Victim Tortured For Hours...Technicality Sets Torturer Free

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Victim Tortured For Hours; Error Frees Suspect Early

Police reveal grisly details of slayings

A video from Clio Mini Mart shows Winfield "Fred" Johnson, whose frozen body was discovered in the back of a truck occupied by Selepak and Bachynski. See full image

New Baltimore, Michigan -- Patrick Selepak and Samantha Bachynski spent several hours torturing and then killing Scott Berels inside his home, police said in revealing new details of the brutal slayings of Berels and his wife, Melissa.

"This was a horrific crime," William Cataldo, chief of the Macomb County prosecutor's homicide unit, said of the two slayings that were followed by a third a few days later. "The torture took place over a period of several hours."

And it was a CVS drugstore receipt for duct tape that ultimately led police to the accused killers.

"Scott was tied up with duct tape and an extension cord," Cataldo said of the Feb. 15 slayings.

"Then he was brutally beaten in the hands, face and head with the butt of an AK-47 assault rifle.

"They then put a sock in his mouth, covered it with duct tape, then beat him in the face some more," Cataldo said. "Then they used a hypodermic needle to inject bleach into his veins."

New Baltimore Police Chief John Bolgar said the motive for the killings was robbery, "just to make Patrick and Samantha's life a little easier."

First, Melissa Berels was strangled, police said. After she died, authorities contend, Selepak left the house to buy beer, leaving Bachynski at the Berelses' house to guard the bound and gagged Scott. Empty beer containers were discovered in the house later.

"They turned into a regular Bonnie and Clyde," said Shannon Martin of North Carolina, Selepak's sister.

Facts of the New Baltimore murders emerged just as Flint authorities were detailing the last days of Winfield "Fred" Johnson, 53, of Clio, whose frozen body was found in the back of a pickup occupied by Selepak, 27, and Bachynski, 19, in Owosso on Tuesday.

Police said Johnson invited the couple to his home, where they holed up for three days. Then, after Johnson tried to leave Selepak and Bachynski, they shot him twice, strangled him and also wrapped his body in plastic, police said.

Authorities said the couple met last year on the Internet. They were engaged Jan. 10. "They celebrated their engagement that same day by stealing a handgun from the Gibraltar Trade Center in Mount Clemens," Bolgar said.

After stealing the handgun, Selepak and Bachynski launched a statewide crime spree that ended in torture and death, police said.

Melissa Berels was a trusting, outgoing person who would talk to anybody -- a trait police believe contributed to her death.

The 27-year-old woman was working at a VG's supermarket a few miles from her New Baltimore home when Selepak came into the store a few months ago and struck up a conversation with her.

"Melissa basically trusted everybody, and would talk to anyone," Bolgar said. "Selepak took advantage of her trusting nature."

After they met in the store, Selepak and Melissa Berels developed a nonromantic relationship, Bolgar said.

"We know Melissa saw Selepak from time to time," Bolgar said. "They were seen over a period of a few months talking outside the Berelses' home, in a field across the street, and in a few other locations. We're not sure if Scott Berels even knew Selepak."

On the night of the slayings, Melissa Berels allowed Selepak and Bachynski in her home, Bolgar said. "With Melissa's trusting nature, she welcomed them into her home," he said.

Berels, who was 10 weeks pregnant, was targeted for murder, Cataldo said. "Selepak and Bachynski were intending to kill her when, unfortunately, her husband came home from work," he said.

Selepak, armed with the AK-47, surprised Scott Berels, Cataldo said. They forced him to leave a message on his telephone answering machine, saying he was taking his wife to the hospital and would be gone for a few days.

Then, the torture began.

Both Selepak and Bachynski had a hand in the slaying of the Berels, Bolgar said. He would not elaborate how, but he said, "let's just say these are two extremely violent and dangerous individuals."

After the killings, the suspects wrapped the couple in plastic and covered their bodies with a tarp, boxes and other debris. The suspects fled in the couple's 1996 Saturn and drove to Detroit, where they abandoned it, police said.

"They left the car running, with Melissa's bank statement and ID in it," Bolgar said. "Another couple saw the opportunity and stole the car."

Police believe an unidentified couple who tried to withdraw money from Melissa's bank account had no connection to the murders.

The next day, Melissa Berels' family members became suspicious because they hadn't heard from their daughter. "Family members were actually in the house twice, but because the bodies were underneath all that debris, they didn't see them."

After police discovered the bodies, they searched the home and found a receipt from a nearby CVS drugstore.

"That's where we got the video of Samantha Bachynski," Bolgar said. "She went to the store to buy duct tape."

An image taken from the store's surveillance video was distributed to the media. A tipster called police and gave Bachynski's name. "The tipster also gave us the connection to Selepak."

Sometime between the death of the couple and Friday night, the suspects drove to Genesee County and met Johnson near his Clio home.

"It was part of a plan that they would take advantage of a vulnerable adult," Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell said.

Johnson allowed Selepak and Bachynski to stay at his house for the next several days, Pickell said. About 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, Johnson tried to escape.

Bethany Corder, 20, of Mount Morris Township worked with Johnson at the Clio Mini Mart, where Johnson had been employed for several years as a clerk. Corder said she talked to Johnson on Saturday.

"He said he had met a nice man and that the man was staying with Fred for the weekend," Corder said.

Selepak told Johnson "he was a chef at some richy-rich restaurant in Detroit," Corder said.

Chuck Christian, manager of the Mini Mart and Corder's father, said Johnson was excited that his weekend guest had promised to cook him a steak dinner and then to make breakfast in the morning.

"Fred was … too nice for his own good," Christian said.

At some point Tuesday, police said, Selepak and Bachynski picked up a friend from her home in Owosso and drove her to the Comstock Inn, where the woman had a job interview. At the time, Johnson's plastic-wrapped corpse was in the back of the pickup truck, reportedly covered by a mattresslike object.

The woman became uneasy and dialed 911. Shortly after, law enforcement agencies descended upon the motel and arrested the suspects.

"There's no telling how many lives she may have saved," Pickell said.

Selepak and Bachynski were held Tuesday night in the Genesee County jail.

They were scheduled to be arraigned at 2 p.m. today in Mount Clemens District Court for the murders of Scott and Melissa Berels. Officials weren't sure when the suspects would be returned to Genesee County to face charges related to Johnson's death.