Bio

Gary Earl Leiterman was born on September 11, 1942, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He served in the United States Navy and later worked in pharmaceutical sales. By the time Jane Mixer was murdered in 1969, he was in his mid-20s and living within driving distance of Ann Arbor. For many years, Leiterman lived a quiet public life. He later became a retired nurse, husband, father, grandfather, former school board member, and community volunteer. Because he had no known history of violent crime, his arrest shocked many people who knew him.

In 2001, Leiterman was convicted in a separate prescription-forgery case connected to painkiller abuse. His DNA was entered into a database because of that conviction. Years later, investigators matched his DNA to evidence from Jane Mixer’s 1969 murder case.

During the investigation, police also found illegal images involving a teenage exchange student who had lived with the Leiterman family. Leiterman pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography before his murder trial.

Leiterman always denied killing Jane Mixer. His defense argued that the DNA evidence may have been contaminated because another man’s DNA was also found on evidence from the case, even though that man was only four years old when Mixer was murdered.

In 2005, Leiterman was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. His conviction was upheld in 2007. He remained legally convicted of Jane Mixer’s murder until his death on July 4, 2019.

Murder story

Jane Louise Mixer was a 23-year-old University of Michigan law student. In March 1969, she planned to travel home to Muskegon for spring break and tell her family about her engagement. She arranged a ride through a campus ride-share board with someone she believed was named David Johnson.

Jane never arrived home. On March 21, 1969, her body was found in a cemetery near Ann Arbor. She had been shot twice in the head with a .22-caliber gun, and a nylon stocking was found around her neck. Her clothing and belongings appeared carefully arranged, which made her case different from several other murders of young women in the area.

At first, investigators believed Jane may have been another victim of the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti “Coed Murders.” John Norman Collins was later convicted of one of those murders, and many people assumed he may have also killed Jane, although he was never charged in her case.

Decades later, police reopened Jane’s murder as a cold case. DNA testing on evidence from her clothing matched Gary Earl Leiterman, a retired nurse and former pharmaceutical salesman. Investigators also found other circumstantial evidence, including claims that he had owned a .22-caliber gun and had kept news clippings about the Coed Murders.

The case was controversial because another man’s DNA was also found on evidence from Jane’s hand. That man, John David Ruelas, was only four years old when Jane was killed, so the defense argued that the DNA evidence may have been contaminated. Prosecutors said the DNA match to Leiterman was still strong and appeared in several places on the evidence.

In 2005, a jury convicted Leiterman of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Leiterman continued to deny killing Jane Mixer, but his conviction was upheld in 2007. He died in prison on July 4, 2019, still legally convicted of her murder.