Bio 

Michael Lee Herrington was born in 1943. Secondary true-crime sources state that he was the son of a Kansas City police officer. Those sources also describe a troubled childhood in which he was reportedly beaten by his mother with a belt until around age 12, when he resisted and took the belt away from her. This background appears in later true-crime summaries, but it is not discussed in detail in the Wisconsin Supreme Court opinion.

By 1966, Herrington was 23 years old and living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Secondary sources describe him as married, with his wife expecting their first child, and working as a shipping clerk. They also describe his black 1957 Chevrolet as one of the key identifying details that later connected him to an attack on a surviving victim.

Herrington’s name later became associated with Milwaukee’s early serial-style murder history because of the separate stabbing attacks against young female victims in 1966. A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee WTMJ-TV archive entry from May 12, 1967, describes him as accused of fatally knifing Julia Beckwith and Sherryl Thompson and attempting to kill Kathleen Dreyer.

Murder Story

The first confirmed murder occurred on September 3, 1966, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Supreme Court record states that Herrington was convicted of first-degree murder for stabbing 10-year-old Julie Beckwith with a knife in an empty lot in the city of Milwaukee. Secondary sources identify her as Julia Beckwith and report that she was sexually assaulted, beaten, and stabbed. The court opinion confirms the murder conviction and the stabbing, while the sexual assault details come from secondary true-crime summaries.

Before the Beckwith murder, secondary sources report an earlier September 1, 1966, attack on a 34-year-old woman identified as Mrs. Duane Troyer. According to that account, another motorist used a ruse to make her pull over, then slashed her with a knife and fled when she screamed. This incident was not one of the convictions discussed in the Wisconsin Supreme Court opinion, so it should be treated as a reported suspected or related attack, not as a confirmed conviction.

The second confirmed murder occurred on October 16, 1966. The Wisconsin Supreme Court record states that Herrington’s second first-degree murder conviction came from the stabbing death of 18-year-old Sherryl Thompson behind a building in Milwaukee. Secondary summaries state that Thompson’s body was found behind a Catholic church and that she had been stabbed repeatedly.

On November 11, 1966, 11-year-old Kathleen Audrey Dreyer was attacked in an alley in Milwaukee. The Wisconsin Supreme Court confirmed that Herrington was convicted of attempted first-degree murder for stabbing her with a knife. This attack became the incident that led directly to his arrest.

Police were alerted to look for a black 1957-to-1959 Chevrolet after the attack on Kathleen Dreyer. The broadcast described the driver as a young white male with short black hair, dark horn-rimmed glasses, and a jacket. Officers stopped Herrington later that morning while he was driving a black 1957 Chevrolet. The Wisconsin Supreme Court found that the officers had probable cause because Herrington and his vehicle matched key parts of the broadcast description.

Herrington was taken to a police station and arrested for aggravated battery at around 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1966. The court record states that he was advised of his constitutional rights multiple times. During the afternoon, he wrote and signed confessions admitting the stabbing murders of Julie Beckwith and Sherryl Thompson and the stabbing of Kathleen Audrey Dreyer.

After the written confessions, Herrington voluntarily took police to his place of employment and showed them where he had hidden the knife used in the stabbings. He also led officers to the scenes of the three crimes. The Wisconsin Supreme Court later described the corroborating evidence as overwhelming and upheld the use of the confessions.

The three cases were consolidated for trial. Herrington did not testify. A jury convicted him on July 7, 1967, after a short deliberation. Secondary sources state that he received two consecutive life terms for the murders and an additional prison term for attempted murder. Murderpedia lists the total as two consecutive life terms plus 32 years, while the narrative text from Michael Newton lists an additional 30 years for attempted murder; because of that conflict, the safest profile wording is “two consecutive life terms, with an additional prison term for attempted murder.”

Herrington appealed his convictions. On March 4, 1969, the Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the judgments. The court rejected claims involving venue, jury impartiality, the admission of confessions, disclosure of exculpatory evidence, and requests for a new trial. The court concluded that Herrington had received a fair trial and that there was no grave doubt about guilt.