A Michigan man who was scheduled for release after serving a sentence for the false imprisonment of his three young sons will remain behind bars following his arrest on new murder and evidence tampering charges.
John Skelton, 53, has been charged with the murder of his sons—Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5—more than a decade after they were last seen alive. Skelton was arrested on November 12, just weeks before he was set to complete his sentence for the 2010 false imprisonment conviction. He is now being held at the Lenawee County Jail on a $60 million bond.
Skelton was originally convicted in 2011 after he refused to return the boys to his ex-wife, Tanya Zuvers, following a Thanksgiving visit. Over the years, Skelton concocted numerous false stories about their whereabouts, including claiming he dropped them off with an “underground sanctuary” run by strangers who would keep them safe.
The new charges—three counts of open murder and tampering with evidence—come 15 years after the boys went missing and months after they were legally declared dead. Until last week, Skelton had never been charged in connection with their deaths.
The arrest follows an earlier attempt by police to interview Skelton in prison ahead of his release, hoping he would finally provide information on the children’s location. According to an affidavit obtained by local ABC affiliate WTVG, Skelton was “uncooperative” and provided no new information.
The affidavit further alleges that Skelton “consistently misled” authorities since 2010, confirming that the purported “underground sanctuary” does not exist. While specific details on new evidence were not released, police stated that Skelton made conscious attempts to conceal his sons’ bodies to prevent the cause of their deaths from being discovered.
The boys vanished shortly after Thanksgiving in November 2010. Court documents reveal that Skelton had been searching the internet for different ways to kill people during that month. When Zuvers arrived to pick up her sons, they were gone.
Skelton was later hospitalized after a failed attempt to take his own life. During his recovery, he provided multiple conflicting accounts of where the boys were, leading Zuvers to report them missing. This incident occurred two months after Zuvers had asked to end their marriage and sought sole custody of the children.
Skelton is currently scheduled for a court date on November 24.
READ: Woman Travels To Florida From UK To Be “Killed Violently” In Bizarre Online Fetish Plot
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
