Garry Dean Artman, 64, of White Springs, Florida, United States is a trucker with a violent criminal history. He has lived in different parts of Michigan, USA including Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Wyoming and Morley and in different parts of Alabama, USA including Athens and Madison.
In August 1981, Artman was found guilty of first-degree criminal sexual assault and sentenced to 11 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) in Lansing, Michigan. In June 1992, he was discharged on the maximum.
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While living in Michigan, Artman allegedly sexually assaulted, hogtied and fatally stabbed Sharon Kay Hammack, 29, of Grand Rapids. On October 3, 1996, her body was found dumped in a ditch near the intersection of 76th Street west of Kraft Avenue near Caledonia, Kent County.
No suspect was identified. The case went cold.
In 2006, the Maryland State Police investigated a homicide of a female prostitute who was raped and fatally stabbed. She was in Ontario, California, USA shortly before she was found dead in Maryland, USA.
Familial deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) examination was done on the case of the prostitute in Maryland and that of Hammack. It was determined that the assailant in both cases was the same person.
On August 16, 2022, the Mississippi Highway Patrol arrested Artman in Mississippi, USA. Charged with open murder, felony murder and first-degree criminal sexual conduct, he is being held in a Mississippi jail while awaiting extradition to Michigan.
CONAN Daily 