstated. Gabrion sat on death row at
United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute The United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute (USP Terre Haute) is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Terre Haute, Indiana. It is part of the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute (FCC Terre Haute) and is operated ...
. Currently, he is held at the
United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners The United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners (MCFP Springfield) is a United States federal prison in Springfield, Missouri for male offenders. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department o ...
in
Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...
.


Commutation of federal death sentence

On December 23, 2024, Gabrion's federal death sentence was commuted to life without parole after outgoing President
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
granted sentence commutations to 37 of the 40 inmates on federal death row.


Media coverage

The case garnered national attention and was featured on the
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show ''FBI: Criminal Pursuit'' as well as ''
Unsolved Mysteries ''Unsolved Mysteries'' is an American mystery documentary television series, created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. Documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena, it began as a series of seven specials, presented by Raymond Burr, Kar ...
''. Rachel's father and uncle published a book about the case called ''The Color of Night: A Young Mother, and a Cold-Blooded Killer''. The legal aspects of the death sentence in this case were described in the book ''Cause of Death: Forensic Files of a Medical Examiner'' as well as the law text book ''Psychiatry in Law''.


See also

*
List of homicides in Michigan This is a list of homicides in Michigan. This list includes notable homicides committed in the U.S. state of Michigan that have a Wikipedia article on the killing, the killer, or the victim. It is divided into three subject areas as follows: # Mu ...
* Tony Chebatoris *
Capital punishment by the United States federal government Capital punishment is a legal punishment under the criminal justice system of the United States federal government. It is the most serious punishment that could be imposed under federal law. The serious crimes that warrant this punishment inc ...
*
Capital punishment in Michigan Capital punishment in Michigan was legal from the founding of Sault Ste Marie in 1668 during the French colonial period, until abolition by the state legislature in 1846 (except nominally for treason). Only one federal execution has ever been c ...
* List of inmates at the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute


References


External links

*
United States v. Gabrion
', 219 F.3d 511 (6th Cir. 2013) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabrion, Marvin 1953 births 1997 murders in the United States 21st-century American trials American murderers of children American people convicted of kidnapping American people convicted of murder American prisoners sentenced to death American rapists Capital punishment in Michigan Child murder in Michigan Criminals from Michigan Infanticide Living people People convicted of murder by the United States federal government Prisoners sentenced to death by the United States federal government Suspected serial killers Trials in Michigan Commutations granted by Joe Biden