Janice Marie Terpstra

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-08-08-8602270216-st...

A Michigan man was ordered held without bond Wednesday in connection with the stabbing death of Chicago pop singer Janice Steele, who was found slain in her home in the Lake Michigan resort town of South Haven, Mich., last weekend. Police said the suspect, Melvin Graham, 23, of Bloomingdale, Mich., surrendered and gave a statement in which he said he killed Steele and stabbed a South Haven police officer with the same knife.

He was taken to the Van Buren County Jail in Paw Paw, pending a hearing Tuesday on charges of murder and attempted murder.

Steele, 37, a nightclub singer and musician who operated a music school in her vacation home, was last seen leaving a restaurant near South Haven early Saturday. About an hour later, Steeles neighbors said they heard screams coming from her home and called police.

The wounded officer, William Daggett, said he was slashed on the arm when he drove up to the house in response to the call and was accosted by a man later identified as Graham. Daggett said the man attacked him when he burst from the house and then fled into a nearby woods

MAN HELD IN SINGERS DEATH
By John OBrien
Chicago Tribune
Published: Aug 08, 1986 at 12:00 am

A Michigan man was ordered held without bond Wednesday in connection with the stabbing death of Chicago pop singer Janice Steele, who was found slain in her home in the Lake Michigan resort town of South Haven, Mich., last weekend. Police said the suspect, Melvin Graham, 23, of Bloomingdale, Mich., surrendered and gave a statement in which he said he killed Steele and stabbed a South Haven police officer with the same knife.

He was taken to the Van Buren County Jail in Paw Paw, pending a hearing Tuesday on charges of murder and attempted murder.

Steele, 37, a nightclub singer and musician who operated a music school in her vacation home, was last seen leaving a restaurant near South Haven early Saturday. About an hour later, Steeles neighbors said they heard screams coming from her home and called police.

The wounded officer, William Daggett, said he was slashed on the arm when he drove up to the house in response to the call and was accosted by a man later identified as Graham. Daggett said the man attacked him when he burst from the house and then fled into a nearby woods.

Minutes later, a Michigan state police trooper arrived on the scene and entered the house with the wounded officer. They found Steele dead on her living room floor. She had been stabbed six times, police said.

State Police Sgt. Melvin Koenes said a manhunt for Graham was ordered after his car was found in Steeles driveway.

Shortly before noon Saturday he turned himself in and gave a statement implicating himself in the murder, Koenes said. He told us he met Mrs. Steele in a restaurant and drove her home, but we dont know if she went willingly or if he forced her.

Friends said Steele left Chicago in June to spend the summer in Michigan. Since then, she operated a music school, teaching piano, guitar and vocal lessons to children in her home in South Haven. She also directed a childrens choir at a local church.

Janice was a happy-go-lucky person, a very friendly, sweet and outgoing lady, said a friend, Cary Ahlman.

She told me she came here to get away from the city and teach music, which was her love and joy.

She formerly lived in Old Town on Chicagos Near North Side and appeared there as a singer in recent years.

Survivors include her son, Mark Hoch, 17; her mother, Vera Lich, of Portland, Mich.; and five sisters, Jackie Greene, Judy Bruinius, Joan Jennings and June and Joyce Terpstra.

A memorial service in South Haven is planned.