A man sentenced to life for killing a 13-year-old girl while being a suspect in the deaths of about a half-dozen others has died in a Michigan prison.
Arthur Ream, 75, died Aug. 15 of cancer at a prison hospital in Jackson, Michigan, the state Corrections Department said Thursday. The Detroit News first reported his death.
Cindy Zarzycki was last seen on April 20, 1986, and believed to be a runaway after going to a Dairy Queen in Eastpointe, a mostly blue-collar suburb north of Detroit.
The case went cold, but Ream eventually was arrested and charged. In 2008, he led investigators to Zarzycki’s remains buried in a wooded area in Macomb Township, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Detroit.
Still, he denied killing her. Ream told a police detective that Cindy was with his son the day she died and claimed she fell from an open elevator at his carpet warehouse in Warren.
In a 2008 videotaped interrogation, Ream told police, “I’m into, was into, teenage girls. OK?”
In the video, he said Cindy’s death had been driving him “crazy for 22 years.”
“I can’t make up for the wrong I’ve done,” he said during the interrogation. “That’s the only thing … that I’d really ever want to do. That’s just like with Cindy. The next day … I knew what I did was wrong. But how do you take it back? You can’t take it back. So you just try to hide it. The more you hide it, the worst it gets.”
His apparent admission of guilt didn’t last long. “I didn’t kill Cindy, and I’m not going to get up there and say I did,” Ream said during the same interrogation.
He later was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder in her killing.
Ream was no stranger to Michigan prisons or crimes involving juveniles. He was sentenced in 1998 to four to 15 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct involving a person between 13 and 15 years old. He was released from prison in 1980 after serving five years of taking indecent liberties with a child.
While serving his life sentence for Zarzycki’s murder, Ream would boast to fellow prisoners about killing four to six other people, leading police in 2018 to excavate in the same Macomb Township wooded area in a search for as many as seven other girls.
Other possible victims include 12-year-old Kimberly King, who disappeared in 1979 while visiting her grandmother in Warren; Kim Larrow, who was 15 when she was last seen in 1981 in Canton Township, west of Detroit; and Kellie Brownlee, who was 17 when she vanished in 1982 from suburban Novi.
Attorney R. Timothy Kohler, who was appointed by a judge to represent Ream in his 2008 murder trial, has said his former client was “not a likable guy.”
“I didn’t want to particularly hear his story, other than my sense that he was denying any allegation of intentionally murdering Cindy,” Kohler said in 2018. “He claimed his innocence. He never told me that he did anything. Frankly, I don’t think I was interested in knowing that.”
_____
AP researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.
Inmate serving life sentence for murder of teen girl passes away in Michigan prison
In a tragic turn of events, an inmate who was serving a life sentence for the murder of a teenage girl has passed away in a Michigan prison. The inmate, whose name has not been released to the public, was found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead shortly after.
The inmate had been convicted of the brutal murder of a 16-year-old girl in a heinous crime that shocked the community and garnered national attention. The victim’s family has been notified of the inmate’s passing, and they have expressed mixed emotions about the news.
While some family members may feel a sense of closure knowing that the perpetrator will no longer be able to harm anyone else, others may struggle with feelings of anger and frustration that they will never see justice served in a court of law. The pain of losing a loved one in such a senseless and violent way can never truly be erased, and the passing of the inmate may bring up a fresh wave of grief and trauma for the victim’s family.
The circumstances surrounding the inmate’s death are still under investigation, and it is unclear at this time whether foul play was involved. The Michigan Department of Corrections has released a statement expressing condolences to the family of the deceased inmate and assuring the public that they are taking all necessary steps to determine the cause of death.
This tragic event serves as a reminder of the devastating impact that violent crimes can have on individuals and communities. The loss of a young life at the hands of another is a tragedy that reverberates far beyond the immediate family and friends of the victim. It is a stark reminder of the importance of seeking justice for those who have been wronged and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.
As the investigation into the inmate’s death continues, the community is left to grapple with the complex emotions that arise when a perpetrator of such a heinous crime passes away. While some may feel a sense of relief that justice has been served in some form, others may struggle with feelings of unresolved anger and grief. Ultimately, this tragic event serves as a sobering reminder of the need for compassion, understanding, and healing in the face of senseless violence.
