GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan – Michigan detectives are looking into a series of unsolved homicides following the death of convicted murderer Garry Artman in a prison hospital last week. Artman, a long-haul truck driver, had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and was interviewed by Kent County sheriff’s detectives before his death. Information gathered from these interviews has prompted the reopening of several homicide cases linked to Artman.
The detectives are collaborating with other law enforcement agencies to connect missing pieces or unsolved homicide cases. Although they did not disclose which cases are being investigated or the number of cases, police in Grand Rapids, Michigan have connected Artman to the disappearance of a woman nearly 30 years ago.
Artman had been convicted of the 1996 rape and murder of Sharon Hammack and was also facing murder charges in the 2006 slaying of Dusty Shuck in Maryland. Furthermore, Artman’s court-appointed lawyer stated that he did not know if Artman had committed other murders, but if he did, he was glad that Artman disclosed them in the end.
Artman, who had been living in Florida, was arrested in 2022 in Mississippi after investigators identified him as a suspect in Hammack’s slaying. His DNA also matched DNA found in Shuck’s case. Additionally, Artman had previously served about a decade in Michigan prisons following convictions for criminal sexual conduct in 1981.
The Grand Rapids detectives are also trying to determine if Artman is connected to other missing persons or homicide cases in the city. A storage unit in Florida believed to belong to Artman was searched by investigators, who found several pieces of women’s underwear for further biological evidence analysis to determine whether there were other victims.