Suspect accused in slaying claims former University of Michigan professor sexually assaulted him
INDIANAPOLIS — A man accused in the stabbing death of a former University of Michigan professor told police the victim sexually assaulted him on Christmas Day and showed no remorse, according to court documents.
Michael J. Griffin, 25, of Bloomington told police he visited Don Belton on Sunday to confront the 53-year-old assistant professor of English at Indiana University over two alleged assaults, the probable cause affidavit said.
Don Belton
An argument and scuffle ensued. Griffin told police he stabbed Belton with a 10-inch military style knife after Belton failed to "show or express any type of feeling that what had taken place was a mistake," the affidavit said.
Griffin was being held without bond Tuesday in the Monroe County Jail on a charge of murder. An initial court hearing was set for Wednesday.
A friend who came to Belton's home in Bloomington on Monday found his body in the kitchen, authorities said. Police who were called to the scene found both doors unlocked and no signs of forced entry. Nothing was missing, said police Lt. David Drake.
Drake said Belton was stabbed "at least five or six" times in the back and several times in the front of the torso.
The affidavit said police found Belton's journal, which contained an entry saying that he was "very happy" that someone named Michael had entered his life. Police later received a call from Griffin's girlfriend saying she thought her boyfriend might be involved in the slaying.
Officers who searched Griffin's home Monday night found the knife believed to have been used in the killing, Drake said. The affidavit said Griffin had bought the knife before serving as a Marine in Iraq.
Michael Griffin
According to the IU Web site, Belton had formerly taught at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan, Macalester College and the University of Pennsylvania and had lectured at the Sorbonne. He had also written for Newsweek and The Advocate and edited an anthology of essays on black masculinity.
English Department Chairman Jonathan Elmer said in a statement that Belton's friends, colleagues and students were "shocked and terribly saddened by the news of his death."
"His great talents as a writer, his extraordinary generosity to his students, and his warmth of personality were gifts to us all. We will miss him terribly," the statement said.
Belton had taught at IU since fall 2008, the statement said.
Comments
Bill Shroyer
Mon, Oct 25, 2010 : 8:06 p.m.
It doesn't sound like it was any sort of "assault" - by his own words, he wanted the professor to admit it was a "mistake". If I were raped or sexually assaulted and mad enough to kill my attacker over it, you can be damned good & sure one word he -wouldn't- be able to use is "mistake". "Mistakes" only apply to those who make choices, not to those who are coerced into something against their will. Still, I do have to agree about the one point - if he had been a female of the same age claiming self-defense, I can very easily picture some regions of the country where it wouldn't go any further than that. Females claiming sexual assault do tend to be believed much more easily - but there's a logical basis to at least some bias. Females in general tend to be smaller and weaker than males in general. It doesn't justify dismissing someone's cry for "help", but it -does- tend to cause inappropriate responses at times. That particular issue shouldn't be relevant when facing someone making a claim, it's really only relevant as a statistic, not as a merit test of some sort.
Tim
Sun, Jan 3, 2010 : 6:31 p.m.
Like most, I don't buy the idea that a slight, 53 year old academic did anything inappropriate to a 25 year old ex-Marine (twice, on separate occasions) and then blogged about how happy he was with terminology suggesting that he had found a new lover. It's preety clear that the young man was troubled, perhps due to his military service (since we are seeing so much of that now), and cracked. It's a terrible situation all the way around.
Ryan Munson
Wed, Dec 30, 2009 : 9:51 p.m.
The trial has not occurred yet..
KarenH
Wed, Dec 30, 2009 : 1:50 p.m.
@bruceae - There's no way on earth that I would line up to defend any woman who claimed that someone had sexually assaulted her on a PREVIOUS occasion who then came back to repeatedly stab him in the back with a knife. I would expect her to go to the police with the charges, same as I would have expected this murderer to do so. In the murderer's own words, he killed him because he did not "show or express any type of feeling that what had taken place was a mistake." He didn't kill him because he "assaulted him", he killed him because he wouldn't admit that he assaulted him. That's premeditated murder. I agree with Mike D., this murderer is trying to justify his actions by turning the crime into a gay panic reaction. It's absolute bull, and it's a testament to what gay people still have to endure in our society.
phdeez
Wed, Dec 30, 2009 : 12:51 p.m.
I agree with bruceae that it seems like a double standard here. But I find it hard to believe, based on the information in the article, that a 25 year old former Marine would be sexually assaulted by a 53-year old English professor. Based on the final outcome, which was horrible and unnecessary, the accused murderer was obviously stronger than the victim.
bruceae
Wed, Dec 30, 2009 : 11:50 a.m.
If this was a 25 year old female who had just killed a 53 year old professor who had assaulted her everyone would be lineing up to help her.
Mike D.
Wed, Dec 30, 2009 : 11:43 a.m.
The gay panic defense is not an acceptable excuse for violence. If there was an assault, Griffin should have gone to the police. The fact that he didn't go the authorities, combined with the excessively violent nature of the alleged crime, indicates that he was reacting more to his own fears about his sexuality than anything Belton could have done. It's sickening that an alleged murderer has tried to turn the crime around on his victim because he is gay, but that's the world we live in. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_panic_defense