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Posted on Thu, Jun 9, 2011 : 7:22 p.m.

After court hears tearful 911 call, woman faces trial on charge of premeditated murder in Ypsilanti Township man's death

By Heidi Fenton

As he sat in a Washtenaw County district courtroom Thursday surrounded by rows of family and listened to details of his son’s death, Richard Mishler said he harbored no hard feelings against the Ypsilanti Township woman police say is responsible for the March 23 killing.

Those feelings are not ones his son, Samuel Mishler, would want the family to carry, his father said.

“There’s no question about it,” Richard Mishler said. “As a family, we’ve decided we’re not going to go down that road.”

Mishler's words came just minutes after a judge found sufficient evidence to try his dead son's wife, Katharine Mishler, on a charge of premeditated murder. The charge followed testimony from a sheriff's detective and the playing of Katharine Mishler's 911 call that the judge cited as support for a premeditated shooting. She pleaded not guilty and the case was sent on to circuit court.

Katharine Lee Mishler.jpg
At the preliminary hearing Thursday, Assistant Prosecutor Dianna Collins played a recording of Katharine Mishler’s 911 call to dispatchers from the early morning hours of March 23.

Her panicked voice strained by tears and interrupted by gasps for air, Mishler, who originally identified herself as “Kat Jackson” told a dispatcher that an intruder had entered her home with a knife and she had grabbed a gun and shot him.

“You’ve never seen this person before?” the dispatcher asked in the call that came through just before 2 a.m.

“No, I’ve never seen him,” Mishler replied.

Further investigation by the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office proved the report in Katharine Mishler’s original call to be false, police say.

Sheriff’s deputies say Mishler, 23, fatally shot her 20-year-old husband in the head at about 1:45 a.m. March 23 after an argument at Tuscan Creek Apartment homes in the 200 block of Stevens Drive in Ypsilanti Township. He was later pronounced dead at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.

Sheriff’s Detective Everette Robbins was called forward to testify by Collins and said he was told “there were some inconsistencies” as he arrived at the scene of the March slaying. He offered the following account:

The male victim, who Katharine Mishler had reported as an unfamiliar intruder, had no shoes on, despite low temperatures outside. Authorities investigating inside the apartment had also taken note of pictures on a wall that appeared to be of the same man they found dead.

Robbins said he brought Katharine Mishler to the police station for testimony and she began by again identifying herself as “Kat Jackson.” She told him she had not seen Samuel Mishler, whom she called her fiance, since 6 a.m. the previous morning, when he left for work.

032311_tuscan_creek_ypsilanti_township_shooting.jpg

The doorway of the apartment where Samuel Mishler was fatally shot in March at the Tuscan Creek apartment complex in Ypsilanti Township.

Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com

As Robbins pressed her for the truth, he said, Mishler’s story came out.

She and her husband had been in the living room of their Tuscan Creek apartment late that March 23 night when an argument broke out between the two. He was upset by their dog, which continued to jump on him. She was tired of constantly having to do the chores.

“If you don’t leave, I’m going to shoot you,” Katharine Mishler said she told Samuel Mishler, as she pushed him toward the door. But he wouldn’t leave.

Katharine Mishler walked into a nearby bedroom where she said three guns were kept. She picked up one and cocked it, thinking the noise would scare Samuel Mishler away as he stood in the living room.

She walked back out, but he stood unmoving.

“If you want me to leave so much, pull the trigger,” Samuel Mishler dared her, she said. Minutes later, Samuel Mishler was lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

“Originally, she thought it was just going to be a scare tactic, that she would fire at a wall or out the window— not at him,” Robbins testified, recalling his interview with Katharine Mishler the night of the shooting. “She wanted him to leave and he did not want to leave.”

Washtenaw County Chief Medical Examiner Bader Cassin performed an autopsy on Samuel Mishler shortly after the shooting. He testified Thursday that the results led him to rule the death a homicide, caused by a single gunshot wound to the head.

Cassin said he determined, based on the man’s injuries, that the gun’s muzzle was directly pushed against Samuel Mishler’s head at the time it was fired.

The resulting force was comparable to “a hammer striking the head,” he said.

Cassin said toxicology testing later revealed traces of marijuana and alcohol in Samuel Mishler’s bloodstream.

Katharine Mishler’s case will now head to circuit court. She remains lodged in the Washtenaw County Jail without bond. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. July 20 before Circuit Court Judge Archie Brown.

Heidi Fenton covers police and courts for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at heidifenton@annarbor.com or 734-623-4673. You also can follow her on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's e-mail newsletters.

Comments

nixon41

Sat, Jun 11, 2011 : 2:17 a.m.

Why should we the tax payers pay for their stay in prison for the rest of their lives, if convicted?

Wilford John Presler IV

Fri, Jun 10, 2011 : 11:03 p.m.

This is why I love TEXAS...They still use capital punisment for capital crimes...Although Michigan has abolished the death penalty, one execution did take place after Michigan's statehood, when Anthony Chebatoris was hanged in Milan in 1938, for a murder he had committed while robbing a bank in Midland. This was a federal execution, outside of the state's jurisdiction, and the last execution to be performed in Michigan...

CincoDeMayo

Sat, Jun 11, 2011 : 2:05 a.m.

This is why I love MICHIGAN. NO capital punishment. The satisfaction is short-lived, and, too often, unfairly applied.

halflight

Fri, Jun 10, 2011 : 9:14 p.m.

TruBlu76 wrote: "Never lie about anything when reporting a self defense shooting (such reports are required by law)." The district judge's decision to bind the defendant over for trial on a charge of 1st degree murder indicates that there is probable cause to believe this wasn't self-defense. The medical examiner's evidence ("the gun's muzzle was directly pushed against Samuel Mishler's head at the time it was fired.") doesn't match the defendant's statement. A jury will decide whether or not self-defense or premeditation was involved.

Tru2Blu76

Fri, Jun 10, 2011 : 5:35 p.m.

This is certainly a case of tragic wrongful death. It truly saddens me to learn of this incident. Since commenting directly about the actions of Katheryn Misher would bring removal of my comment, it's difficult to otherwise express my concern over this kind of "approach" to having and using handguns. I'm forced then to resort to the usual rules in the hope that others might benefit: Never pick up a gun in anger. Never initiate the use of force. Experts in self defense shootings that go to trail pound home this point: Never lie about anything when reporting a self defense shooting (such reports are required by law).

Bertha Venation

Fri, Jun 10, 2011 : 5:01 p.m.

Crocodile tears.

RunrDad

Fri, Jun 10, 2011 : 1:19 p.m.

Tons of respect and admiration to Samuel's family for their ability to forgive. You are a great example of Christianity.

RunrDad

Fri, Jun 10, 2011 : 6:55 p.m.

Given that I already know that they are an example of Christianity, and that their religion would have them forgive such things... it is definitely fair to state my opinion of the quality of that example. It is not an insult to anyone else. To tell a horse that it is good at running doesn't mean that the hare is slow.

Bertha Venation

Fri, Jun 10, 2011 : 5:09 p.m.

They are a great example of human kindness. Religion has nothing to do with it.

Ellen

Fri, Jun 10, 2011 : 2:34 p.m.

They are a great example of great people, class act. The act of forgiveness is a gift you give yourself, someone told me. Forgiveness isn't only a Christian attribute. The rest of us are capable of it too, RunrDad

15crown00

Fri, Jun 10, 2011 : 10:40 a.m.

so try her and see what the jury says.if they say guilty the judge says "life no parole".end of story.

Grimey

Fri, Jun 10, 2011 : 7:13 a.m.

Guns are never a "scare tactic". They are devices that are capable of pushing people out of existence.