The Murder of Howard Witkin

 

I apologize that I have not been on here in quite some time. I had a few blogs researched already and I am transferring my notes to try and refresh my memory to put them together. Hopefully I will get back in the groove again soon.

Howard Witkin was from a prominent family in Santa Clara California. He managed a family owned glass and mirror business. In 1966 Howard married Judi Barnett. Judi was originally from Michigan and after three children and a divorce she relocated with the children back to her home state.

Once in Michigan Judi would marry again to a man named Robert Singer. It is unclear whether Singer was already a restaurateur or if this would occur after his marriage to Judi. What I can say is that in December of 1979 Robert opened The Onion Crock in Flint Michigan. A man by the name of Kevin McCarthy was in charge of the hiring and firing of the employees and all but Robert's “right hand man.” As is often the case in such environments, McCarthy was privy to private conversations and he would eventually be the person to put things together and crack the mystery of the murder of Howard Witkin in California in March of 1980.

Kevin McCarthy at some point hired a man named Gary Oliver to work at the restaurant. He found it a bit odd that considering he was in charge of this area that at some point Robert Singer fired Gary Oliver. By this time McCarthy had heard a few “rumblings” about some issues that Robert Singer and his wife Judi, where having with her ex-husband, Howard Witkin. It appears that they were in a custody fight over their three children. McCarthy would later say that at some point Singer asked him if he knew someone who could murder someone. McCarthy did not want to be involved or want to know any details and the subject was simply dropped.

Robert and Judi had a planned vacation set for the end of March 1980 in California. Instead they received word that on March 21^st Howard had been shot and killed outside his home and the couple left for California upon hearing this. While they were gone Kevin McCarthy would run into Gary Oliver, who was now tanned, seemed to have new nice clothes and a bit of money. Oliver told McCarthy that he had been to California recently and that while there his car had “blown up.”

At this point McCarthy started putting some pieces together. He remembered that just a few days before Singer heard about Howard being murdered he had overheard a conversation Singer was having on the phone talking to someone about a “low priced car.” Then, just after arriving in California Singer called McCarthy and told him “his problem was taken care of.” On April 1^st McCarthy went to the Michigan State Police with his suspicions.

In the meantime authorities in Santa Clara were investigating the ambush murder of Howard Witkin. He had been shot at least nine times outside the door of his home. A neighbor had seen a “faded gold 1970's model car” with an out of state plate in the neighborhood recently. They even had the plate number VNM530 but I have to be fair that while it said an out of state plate I am unsure that it was stated what state it came from in my research. It was discovered that the car, and the plates were registered to a man named Dennis Liquia but it appears that investigators learned nothing from Liquia, nor could they connect him to anything with the murder.

There were bullet holes through the door to Howard Witkin's home. It suggested that he was first shot outside and that he had gone into his home attempting to avoid the gunfire but several more shots were fired through his door and fatally injuring him. They were able to determine that a .22 caliber semiautomatic rifle was used in the murder.

Eventually between the information discovered through Kevin McCarthey and the evidence of the crime scene investigators were able to put all of the pieces together. Initially four men were convicted of murder. Those men were Robert Singer, Gary Oliver, Andrew Lee Granger and Thomas Maciolek. It is unclear exactly what charges Maciolek faced or what his sentence would be. And, Gary Oliver would take a plea deal to solicitation to murder and received a maximum sentence of six years. The other two men, Granger and Robert Singer would face a dual trial. Granger would be convicted and given a sentence of life without parole but the jury could not agree on a verdict against Robert Singer and his trial ended in a mistrial.

Robert Singer faced a second trial. Granger, who testified at the first trial took the 5^th at this trial due to the fact that his own case was under appeal. Because of this his testimony from the first trial was read to the court. Oliver had not testified in the first trial but he did in the second. The following is the story that was discovered and put together from the evidence and witnesses in the case, at least through Robert Singer's second trial.

As mentioned earlier at some point Singer had apparently asked Kevin McCarthy if he knew someone that could, or would, kill someone. After McCarthy apparently dismissed him, Singer moved on to Gary Oliver. Oliver would later testify that Singer had offered him $10,000 to murder Howard Witkin. It appears that the firing of Oliver by Singer, instead of McCarthy, as was customary, was to put distance between the two men, hoping there were less questions leading to them after the murder. After talking to Singer, Oliver then contacted Andrew Granger. Oliver lied to Granger saying that he was getting $5,000 for the hit and that he would give him half of the payment. The two men bought a shotgun for $300 and for an additional $450 they bought an early 70's gold Malibu.

The two men drove out to California and apparently cased Howard's home, hence the neighbors seeing the odd car in the neighborhood in the days leading up to the murder. However, at some point the car they had driven broke down and was not usable. While they were “stranded” in California they met a man named Tom Maciolek and his girlfriend, Heather, and they spent the night in their home. While they were they they told Tom and Heather about their plans and why they were in California. They apparently offered Tom something to help them as he drove the men to Howard's home. Oliver and Maciolek dropped Granger off close to Howard's home and then they went and parked and waited. After shooting Howard, Granger returned to the car and relayed to Oliver and Maciolek what had occurred. Maciolek was given the shotgun they had bought before leaving Michigan but it was not the weapon that was used in the murder.

At his second trial Singer's defense attempted to convince the jury that Oliver had actually been approached by Howard Witkin to murder Judi Barnett and that instead Oliver killed Witkin and then set Robert Singer up to take the fall. The jury did not buy that. Then again it seems that the jury also did not buy the prosecution theory that the murder was done so that Singer and his wife could profit financially from Howard's death. In the end Robert Singer was convicted. It is unclear what exactly what he was officially convicted of, or what his sentence had been at that point.

In 1986 Robert Singer's conviction was overturned when it was revealed that his wife, Judi, had an affair with his attorney, William Melcher. Melcher disputed this even to the point of claiming impotence but it was his own legal secretary that was able to prove the affair. She had made copies of at least one love letter sent between Judi and Melcher. In the process of all of this Singer was now basically admitting his role in Howard's murder but was claiming that the murder had been Judi's idea from the start and that she had constantly harassed him in getting something done. It appears that he agreed to a plea at this point in which he was sentenced to twenty-five years to life. While I cannot be certain it does appear that he was released from prison in 2004.

Investigators began to look into Singer's story about Judi, who did admit to the affair with Melcher. She claimed that the affair began at the end of Singer's first murder trial but had broken off soon after. She then claimed the affair began again during the guilt phase of the second trial but over again before closing arguments began. It does not seem that she admitted to anything else, especially regarding any role in convincing Singer to have Howard murdered. But, it seems that they needed more evidence than provided by Singer because despite this revelation coming to light in 1986 it was not until the fall of 1991 in which Judi would surrender to authorities in Flint Michigan. For one reason or another extradition to California was delayed for three years. She was ultimately convicted in 1994 and sentenced to life in prison.

In June of 2019 the California Board of Parole Hearings granted Judi parole stating that at the age of 73 she was no longer a threat to society. She was released in October of 2019. One of her conditions of parole included that she was to have no contact with any members of the Witkin family, including her children. Her son, Daniel had died in 2003 and buried in California with his father. Daughter, Marie remained outspoken about her mother and her role in her father's murder. In fact, she had testified that she had overheard Robert and Judi arguing over having Howard killed before the shooting occurred. Some have questioned that memory based on the fact that she was quite young at the time but she believes it to be a true memory.

Based on the California Department of Corrections Andrew Granger was admitted into the prison in October of 1981 and was first eligible for parole in 2005. Apparently it was denied at least once from then until 2019 where he faced the board again and once again was denied for a period of seven years. His next parole date is set for May of 2026.