On February 09, 1991, former Pontiac police officer Bradford King murdered his wife, Diane Newton King.
Police seeking slain newswoman's "admirer'
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
February 12, 1991
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
MARSHALL, Mich. - Investigators and volunteers combed boggy woodlands and fields searching for clues to the slaying of a television anchor, gunned down in front of her two small children.
Diane Newton King was killed Saturday evening in the driveway of her rural Calhoun County home as she started to remove her children from their car seats. King, 34, was hit twice with slugs from a small-caliber gun. Her son, 3, and daughter, 3 months, were uninjured.
An unknown admirer reportedly harassed King in the summer and early fall, but authorities said their investigation is not focused on him.
"Everybody is a suspect," said Calhoun County Sheriff Jon Olson.
King was found sprawled next to her car by her husband, Bradford, who told police he had been walking in the woods. Bradford King, who called police about 6:45 p.m., told police he left the house about 6 p.m. for a 45-minute walk.
Olson said King probably arrived home about 6 p.m. after visiting her mother in Sterling Heights. Olson said there were no indications King had been followed to her farmhouse.
Olson would not pinpoint from where the shots were fired but said the position was chosen carefully.
"The overall scheme of things would indicate that whoever was the shooter had taken a position that would give him a clear view of fire . . . like a sniper," Olson said.
King was hit by two small-caliber shots, to her upper torso and lower abdomen.
The first wound caused such massive internal injuries she would have died "even if she had been standing next to an ambulance," Olson said.
Bradford King, a Western Michigan University criminal justice instructor and former Pontiac police officer, reported hearing shots in the area "off and on all day long," but nothing he linked to the slaying, Olson said.
Gunshots are not unusual in the area, which is frequented by rabbit hunters and sport shooters, Olson said.
He said King had given "an informal statement" but had not been formally questioned by investigators.
Diane King told friends and relatives that she had received numerous telephone calls from a man who first wanted advice on how to become a journalist and then wanted to meet her. In mid-October, she received a letter, composed of words snipped from a magazine, addressed to her home warning her she would regret turning down a lunch date with the admirer.
Rebuffed fan among suspects in TV anchorwoman's slaying
The Tampa Tribune
February 12, 1991
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
A television anchorwoman who was haunted by threatening calls and a letter from a rebuffed male admirer was shot to death in her driveway, but investigators Monday didn't rule out other suspects.
Diane Newton King of WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek was shot twice Saturday night as she turned to get her two young children out of her car.
Police searched the farmhouse where Newton King, 34, and her husband, former police officer Bradford King, lived with their 3-year-old son and 3-month-old daughter.
Newton King and her children had just returned from her native Detroit when she was shot with a small-caliber gun as the youngsters remained strapped into their car seats. Her husband discovered the body in the driveway, police said.
Authorities were not limiting their search for a suspect to an anonymous male admirer who sent the victim a threatening note months earlier, Calhoun County Sheriff Jon Olson said at a news conference.
""Everyone is a suspect,'' he said.
Sheriff's deputies last year investigated threats against Newton King but made no arrests, sheriff's Lt. Terry Cook said earlier. About two weeks ago, she mentioned in a telephone conversation with Jan Hammer, general manager of Colorado TV station KJCT, that a man had been harassing her.
Newton King had worked for KJCT before moving to WUHQ two years ago.
""She had been receiving calls from a male who had wanted to get into the broadcasting business and was asking for her advice,'' Hammer said. ""The caller asked if she wanted to have lunch with him and she declined.
""She supposedly received a letter in the mail and this letter was composed from either using print or magazine letters that had been cut out and said something to the effect that "You'll be sorry you didn't have lunch with me.' ''
WUHQ Vice President Mark Crawford said the station informed authorities about the calls and letter at the time. Olson said the calls and letter began in July and ended in October.
""The individual apparently was infatuated with Mrs. King and wanted a relationship,'' Olson said.
Newton King's husband told police he was walking behind the farmhouse and heard shots, but thought nothing of it since the area is frequented by hunters.
`Everyone' suspect in TV anchor's killing
USA TODAY
February 12, 1991
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
First came several annoying phone calls, then, a threatening letter. Then last weekend, TV anchorwoman Diane Newton King was murdered.
King, 34, an anchorwoman with WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek, Mich., was shot to death in the driveway of her rural Marshall farmhouse where she lived with her husband, Bradford, 44, their 3-year-old son, Marler, and 3-month-old daughter, Kateri.
Was she the victim of a viewer's ``fatal attraction''? The answer, said Calhoun County Sheriff Jon Olson, is a definite maybe. ``Everyone is a suspect,'' Olson said Monday.
Olson said investigators were not limiting their search to the anonymous male admirer who last year telephoned King several times and then dropped a threatening note in her mailbox.
King was shot twice with a small-caliber gun as she arrived home with her children Saturday evening after visiting her mother in the Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights.
Bradford King, a former Pontiac, Mich., police officer and now a criminal justice instructor at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, found his wife's body lying next to the car about 45 minutes later. The children were still strapped into their seats.
King told police he was walking through the woods behind the family's farmhouse at the time of the shooting. He said he heard shots, but thought little about it since the area is frequented by hunters. Recently, Diane King told friends at KJCT-TV in Grand Junction, Colo. - where she worked two years ago - about the threats she'd received.
The calls were ``from a male who had wanted to get into the broadcasting business and was asking for her advice,'' said KJCT general manager Jan Hammer. ``The caller asked if she wanted to have lunch with him and she declined.''
The calls began last spring and ended in July, Hammer said. In October, King received a letter that was ``composed using print or magazine letters that had been cut out and said something to the effect that `You'll be sorry you didn't have lunch with me.' ''
WUHQ's Mark Crawford said the station knew about the calls and letter and informed authorities at the time.
Hammer said harassment is widespread in the broadcasting industry, aimed at both female and male anchors who get Play Misty-type calls. He was referring to a movie in which a disc jockey is stalked by a female listener who became amorous and then violent.
``It's a little-known part of our business,'' Hammer said. ``It goes on all the time.''
POLICE FOCUS ON ONE SUSPECT IN ANCHORWOMAN'S SLAYING
USA TODAY
February 12, 1991
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
MARSHALL, Mich. - Authorities said Tuesday they have narrowed their investigation of the slaying of Battle Creek television anchorwoman Diane King to one male suspect.
No suspect was in custody late Tuesday, but police said they recovered a rifle they believe was used to kill King, who was shot twice from a distance.
Calhoun County Sheriff Jon Olson said the prime suspect was more than a fan of King's - as earlier speculated - and was someone King knew. He declined to elaborate on the nature of the relationship between the suspect and the victim.
Olson said investigators had not determined a motive.
The sheriff said the suspect had been questioned, but he would not say when he expected authorities to arrest someone. Olson said Tuesday no one had confessed to the crime.
"We've talked to a specific suspect who we've begun to focus on," Olson said. "I think we have a solid case."
Olson said the suspect was in the area but would not identify the community in which the suspect lived.
Olson said police searched the 10-acre farm south of Marshall rented by King and her husband, Bradford, and on Monday found a .22-caliber Remington model 511 sportsman's rifle and seven empty shell casings. He said investigators had not determined who owned the gun.
Authorities sent the rifle Tuesday to a Michigan State Police crime lab to have it analyzed for fingerprints and other clues.
The sheriff would not say if police had discovered evidence of where the other five bullets were fired. King, mother of two young children, was shot once in the chest and once in the abdomen.
King, 34, was killed Saturday evening when she returned to her Fredonia Township home after visiting her parents in Sterling Heights with her two children, Kateri, 3 months, and Marler, 3.
King, morning anchor at Battle Creek ABC-affiliate station WUHQ-TV, was shot while trying to get her children out of the back seat of the vehicle, Olson said.
Her husband, Bradford, a former Pontiac police officer and an avid outdoorsman, told police he discovered his wife's body when he returned from a routine walk in the woods on their property.
Olson said Bradford King has talked with police several times since the shooting.
Last spring, Diane King received telephone calls at work from an unidentified man who wanted to talk to her about working in broadcasting. The man asked to meet King for lunch, but she declined, police said. In October, King received a note at her home composed of cut-out letters warning King she would regret turning down the man's invitation to lunch, friends told reporters. King notified authorities of the harassing calls after receiving the letter.
Funeral services for King were scheduled this morning in St. Mary Catholic Church, Marshall, to be followed by burial in Fort Custer National Cemetery, Augusta. King served in the Army Signal Corps after graduation from Wayne State University, Detroit.
Article from: The Boston Globe
February 12, 1991
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7647410.html
MARSHALL, Mich. -- A television anchorwoman was shot to death in her driveway over the weekend, authorities said yesterday. She had received threatening calls and a letter from a rebuffed male admirer, but investigators did not rule out other suspects.
The woman, Diane Newton King of WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek, was shot twice Saturday night as she turned to get her two young children out of her car.
Newton King and her children had just returned from her native Detroit when she was shot with a small-caliber gun as the youngsters remained strapped into their car seats. Her husband, Bradford King, a former police officer, discovered the body in the driveway, Olson said.
Authorities were not ...
Slain anchorwoman had received threats
Article from: Chicago Sun-Times
Article date: February 12, 1991
Author: Lisa Perlman
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4040064.html
MARSHALL, Mich. - A television anchorwoman who was shot to death in her driveway had received threatening calls and a letter from a rebuffed male admirer, but investigators didn't rule out other suspects Monday.
Diane Newton King of WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek was shot twice Saturday night as she turned to get her two children out of her car.
Police searched the farmhouse where Newton King, 34, and her husband, former police officer Bradford King, lived with their son, 3, and daughter, 3 months.
Investigators also searched weed-choked fields around the home in Fredonia Township in southern Michigan.
Newton King, who had just returned from her native Detroit, was shot with a small-caliber ...
TV Anchor Is Shot Dead After Threatening Calls
Article from: The Washington Post
Article date: February 12, 1991
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1049029.html
Diane Newton King, a television anchor haunted by threatening calls and a letter from a rebuffed and anonymous male admirer, was shot to death in her driveway, and investigators yesterday did not rule out other suspects.
Police said Newton King, 34, of WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek, was shot twice Saturday night as she turned to get her two young children from ...
CLUES SOUGHT IN SLAYING OF TV ANCHORWOMAN
Daily News of Los Angeles (CA)
Published on February 12, 1991
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LA&p_theme=la&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EF61221F4B9E894&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
Investigators and volunteers combed boggy woodlands and fields Monday searching for clues to the slaying of a television anchor, gunned down in front of her two small children. Diane Newton King was killed Saturday evening in the driveway of her rural Calhoun County home as she started to remove her children from their car seats. Newton King, 34, was hit twice with slugs from a small-caliber gun. Her son, 3, and daughter, 3 months, were uninjured. An unknown admirer reportedly harassed...
TV Anchor Is Slain in Michigan
Published: February 12, 1991
The New York Times
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEEDE133EF931A25751C0A967958260
A television anchor who had received threatening calls and a letter from a rebuffed male admirer was shot to death in her driveway, but investigators today did not rule out other suspects.
The anchor, Diane Newton King of WUHQ in Battle Creek, was shot twice Saturday night as she turned to get her two children out of her car.
The police searched the farmhouse where Ms. Newton King, 34 years old, and her husband, Bradford King, a former police officer, lived with their 3-year-old son and 3-month-old daughter.
Investigators also searched weed-choked fields around the home and nearby woods where the woman's husband said he was walking when she was shot about 6 P.M. in Fredonia Township in southern Michigan.
Ms. Newton King and her children had just returned from Detroit when she was shot with a small-caliber gun as the youngsters remained strapped into their car seats. Her husband discovered the body in the driveway, Sheriff Jon Olson said at a news conference.
The authorities were not limiting their search for a suspect to the person who sent Ms. Newton King an anonymous threatening note months earlier, Mr. Olsen said.
Sheriff's deputies last year investigated threats against Ms. Newton King but made no arrests.
About two weeks ago, Ms. Newton King mentioned in a telephone conversation with Jan Hammer, general manager of Colorado TV station KJCT, that a man had been harassing her. Ms. Newton King had worked for KJCT before moving to WUHQ two years ago.
Mark Crawford, vice president at WUHQ, said the station informed the authorities about harassing phone calls and a letter at the time.
Ms. Newton King's husband told the police he was walking through the woods at the time of the shooting. Mr. Olson said Mr. King heard shots but thought nothing of it since the area was frequented by hunters.
Mr. King, who is now a criminal justice instructor at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, has not been formally questioned as a suspect, Mr. Olson said.
TV Anchorwoman slain in driveway
Anderson Herald-Bulletin
February 12, 1991
Diane King harassed by letters, phone calls
The Marshall Chronicle
February 12, 1991
TV anchorwoman slain after receiving threats
The Gazette - Eastern Iowa
February 12, 1991
TV anchorwoman slain in her driveway
Rebuffed man had threatened her by phone and letter
The Orange County Register
February 12, 1991
POLICE HAVE SUSPECT, FIND RIFLE IN TV ANCHOR'S SLAYING
Source: Associated Press
Published on February 13, 1991, Page 2A
San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Police think they know who killed a television anchorwoman outside her home in front of her two young children, and say they have found the murder weapon. Diane Newton King "had a personal relationship" with the person who shot her Saturday night outside her rural home, Calhoun County Sheriff Jon Olson said. "He knew her and she knew him," Olson said Tuesday. "I think we have the individual. It now becomes a question of being able...
MURDER WEAPON IS FOUND
Source: Compiled from Eagle news services
Lori Linenberger
Published on February 13, 1991, Page 8A,
Wichita Eagle, The (KS)
MARSHALL, Mich. - The gun used to kill a television anchorwoman who was haunted by a male admirer was found and the investigation has narrowed to one suspect, a sheriff's spokeswoman said Tuesday. Diane Newton King of WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek was shot twice Saturday night in the driveway of her farmhouse. Calhoun County Sheriff's spokesman Robin Ivey would not say whether the suspect is the anonymous admirer who harassed Newton King last year...
Gun used in anchorwoman slaying found
The Galveston Daily News
February 13, 1991
Authorities find gun used to kill anchorwoman, focus on 1 suspect
Anderson Herald Bulletin
February 13, 1991
Sheriff Department find murder weapon
The Marshall Chronicle
February 13, 1991
ANCHORWOMAN'S FUNERAL
Published on February 14, 1991.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Battle Creek, Mich., television station where slain anchorwoman Diane Newton King worked closed for business yesterday as friends and family paid their last respects and police narrowed their search for the killer of the former Grand Junction television reporter. About 100 people attended King's funeral at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Marshall. Police said yesterday no arrests had been made in her slaying, but a suspect had been identified. Calhoun County Sheriff... 93 words, Rocky Mountain News (CO)
Olson narrows list of suspects to one
The Marshall Chronicle
February 14, 1991
Gun found in slaying of TV newswoman
The Stars and Stripes
February 14, 1991
Precautions didn't save threatened anchor's life
Chronicle-Telegram
February 16, 1991
Arrest in King murder not expected until middle of week
The Marshall Chronicle
February 16, 1991
Anchorwoman feared for her life
The Stars and Stripes
February 17, 1991
Sheriff looking for owner of King murder weapon
The Marshall Chronicle
March 09, 1991
Husband of slain TV anchorwoman arrested in connection with killing
Former cop linked to fatal shooting by gun, boots
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO)
February 1, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
The husband of a television anchorwoman who was fatally shot nearly a year ago at her home near Marshall, Mich., was arrested Friday in Denver in connection with the slaying.
Bradford King was arrested at 7:25 a.m. while driving out of his southeast Denver apartment complex, accompanied by his two children.
He was taken to Denver City Jail, where he was held on a murder warrant out of Calhoun County, Mich. He is awaiting arraignment and an extradition hearing in connection with the shooting of Diane King.
Since the shooting, Bradford King, a former police officer and college criminology instructor, had moved from Michigan to Denver.
Diane King, 34, was shot twice Feb. 9, 1991, as she stepped from her vehicle at her rural home just outside Marshall. She was the morning news anchor for Battle Creek's WUHQ-TV, and formerly worked as a TV news anchor in Grand Junction, and as a research assistant for a Denver public television station.
Her body was found by her husband, who told police he had been walking in the woods behind their Fredonia Township home.
Bradford King told authorities he heard shots while on his walk but thought nothing of it since the area is frequented by hunters. Police found a .22-caliber rifle and seven spent shell casings on the property.
It had been speculated that an obsessed fan was responsible for the killing.
Diane King had feared for her life before the shooting, Freida Newton said after her daughter was killed. Newton said her daughter received a threatening letter in October 1990 that was made of letters cut from newspapers and magazines. The letter followed several telephone calls from an anonymous admirer.
Police investigated the threat, but turned up no suspects.
According to an affidavit, Michigan authorities had evidence implicating the victim's husband within two days of the shooting.
Investigators recovered from a stream near the King residence a .22-caliber Remington Model 511 Scoremaster rifle. Lab tests showed the slugs that hit Diane King in the chest and abdomen were fired from the weapon. Two relatives of Bradford King said they saw a similar weapon in his possession.
In addition, the affidavit states, Michigan authorities found boot prints near where the rifle was found that matched boots Bradford King was wearing at the time of the murder.
Husband of slain anchor is arrested
TV newswoman killed a year ago
Houston Chronicle
FEBRUARY 1, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
DETROIT -- Almost a year after TV news anchor Diane Newton King of Battle Creek, Mich., was gunned down in front of her two small children, her husband was arrested Friday on a murder charge in the ambush slaying.
Bradford King, a former Pontiac police officer and criminal justice instructor, was taken into custody as he left an apartment in Denver, Colo., with his children.
"We're all just so relieved," said Gordon Marler, Diane King's brother. "We knew this was going to take time. We wanted to get all the evidence together."
Diane King, 34, was shot twice as she got out of her Jeep station wagon at her farmhouse outside Marshall at sunset on Feb. 9, 1991. She had returned from visiting her mother in Sterling Heights. She bled to death on the ground in front of her 3-year-old son and a 3-month-old daughter.
Bradford King told police he discovered his wife when he returned from a walk in the woods. Investigators focused on him almost from the start but were unable to gather enough evidence to charge him.
In a terse news release Friday morning, Calhoun County Prosecutor Jon Sahli and Sheriff Jon Olson said only that a warrant had been issued and an unnamed suspect arrested in Colorado.
But Sgt. Doug Hildebrandt of Denver said King was arrested at an apartment complex.
"He was in the process of moving, and he was arrested without incident," Hildebrandt said. "He was being evicted and was picking up some of his things. His children were with him and they have been turned over to social services."
King, 41, is in custody pending his arraignment. His departure from Colorado could come as early as Monday but might be delayed if he chooses to fight extradition.
Diane King was a newscaster for WUHQ-TV, and authorities thought she could have been the victim of an obsessed fan.
Investigators said she had been scared by a threatening message she received at work, made up of words clipped from newspapers and magazines. She and her husband worked out an elaborate security routine to make sure no one was following her.
Her parents said she would circle the house in her vehicle and would not get out alone unless she was given an all-clear by her husband.
According to an affidavit from investigators, Michigan authorities had evidence implicating him within two days of the shooting:
A .22-caliber Remington Model 511 Scoremaster rifle was found in a stream near the home, and lab tests matched it with the slugs that killed Diane King.
MAN MAY FIGHT EXTRADITION TO MICHIGAN IN WIFE'S DEATH
USA TODAY
February 1, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
A lawyer said Saturday that Bradford King may fight extradition from Colorado to Michigan in connection with the death of his wife until it is decided who gets custody of his two young children.
King told Calhoun County sheriff's deputies he returned from a walk to find his wife, Diane King, lying in the driveway of their house Feb. 9, 1991. She has been shot twice. The couple's children, Marler, then age 3, and Kateri, 3 months, were still in the family car and were not harmed.
King, 45, is expected to be arraigned Monday in Denver, Colo., on a charge of murder. He was arrested Friday and was being held in Denver City Jail.
The children also were with King when he was arrested Friday in his Denver driveway. They were taken to the Crisis Center in Denver until custody is determined.
Lawyer James S. Brady of Grand Rapids said King wants the children placed with his brother or close friends in Colorado.
"He wants to keep them away from (Diane King's) parents," Brady said.
Diane King's mother and stepfather, Freida and Royal Newton of Sterling Heights, flew to Denver Friday to try to win custody of the children.
Police recovered a .22-caliber rifle from a creek not far from the King house.
King, a former police officer in Pontiac and criminal justice instructor at Western Michigan University, moved to Colorado with his children in June.
Brady said King was trying to begin a career in the insurance industry but did not know where he was working.
The Kings had been married four years. They had moved to Battle Creek in 1989 when Diane King was hired as the morning anchor by a local television station.
Ocala Star-Banner
February 01, 1992
The Albany Herald [GA]
February 01, 1992
Man being held in wife's murder
Shooting: The TV anchorwoman was killed last February as she stepped from her car at home
The Register-Guard
Eugene, Oregon
Saturday, February 01, 1992
Marshall, Mich. - Nearly a year after a television news anchorwoman was shot to death outside her home, authorities in Denver arrested her husband as the prime suspect Friday.
Bradford King was held in Denver pending arraignment and an extradition hearing, said Robin Ivey, administrative assistant to Calhoun County, Mich., Sheriff Jon Olson.
Diane Newton King, 34 was shot twice Feb. 9, 1991, as she stepped from her car at her rural home. Her husband reported finding her body. The couple's 3-month-old daughter and 3-year-old son were found still strapped into their car seats. King and the children moved to Denver after the killing.
Ivey declined to comment on why the arrest wasn't made until a year later. She referred the question to Calhoun County Prosecutor John Sahil. A woman who answered the telephone at Sahil's office said Sahil could not be reached for comment.
King told police he had been walking in the woods behind their home when he found his wife's body. He told authorities he heard shots while on his walk but thought nothing of it since the area is frequented by hunters.
An affidavit filed in Denver said Michigan authorities had evidence implicating Bradford King within two days of the shooting.
Lab tests showed the bullets that killed Diane King were fired from a .22-caliber rifle recovered from a creek near the King residence.
Two relatives of Bradford King said they saw a similar weapon in his possession. King's brother said their father bought King a .22-caliber rifle.
Although Bradford King told police he owned only a shotgun, police found .22-caliber rifle shells and a cleaning kit in a gun cabinet in their home.
In addition, the affidavit says, Michigan authorities found boot prints near where the rifle was found that matched boots Bradford King was wearing at the time of the killing.
Before the arrest, it had been widely speculated that an obsessed fan who in 1990 had harassed Diane King a morning news anchor for Battle Creek's WUHQ-TV, was responsible for the killing.
Diane King's mother, Freida Newton, said her daughter had feared for her life after receiving a threatening letter and several telephone calls from an anonymous admirer. Police investigated the threat, but turned up no suspects.
Diane King later bought a guard dog, installed security lights and routinely drove around the farmhouse checking windows when she arrived home from work. She often honked for her husband to escort her to the front door, Newton said.
After King's arrest, Diane King's mother and stepfather left for Denver to get the children.
Police arrest husband of slain anchorwoman
The Ironwood Daily Globe
February 01, 1992
Man held year after wife's death
Winnipeg Free Press
February 01, 1992
Husband of TV anchorwoman who was fatally shot, was arrested today
Chronicle-Telegram
February 01, 1992
Husband arrested year after shooting
Daily Herald
February 01, 1992
Man arrested in fatal shooting of TV-anchor wife
The Orange County Register
February 01, 1992
Husband arrested in Diane King murder
Marshall Chronicle
February 01, 1992
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Spouse arrested in anchorwoman's death
The Gazette
February 01, 1992
Husband of TV anchorwoman arrested
Aiken Standard
February 01, 1992
Husband of slain anchorwoman arrested
The Galveston Daily News
February 01, 1992
Husband arrested year after shooting
Daily Herald
February 01, 1992
Newswoman's widow held
Husband arrested as prime suspect in TV anchor's slaying
Daily News-Record
February 01, 1992
Slain anchorwoman domineering, friends say
Husband arrested in shotgun slaying
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO)
February 2, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
MARSHALL, Mich. - People who knew Bradford King describe him as a fun-loving guy who liked to tell jokes. But they said he lived in the shadow of his career-minded wife, slain anchorwoman Diane King.
Bradford King, arrested in Denver on Friday, is charged with murder in the shotgun slaying of his wife last Feb. 9.
"He was really likeable, especially at first, and warmed up to people real well," said Mike Moran, news director at KJCT, the television station in Grand Junction where Diane King worked from 1987 to 1989. She was morning news anchor for Battle Creek's WUHQ-TV at the time of her death.
"He had a pleasant demeanor and a terrific sense of humor," Moran said.
But Moran told the Battle Creek Enquirer in a story Saturday that Bradford King, a 45-year-old former police officer and criminal justice instructor, was dominated by his wife.
Diane could be "up front, abrasive and pushy. Anything you could describe a domineering person was Diane all the way," Moran said.
He said the 34-year-old newswoman was on a mission and sought to rise in broadcast journalism. She hoped to some day own a radio station and make educational films about Native Americans.
Bradford King's attorney, James Brady of Grand Rapids, said his client was a "convenient scapegoat" for an unsolvable crime.
"He is absolutely innocent," Brady told The Grand Rapids Press in a story Saturday. "We don't know what happened, and I don't think (police) know what happened.
Bradford King was arrested without incident at 9:50 a.m. Friday and taken to the Denver City Jail, where he is awaiting extradition proceedings.
Diane King was shot to death in the driveway of her Fredonia Township home as she tried to remove the children from the back seat of her Jeep Wagoneer.
Jones said the Kings' children, 4-year-old Marler and 1-year-old Kateri, who were living with their father at the time of his arrest, were taken into protective custody at the scene.
Diane King's mother and stepfather, Freida and Royal Newton of Sterling Heights, and her sister, Denise Verrier of Mount Clemens, flew Friday to Denver to attempt to win custody of the children.
DIANE KING'S CAREER AND MARRIAGE SEEMED SOLID - UNTIL A BULLET CUT EVERYTHING SHORT
Rocky Mountain News
February 2, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
A family shattered: Diane King is dead, her husband, Brad King, is in jail, and their children are in a foster home.
And friends of the Michigan anchorwoman and her ex-cop husband are wondering what went wrong.
After launching a TV journalism career in Denver and Grand Junction in the mid-1980s, Diane King, 34, moved on to Battle Creek, Mich. It was at her home near there that she was gunned down nearly a year ago.
Brad King was arrested in Denver Friday in connection with the murder.
"I got a phone call from Brad the day after the murder," said KCNC Channel 4 anchor Reynelda Muse, who was a mentor to Diane King. "He called very distraught and wanted to talk to me. . . . He didn't know who could have done it."
Brad King, 45, has refused requests for an interview. But his attorney, James Brady of Grand Rapids, said his client is a "convenient scapegoat" for an unsolvable crime.
While friends say they didn't see friction between the couple, they said that Diane King was extremely aggressive and her husband was meekly accommodating.
"I did not know of any marital problems at all, but Diane was a person who could push you to the edge," said Mike Moran, news director at KJCT in Grand Junction, where Diane King worked until 1989. "She was not afraid to tear into me. She'd do that often. She was not afraid to tell you exactly what she thought.
"I could see how that would wear on a husband," Moran said.
But her aggressive nature helped make King a success in her career.
"What impressed me about Diane was her aggressiveness, her tenaciousness," Muse said. King came to Muse in 1985 at age 28, looking to leave the military and get into TV news.
"Nothing that I said to her deterred her. She was a woman who knew what she wanted," Muse said.
Brad King shone in his own field. He received many commendations and letters for service above and beyond the call of duty during his 14 years as a Pontiac, Mich., police officer.
In 1983, he quit his job to move to Chicago and take a position with est, a personal growth movement. Friends said Diane King was also an est enthusiast, and that may be where the two met.
When his wife's career took the family to Michigan, Brad King taught criminology and sociology at a couple of schools, including Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
It figures, say newscaster's ex-colleagues
Husband's arrest no surprise
The Denver Post
February 2, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Two co-workers of a former Colorado newscaster slain in her Michigan driveway a year ago said yesterday they weren't surprised her husband was arrested Friday in Denver as the prime suspect.
"If anyone could push you to the brink of doing something like that, it would be her," said Mike Moran, news director at KJCT-TV in Grand Junction. "We didn't really get along, and I really didn't feel that badly (when I learned she had died). She was really, really strong-willed and constantly was having personality conflicts with other people in the newsroom, including me."
Diane Newton King, a newscaster for KJCT-TV from February 1987 through February 1989, was shot twice with a .22-caliber rifle last Feb. 9 in the driveway of her home in Calhoun County, Mich. King was a newscaster for WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek.
Debbie Rich, a family friend, said she confronted Bradford King after the killing.
"I asked him one time after Diane was killed whether he killed her," said Rich, who worked with Diane King at the Grand Junction station. "He said `no,' but it wasn't a definite `no.' It was more like, `Don't you believe me?"'
King, 45, an ex-cop and criminal justice instructor, remained in Denver City Jail yesterday, awaiting his first appearance before a judge. No bond has been set.
Rich said King seemed happy in his marriage, untroubled by his wife's career-oriented approach to life and willing to play second-fiddle to her.
"He just seemed like a pleasant, friendly, mellow guy who liked to hear and tell jokes," Moran said.
But Rich said she was startled by how much he seemed to have changed when she spoke with him by phone several times after the slaying.
In those conversations, Rich said, "he wasn't the Brad I knew here. He just seemed to have some off-the-wall ideas. It kind of sounded like he'd flipped."
She said King told her he was writing a book about how American colleges have been producing criminals. "It just sounded pretty weird to me."
Moran said Diane King had a "domineering, pushy, aggressive" personality.
"He (Brad) was definitely Mr. Diane King, and her career came first in that family," Rich said.
The Kings' children, a 1-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy, were taken to the Denver Family Crisis Center. Their grandparents are expected to seek custody of them.
The children were strapped into car seats in the family car and witnessed the killing, Michigan officials have said. Bradford King was sitting on the porch of the house when police arrived.
King reportedly told police he was walking in the nearby woods at the time of the killing. But police said they believe the rifle used in the crime may have belonged to him. It was found two days later in a creek behind the house.
Police also have said tread on a pair of boots found in the King home appears similar to footprints on the banks of the creek.
King was arrested early Friday at the Tamarac Apartments, 3300 S. Tamarac Drive, where he lived with his two children. King moved back to Denver last June.
Extradition waived in death of anchor
Ex-prof charged with killing wife
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO)
February 5, 1992
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DENVER - A former criminology professor agreed Tuesday to waive extradition to Michigan, where he is charged in the slaying of his TV anchor wife as their two children looked on.
At a hearing before Denver County Judge Larry Bohning on Tuesday, Bradford King, 45, said he would not fight extradition proceedings to Calhoun County, Mich., where he is charged with killing his wife.
Bohning stayed the extradition order so King could attend a custody hearing Tuesday afternoon in Denver Juvenile Court for King's two children, aged 4 years and 15 months.
During the hearing, Magistrate Melvin Okamoto ordered the Denver Department of Social Services to maintain custody of the children until Friday so the agency can investigate King's out-of-state relatives to determine who will get custody.
King was arrested in Denver on Friday on charges stemming from the Feb. 9, 1991, slaying of his wife. Diane King, 34, was shot to death in the driveway of their Fredonia Township, Mich., home. The children, strapped in their car seats, witnessed the slaying but were unharmed.
Diane King worked for KJCT-TV in Grand Junction before taking a morning anchor job in Battle Creek, Mich.
TV STATION NEWS DIRECTOR LOSES HIS JOB OVER REMARKS
Rocky Mountain News (CO)
February 5, 1992
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The news director for Grand Junction television station KJCT was fired Tuesday morning for disparaging statements he made about murder victim Diane King, a former employee at the station.
"Diane was a person who could push you to the edge," Moran had said, describing her as pushy and strong-willed. King, who worked at KJCT from 1987 to 1989, was shot at her home near Battle Creek, Mich., nearly a year ago.
"I'd say it all again," said Moran, who had been news director for 4 1/2 years.
"Someone needed to tell a little bit more of the truth."
Station manager Jan Hammer said Moran was fired because "of statements previously and currently made toward Diane King and other past statements in violation of company policy."
Wife-slay suspect wages custody fight
The Denver Post
February 5, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Bradford King, a former criminology professor suspected of murdering his wife, is battling to have temporary custody of their two small children awarded to his friends instead of the victim's parents.
King agreed yesterday to voluntarily return to Calhoun County, Mich., where he is suspected in the shooting death of his wife, Diane Newton King. A 34-year-old television anchorwoman, she was gunned down in the driveway of their home.
King, 45, then asked a Denver Juvenile Court judge to
temporarily place his children with his friends in Englewood.
Diane King's mother and stepfather, Royal and Frieda Newton, flew in from Michigan to challenge his request and to seek custody of the children. Each side waged its arguments before Magistrate Melvin Okamoto.
Through his attorney, Bernard Messer, King asserted he was made legal guardian of the children by Michigan courts after his wife was killed last Feb. 9. As guardian, King claimed, he has the authority to designate who should care for his children, Marler Robert, 31/2, and Kateri, 15 months.
King moved to Denver in June 1991. No charges have yet been filed against the 45-year-old former police officer.
The Newtons' attorney, Frank Moya, said his clients were granted temporary custody of the two children immediately after Diane King's murder. Under the care of their maternal grandparents, they enjoyed five weeks in a "warm and nurturing environment," Moya said.
Assistant Denver City Attorney Chris Mootz argued that the children should remain at the city's Family Crisis Center under the care of the Denver Department of Social Services until social workers decide what's best for them. Okamoto agreed.
But the magistrate said he wanted the matter expedited. He scheduled a hearing for 4 p.m., Friday, when he will receive a progress report.
Immediately after the hearing, Moya filed a motion in Denver District Court requesting that the Newtons be given temporary custody. He said the grandparents can provide love and affection, which "will be beneficial to (the children's) mental and physical health."
A hearing for that motion was scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday in Denver District Court.
Bradford King, through his attorney, has adamantly objected to his children being placed with the Newtons.
Messer claimed they've made statements holding Bradford King responsible for their daughter's death. Placing the children with the Newtons, Messer claimed, would "poison" their relationship with their father.
Messer also maintained that King was not guilty of the murder, saying the case against his client is "half-baked."
King said nothing during his court appearances. He remained silent as he walked down the courthouse halls, surrounded by deputy sheriffs.
Originally, police believed Diane King might have been killed by a crazed television viewer.
Less than two weeks before she was killed, she told her former boss at Grand Junction's KJCT-TV, Jan Hammer, that "things are fine except for some nut calling me periodically."
She said she had received calls from a man interested in breaking into broadcasting. After she declined invitation to have lunch with him, she said, she received a letter saying she'd be sorry.
At the time of her death, King was a news anchor for Battle Creek's WUHQ-TV.
The Marshall Chronicle
February 05, 1992
SLUR AGAINST SLAY VICTIM COSTS JOURNALIST HIS JOB
Salt Lake Tribune
February 6, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- The news director for television station KJCT has been fired over remarks he made about murder victim Diane King, a former employee at the station.
Mike Moran was fired after he said,
``Diane was a person who could push you over the edge,'' and described her as pushy and strong-willed.
``I'd say it all again,'' said Moran. ``Someone needed to tell a little bit more of the truth.''
Station manager Jan Hammer said Moran was fired because his statements violated policy.
King, who worked at the station from 1987 to 1989, was shot and killed at her home near Battle Creek, Mich., nearly a year ago.
Attorney: 4-year-old son of slain TV newswoman says his father didn't do it
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO)
February 7, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
The 4-year-old son of a slain television newswoman says he saw who shot Diane Newton King and it wasn't his father, an attorney said Thursday.
Bradford King was arrested in Denver last Friday in connection with his wife's death in Fredonia Township, Mich., nearly a year ago. He was jailed pending extradition to Michigan on an open charge of murder and a charge of using a firearm in a felony.
But the only witnesses to the Feb. 9, 1991, shooting were the Kings' children, Marler, then 3 years old, and Kateri, then 3 months old. The children were still strapped into the back seat when their mother was shot twice as she stepped from the Jeep Wagoneer. Neither child was harmed.
Marler has told at least three playmates in Colorado that he saw two men kill his mother, said Bernard Messer, King's attorney in Denver.
"He told them he saw two people, two men. He described them and said he saw them leave separately and that neither of them was his father," Messer said.
However, investigators have said King was the sole suspect.
Marler apparently disagreed with the police version of the shooting all along, but only recently has that information been made public.
"There's a reason why," Messer said. "There's been an inclination to keep this confidential, but because the boy's grandparents are pushing for custody there is the fear that they may try to change the child's story."
The Denver Department of Social Services has custody of the children pending a juvenile court hearing today to determine whether Marler and Kateri should be turned over to Diane King's mother and stepfather.
Bradford King , a former sociology and criminology instructor at Western Michigan University and former Pontiac police officer, has asked that his brother or close friends in Colorado get custody.
Diane King, 34, was morning news anchor for WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek, Mich., and previously was a news anchor for KJCT-TV in Grand Junction.
LAWYER: BOY SAW TV ANCHOR'S KILLER
Rocky Mountain News
February 7, 1992
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The Denver attorney for the Michigan man accused of killing his anchorwoman wife says the couple's 3-year-old boy witnessed it all - and said his daddy didn't do it.
Bradford King, 45, remains jailed in Denver on a Michigan murder warrant. A judge today will decide who gets custody of Marler, now 4, and Kateri, 15 months, the children of Bradford and Diane Newton King.
Diane King, 34, was killed by gunfire at the couple's rural Michigan home near Battle Creek nearly a year ago. The newscaster was an anchor at station WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek after having worked several years in Colorado.
Bradford King was arrested a week ago.
Evidence never released, said attorney Bernard Messer, is that Marler King saw the killing and said there were two men involved. Neither was his father, the child has said, according to Messer.
"He describes them in some detail - as much as you can expect from a child," Messer said. "It's clear that it was not his dad. That is extremely important evidence."
So important that Messer will argue in a custody hearing today that Diane King's parents shouldn't get custody of the two kids. The couple have said they believe King killed their daughter.
"We would like the child to remain in a neutral setting," Messer said. ''If they want to argue that his story is a fabrication, they certainly can do that. But we do not want him to change that story."
It's questionable whether a child that young could accurately testify, and Michigan police claim that the fatal shot came from a hayloft in a barn above Diane King's vehicle. The King children were still in their car seats at the time.
GRANDPARENTS SPLIT CUSTODY OF KING CHILDREN
JUDGE IGNORES REMARKS BY SUSPECT'S ATTORNEY ON SLAIN WIFE'S PARENTS
Rocky Mountain News (CO)
February 8, 1992
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Amid allegations of abuse and drunkenness, a Denver Juvenile Court judge Friday ordered grandparents to split custody of the two children of slain Michigan television anchorwoman Diane King, whose husband has been arrested in her death.
Diane King's parents will have the children, ages 1 and 4, for three days, and Bradford King's parents have them for three days prior to a hearing Friday over permanent custody arrangements, Magistrate Melvin Okamoto ordered Friday.
Okamoto disregarded allegations raised by Bradford King's lawyer, Bernard Messer, that Diane King's family was tainted by alcoholism, run-ins with the law and an incident of sexual assault involving her stepfather.
Okamoto said be thought all the relatives were "fine people" with "the purest of motives and strongest of love and commitment" for the children. In explaining his custody arrangement, he said, "I give you one final order: That is to give these children plenty of hugs and kisses and let them know they are loved by both sides of the family and always will have that."
Frank Moya, attorney for Diane King's parents, Reida and Royal Newton of Michigan, said the allegations were "scurrilous" and challenged Messer to support them.
Messer denied to reporters that he raised these points as a ploy to gain custody for Bernard King's parents, Cliff and Marge Lundeen of Texas. He said he thought the judge should be aware of it and was prepared to call a witness to back up the allegations.
On Thursday, Messer told reporters 4-year-old Marler King told friends he witnessed his mother's shooting and that it was done by two men, neither of them his father.
Both children were strapped in their car seats Diane King's Jeep when she was killed at the Kings' Michigan farmhouse Feb. 9, 1991.
But the boy's story appears to conflict with physical evidence, Michigan police say. The fatal shot came from a hayloft in a barn above Diane King's vehicle, and thus could not have been seen by the children, police said.
A spent .22-caliber casing was found in the loft.
Bradford King, 45, a former police officer and criminology instructor at Western Michigan University, had asked that close friends in Englewood get custody of his children. The Denver Department of Social Services took custody of the children, who were with their father when he was arrested last week.
Before moving to her native Michigan and working as a morning news anchor for a Battle Creek station, Diane King worked as a research assistant at KRMA- Channel 6 in Denver and as a news anchor at KJCT-TV in Grand Junction.
Judge postpones custody hearing on King children for a week
Marshall Chronicle
February 08, 1992
GOSSIP SUBSIDES IN KING MURDER
SMALL MICHIGAN TOWN WHERE ANCHORWOMAN WAS SHOT QUIETS DOWN AFTER HUSBAND'S ARREST
Rocky Mountain News
February 9, 1992
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The shooting death of a local television news personality shocked this closely knit town. The who-done-it rumors began immediately.
A year later, Diane Newton King's husband - a former police officer and
college criminology and sociology instructor - has been arrested and the town gossip suddenly hushed.
Marshall is a southern Michigan town of 7,201 that is better characterized by its antique shops and summer antique car shows than its crimes. Michigan Avenue, the town's main strip, is lined with trees and all-American brick storefronts.
At Winston's Pub, barkeep Campbell Stephenson knows the usual drinks and stories of his regular customers. He also knows just about everything about the murder of Diane King and recent arrest in Denver of her husband, Bradford King.
"The general feeling around here now is really hush, hush," he said, stacking beer mugs. "You know as I do that in a small town there's going to be rumors. Once the trial gets under way then every-one'll be talkative again. Now, though, everything is real hush, hush."
King, 34, was the morning news anchor for WUHQ-TV in nearby Battle Creek for two years. On the evening of Feb. 9, 1991, she was shot twice as she stepped from her Jeep Wagoneer in the gravel driveway of the farmhouse the Kings had rented just outside Marshall.
Cherie Riser was finishing her shift at the National House Inn, a bed and breakfast near downtown, the morning she learned of the murder. She immediately telephoned her son Brett, then 9.
"My son and I watched Diane every morning at 8:25 before he'd go off to school. I guess it was like she was one of us," she said. "The morning I heard she died, I was here at work about 7 a.m. I ran to the phone to call Brett at home to tell him before he saw it on TV. That would have been awful."
The murder brought Marshall national media attention. Some 350 people attended the Feb. 13 funeral. Campbell said he let a camera crew from the television program Inside Edition plug in their equipment at the bar around the corner from the church.
"A little while later, some people came in here and said they had read about Marshall, Michigan, in the New York Times," Campbell said.
Bradford King, 45, told police he had been walking in the woods nearby when he heard gunshots - a common sound in the area frequented by hunters.
He said he found his wife dead in the driveway, their children unharmed and still strapped in the Jeep's back seat.
Police found a .22-caliber rifle in a stream behind the home. Ballistics tests later proved it to be the weapon used to kill Diane King. Within days, Calhoun County Sheriff Jon Olson and Prosecutor John Sahli said the investigation focused on a single suspect they refused to identify. But there was no arrest until last week, and authorities have refused to comment on the investigation.
So residents speculated.
Some rumors focused on alleged affairs involving both Kings, others on problems with the investigation. Several television and newspaper stories focused on an anonymous fan who sent Diane King a threatening letter made from
cut-up magazines. One day the sheriff's department was flooded with calls from people saying they heard a local businessman had been arrested in the case.
Most of the speculation centered on Bradford King.
Then came his arrest in Denver on Jan. 31. The arrest warrant charged him with murder and using a firearm in commission of a felony. King denies the charges and has waived extradition to Michigan, where he faces up to life imprisonment if convicted.
The Kings had been married four years and had two children. King is fighting to keep the Denver Department of Social Services from granting his in-laws custody of Marler, 4, and Kateri, 1.
Before taking the job in Battle Creek, Diane King worked as a news anchor for KJCT-TV in Grand Junction, Colo., and as a research assistant for a Denver public television station.
Earlier this week, KJCT news director Mike Moran was fired for his public comments about Diane King, whom he had described as pushy, abrasive and strong-willed. Moran told one newspaper that Bradford King was dominated by his wife.
King spent 14 years with the police department in Pontiac, where he earned several meritorious citations and letters of commendation, said Sgt. Gordon Bovee. Between 1969 and 1983, King worked as a patrolman, a training coordinator and as a school counselor in the department's youth section.
"When I first hired on, I worked with Brad on patrol," Bovee said. "He was very quiet and reserved, kind of laid back. Brad was very congenial. He had a good temperament. Not much bothered him."
He also worked a short time at the Calhoun County Community Mental Health Department. His former supervisor, John Seita, said King was a social worker who arranged services for developmentally disabled clients.
King taught several sociology and criminology courses at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo between fall 1989 and winter 1991 before moving to Colorado in June.
"I think when they first caught him, there was this collective sigh of relief, like, 'Oh, they finally caught him. We're safe now,' " said Stephenson, the bartender.
"You know, what really gets me is how someone could do that in front of those children," said the 34-year-old father of two. "Once you have children, you realize why we're here."
HUSBAND DENIES KILLING NEWSWOMAN
Times Union, The (Albany, NY)
February 11, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
A year after television news anchorwoman Diane Newton King was shot dead within a few feet of her two young children, the who-done-it rumors have suddenly stopped.
Her husband, a former police officer and criminologist, was arrested Jan. 31 in Colorado. He was extradited Monday to Michigan.
"All along really, I think everyone suspected him," said Campbell Stephenson, who keeps his ear to the grapevine as barkeeper at Winston's Pub off Michigan Avenue, a tree- lined thoroughfare of brick storefronts.
Marshall, a southern Michigan town of 7,200 residents about 110 miles west of Detroit, is known more for its antiques shops and summer antique-car shows than for crime.
Diane King, 34, a morning news anchor for WUHQ-TV in nearby Battle Creek, was shot twice Feb. 9, 1991, as she stepped from her Jeep Wagoneer in the gravel driveway of the Kings' rented farmhouse just outside town.
Their then 3-month-old daughter, Kateri, and 3-year-old son, Marler, were found unharmed, still strapped into their car seats.
Bradford King, 45, told police he was talking in the woods behind the house when he heard gunshots but thought nothing of it since the area is frequented by hunters. He said he later came across his wife's body.
Authorities have declined to comment about why they took so long to arrest King, who said he moved to Denver with his children last June to avoid repeated police questioning. An affidavit said Michigan authorities had evidence implicating him two days after the killing.
The warrant charged him with murder and using a firearm in commission of a felony. King, who says he's innocent, last week waived extradition to Michigan, where he faces up to life imprisonment if convicted. He was flown to Kalamazoo on Monday and driven to Calhoun County jail in Marshall.
An arraignment was set for today.
In Denver on Friday, a juvenile court judge divided temporary custody of the children between their paternal and maternal grandparents.
Year after anchorman's slaying, no more rumors about who done it
Times-News
February 11, 1992
Marshall, Mich.- A year after television news anchorwoman Diane Newton King was shot dead within a few feet of her two young children, the who-done-it rumors have suddenly stopped.
Her husband, a former police officer and criminologist, was arrested Jan. 31, in Colorado.
"All along really, I think everyone suspected him," said Campbell Stephenson, who keeps his ear to the grapevine as barkeeper at Winston's Pub off Michigan Avenue, a tree-lined thoroughfare of brick storefronts.
Marshall, a southern Michigan town of 7,200 residents about 110 miles west of Detroit, is known more for its antique shops and antique-car shows than for crime.
Mrs. King, 34, a morning news anchor for WUHQ-TV in nearby Battle Creek, was shot twice Feb. 9, 1991, as she stepped from her Jeep Wagoneer in the gravel driveway of the King's rented farmhouse just outside town.
Their then 3-month-old daughter, Kateri, and 3-year-old son, Marler, were found unharmed, still strapped into their car seats.
Bradford king, 45, told police he was walking in the woods behind the house when he heard gunshots but thought nothing of it since the area is frequented by hunters. He said he later came across his wife's body.
Authorities have declined to comment about why they took so long to arrest King, who said he moved to Denver with his children last June to avoid repeated police questioning. An affidavit said Michigan authorities had evidence implicating him two days after the killing.
The warrant charged him with murder and using a firearm in commission of a felony. King, who says he's innocent, last week waived extradition to Michigan, where he faces up to life imprisonment if convicted. He was to be flown to Michigan on Monday.
An arraignment was set for Tuesday in Marshall. In Denver on Friday, a juvenile court judge divided temporary custody of the children between their paternal and maternal grandparents.
Lab tests showed the bullets that killed Mrs. King were fired from a .22-caliber rifle recovered from a creek behind the house. Two of King's relatives said they saw a similar weapon in his possession.
Although King told police he owned only a shotgun, investigators said they found .22-caliber rifle shells and a cleaning kit in a gun cabinet in the house. In addition, the affidavit says, Michigan authorities found boot prints matching King's boots near where the rifle was found.
Cherie Riser was finishing her overnight shift at the National House Inn, a bed-and-breakfast, when she head of the killing. She telephoned her 9-year-old son, who watched Mrs. King every morning around 8:25 a.m. before school.
"I guess it was like she was one of us. ...I ran to the phone to call Brett at home to tell him before he saw it on TV. That would have been awful."
About 350 people attended the funeral, and already rumors were aplenty.
Some speculated on alleged affairs involving both Kings, others on problems with the investigation. For a while, the focus shifted to an obsessed fan who in 1990 had harassed Mrs. King.
Most of the speculation focused on her husband of four years.
Before taking the job in Michigan three years ago, she worked as a news anchor for KJCT-TV in Grand Junction, Colo., and as a research assistant for a Denver public television station.
King in Michigan to face charges
The Ironwood Daily Globe
February 11, 1992
Bradford King to be arraigned today
Accused of murdering wife
The Marshall Chronicle
February 11, 1992
Accused killer extradited
The Orange County Register
February 11, 1992
Husband back to face charges of murdering anchorwoman
The Intelligencer
February 12, 1992
Gag order sought in King trial
The Marshall Chronicle
February 12, 1992
Husband back in Michigan to face murder charges
The Santa Fe New Mexican
February 12, 1992
Stars and Stripes
February 14, 1992
SLAIN NEWSCASTER'S PARENTS GAIN CUSTODY OF HER 2 KIDS
DIANE KING'S MOTHER CALLS RULING 'THE BEST VALENTINE'S PRESENT'
Rocky Mountain News (CO)
February 15, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
A Denver District Court magistrate Friday ordered that the parents of slain newscaster Diane King should have custody of her two children while the father faces charges for her murder.
Last week, a Denver Juvenile Court judge ordered split custody of the two children, ages 1 and 4, to both sets of grandparents until the district court ruled.
"I'm so happy!" said Freida Newton, Diane King's mother. She was wearing a red sweatshirt with a big heart marked "Grandma's lovables" surrounded by white hearts bearing the names of her 11 grandchildren. "This is the best Valentine's present I could ever have gotten."
The children's father, Bradford King, was arrested Jan. 31 in Denver in the slaying of his wife at their Michigan farmhouse last year. He has been returned to Michigan, where he is being held without bond.
Freida and Royal Newton said they would return to Michigan today. Magistrate David Johnson told them to arrange visitation for the children with King through Michigan authorities.
Bradford King's parents, Cliff and Marge Lundeen of Texas, appeared at the hearing, but without their lawyer. "We could see how this was going and figured why spend the money," said Marge Lundeen.
She asked the judge to honor her son's wishes and give custody of the children to family friends in Denver who weren't present at the hearing. The Lundeens said they weren't seeking custody because of their ages, 69 and 70.
Marge Lundeen also said her son was afraid the children's relationship with him would be harmed because Diane King's parents believe he is guilty. "When you have that kind of hate in your heart, sir, it shows. It consumes you," she said.
The Newton's lawyer, Frank Moya, said they only wanted the truth to come out. Johnson ordered the Newtons not to mention the criminal charges to the children.
"These kids seem to have a good set of grandparents on both sides of the family," Johnson said.
Defense alleges judges may be biased
The Marshall Chronicle
March 03, 1992
King trial may start today
The Marshall Chronicle
March 12, 1992
Anchor's slaying recalled
Husband in irons at first hearing
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO)
March 13, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
MARSHALL, Mich. - The former criminology instructor accused of gunning down his wife in their driveway had expected her to be alone the night of the shooting, his mother-in-law testified Thursday.
Bradford King, 45, faces life in prison if convicted on charges of open murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony in the Feb. 9, 1991 death of Diane Newton King.
Dianne King, for two years a morning news anchor at WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek, was shot twice as she got out of her Jeep Wagoneer outside their farmhouse in rural Fredonia Township. The children were still strapped in their seats.
Diane King had also worked as a news anchor at KJCT-TV in Grand Junction, as well as at a Denver public television station.
King sat in leg irons during the preliminary examination
before Calhoun County District Judge Marvin Ratner. Spectators and reporters packed into the small courtroom.
Dianne King, 34, had spent the weekend at her parents'
home in suburban Detroit with her children Marler, now 4, and Kateri, 1.
"She asked me if I would baby-sit the children and (said) that Brad would pick them up on Sunday," Dianne King's mother, Freida Newton, testified. "She just said she and Brad needed time."
But the baby was sick, and Marler wanted to be with his mother, she said.
" `Boy, will your father be surprised to see you kids,' " Newton said, quoting her daughter.
She said King was not told about the change in plans.
"Mr. King did not expect the children to be in that automobile, and Mr. King is the person the people have charged in the offense," said prosecutor Jon Sahli.
James Brady, King's attorney, objected to Newton's testimony, calling it "hearsay." Ratner overruled the objection.
King has been held without bond since his Jan. 31 arrest in Colorado, where he moved in June. The preliminary examination was scheduled to resume Wednesday.
King prelim begins Thursday
The Ironwood Daily Globe
March 13, 1992
King murder exam starts
Prosecution begins case against victim's husband
The Marshall Chronicle
March 13, 1992
Victim's mother testifies
The Marshall Chronicle
March 13, 1992
Police dog followed trail at King home
Testimony continues in Diane King murder case
The Marshall Chronicle
March 19, 1992
Husband of slain anchor faces trial
Victim had worked at Colorado stations
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO)
March 21, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
MARSHALL, Mich. - The husband of slain television newswoman Diane Newton King was ordered Friday to stand trial in his wife's February 1991 death.
Calhoun County District Judge Marvin Ratner ordered Bradford King, 45, bound over to Circuit Court on charges of open murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He faces life imprisonment.
Diane King worked for two years as a morning news anchor at WHUQ-TV in Battle Creek. She also worked as a news anchor at KJCT-TV in Grand Junction, and at a Denver public television station.
"Clearly a murder was committed," Ratner said. "The more difficult issue before the court is who committed the crime. No eyewitness testified who fired the fatal bullet.
"There are circumstances upon circumstances that confirm each other," he said. "When taken all together, these circumstances are compelling and certainly establish probable cause."
Bradford King, a former police officer and criminology
instructor, showed no emotion as his five-day preliminary
hearing concluded. Freida Newton, Diane King's mother, cried as she left the courtroom, saying only, "I just want to go home."
Bradford King's attorney, James Brady, said he was disappointed, but the ruling wasn't unexpected.
"Probable cause is a pretty low standard," Brady said. "Their evidence is slight to exaggerated," Brady said, adding he would consider a change of venue for the trial.
In testimony earlier Friday, a hunting companion of Bradford King said he saw the man with a rifle like the one police call the murder weapon.
"I recognize that as a gun that looks similar to the one that I saw," Thomas Darling said.
Police theorize that Diane King was shot twice as she stepped from her Jeep Wagoneer by someone perched in the hayloft overlooking their driveway with a .22-caliber rifle. The Kings' two children were still strapped in their seats when their 34-year-old mother was killed Feb. 9, 1991.
Two days later, investigators pulled a .22-caliber Remington Scoremaster rifle from the muddy bottom of a creek on the Kings' farm in rural Fredonia Township. They also found a spent .22-caliber shell casing.
King will stand trial for murder
The Marshall Chronicle
March 21, 1992
King trial will resume in July
The Marshall Chronicle
April 03, 1992
King murder trial to begin Sept. 1
The Marshall Chronicle
July 18, 1992
TRIAL SET IN KILLING OF NEWSWOMAN
HUSBAND OF TV ANCHOR DIANE KING IS ACCUSED OF GUNNING HER DOWN OUTSIDE MICHIGAN HOME
Rocky Mountain News (CO)
July 19, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
The former criminology instructor accused of gunning down his television anchorwoman wife in their driveway more than a year ago heads to trial Sept. 1.
Bradford King, 45, faces life in prison if convicted on charges of open murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony in the Feb. 9, 1991, death of Diane Newton King.
Diane King worked two years at the Battle Creek station. She also worked as a news anchor at KJCT-TV in Grand Junction and at a Denver public television station.
Calhoun County prosecutor Jon Sahli on Friday submitted a list of 70 witnesses he plans to call during the trial, which Circuit Judge Conrad Sindt expects to last a month.
Defense attorney James Brady entered motions to suppress statements King made to police shortly after his wife's death and a .22-caliber shell casing submitted as evidence.
Brady claims police failed to advise King of his rights prior to questioning him Feb. 9 and Feb. 11. He also said the shell casing was discovered in the Kings' barn during an illegal search.
Sindt expects to rule on the motions in two weeks.
Diane King, 34, a morning news anchor at WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek, was shot twice as she got out of her Jeep Wagoneer outside their farmhouse in rural Fredonia Township.
Their two children were still strapped in their seats.
King, a 14-year-veteran of the Pontiac Police Department, taught sociology and criminology courses at Western Michigan University.
He has been held without bond since his Jan. 31 arrest in Colorado, where he had moved last June.
Judge postpones Bradford King trial until November
The Marshall Chronicle
August 12, 1992
Albion attorney hired
Bradford King dumps defense attorney
The Marshall Chronicle
August 27, 1992
King files motion to be released on bond
The Marshall Chronicle
September 22, 1992
HUSBAND SET TO GO ON TRIAL IN ANCHORWOMAN'S SLAYING
BRADFORD KING ACCUSED OF KILLING DIANE KING, FORMER GRAND JUNCTION TV NEWS PERSONALITY
Rocky Mountain News (CO)
November 4, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
The former police officer accused of gunning down his anchorwoman wife says he's innocent but doubts he'll be able to get a fair trial.
Jury selection began today in the trial of Bradford King, charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 9, 1991, slaying of Diane Newton King, a former Grand Junction television newswoman.
"I am not guilty and I am waiting for this to pass," King told The Battle Creek Enquirer on Saturday from the Calhoun County Jail.
"But getting a fair trial, I have my doubts about that because of the publicity that has been given this case for the past year-and-a-half."
Diane King, 34, was shot to death in the driveway of the couple's Fredonia Township farmhouse as she returned from a visit with her parents.
The couple's two children, a 3-year-old son and 3-month-old daughter, still were strapped in their car seats.
King, a former Pontiac police officer and criminal justice instructor, told police he was walking in the woods behind the family's home when his wife was shot.
Diane King was struck by two of eight shots that came from a sniper in a hayloft. Two days later, police discovered the suspected murder weapon, a Remington .22-caliber rifle, in a creek on the couple's land.
King was arrested in Denver in January, nearly a year after the slaying.
He is being held on $750,000 bond.
According to testimony at a preliminary hearing, the Kings were having marital problems in the months before the shooting. Witnesses said King had an affair, and his wife considered leaving him.
But King's attorneys say there's no hard evidence linking him to the crime.
"The only reason they charged him is because they couldn't find anyone else," defense attorney John Sims said.
Prosecutor Jon Sahli has refused to discuss the case.
One of King's attorneys was present during the telephone interview with King, the first since his arrest. Questions about the case were not allowed.
King said he spends his time in jail thinking about his wife and children, now 4 and 2. Both live with their maternal grandparents.
"She is my wife and I loved her very much and still do love her," he said. "She is not forgotten, and I would make sure that the children don't forget her either."
Jury selection in Calhoun County Circuit Court is expected to take several weeks. If convicted, King would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
FAMILY RAISES $75,000 FOR SLAYING SUSPECT'S BAIL
JURY SELECTION CONTINUES IN MICHIGAN TRIAL OF MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING WIFE, AN EX-COLORADO TV ANCHOR
Rocky Mountain News (CO)
November 5, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
As jury selection continued Wednesday in the trial of a former police officer charged with killing his anchorwoman-wife, defense attorneys said family and friends had raised the $75,000 needed to get their client out of jail.
Bradford King, charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 9, 1991, shooting death of his wife, Diane Newton King, has been in the Calhoun County Jail since his arrest in January. Diane King was a former television reporter at Grand Junction.
Last month, Circuit Judge Conrad Sindt set bond at $750,000. On Tuesday, King's lawyers said friends and family had raised the 10% needed to free him.
Sindt said he wanted more information about where King would live before signing the order granting bond. King's attorneys said they expected his release by the end of the week.
Jury selection, which began Tuesday, has been slow, partly because of publicity about the case.
Diane King, 34, had been the morning news anchor at WUHQ-TV, now WOTV, in Battle Creek.
She was shot to death in the driveway of the couple's Fredonia Township farmhouse as she returned home from a visit with her parents. The couple's two children, a 3-year-old son and 3-month-old daughter, still were strapped in their car seats.
King, a former Pontiac police officer and criminal justice instructor, told police he was walking in the woods behind the family's home when his wife was shot. King was arrested in Denver a year after the shooting.
Of the first 14 potential jurors questioned Tuesday, all said they had heard about the case.
One man who said, "I think everyone is innocent until proven guilty," was dismissed after he added, "I think he is guilty."
Jury selection slow
Bradford King raises funds for bond
The Marshall Chronicle
November 05, 1992
Jury picked
Bradford King trial may start this week
The Marshall Chronicle
November 09, 1992
TRIAL BEGINS IN SLAYING OF NEWSWOMAN
FORMER POLICE OFFICER IS CHARGED WITH KILLING WIFE WHO ONCE WORKED AT JUNCTION'S KJCT-TV
Rocky Mountain News (CO)
November 13, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
A criminal justice instructor and former police officer charged in the slaying of his anchorwoman-wife told some female students he was angry that she had frozen their bank accounts and planned to quit her job, a prosecutor said Thursday.
Opening arguments began in the trial of Bradford King, charged with an open count of murder and using a firearm in a felony in the Feb. 9, 1991, slaying of his wife, Diane Newton King.
Diane King was a newswoman at KJCT-TV in Grand Junction before she moved to Michigan. She also once worked for a Denver television station.
She was gunned down in the driveway of the couple's rural Marshall home as she got out of her Jeep Wagoneer, their two young children still strapped in their car seats.
King has maintained his innocence.
Two weeks after the slaying, King told one of his students at Western Michigan University, "They don't have anything on me. . . . That's what fraternity brothers are for," Calhoun County prosecutor Jon Sahli told the 14 jurors. Sahli said that two nights before the slaying, King dropped in on a fraternity party.
At King's preliminary hearing, one student testified she and King had an affair after he lied to her that he and his wife were separated. However, Calhoun County Circuit Judge Conrad Sindt ruled that testimony regarding King's extramarital affairs could not be used at trial.
At one point, defense attorney John Sims called for a mistrial, saying the jury would infer that King was having affairs. The mistrial was denied.
Diane King, a morning anchor with WUHQ in Battle Creek, Mich., was shot twice by a sniper who was in a hayloft 91 feet from the couple's farmhouse after she returned from a visit with her parents in suburban Detroit.
An autopsy found that the first shot to her chest was fatal and that a second was fired after she was already on the ground, Sahli said.
King told police he was walking in the woods behind the couple's home at the time, but Sahli said police could not find bootprints in that area.
King also denied owning the murder weapon, a .22-caliber rifle found in a creek on the property. But Sahli said police found two boxes of .22-caliber ammunition in King's house. King's brother also will testify that the gun looks like one their father bought for them as children, Sahli said.
King's affairs won't be discussed in court
The Marshall Chronicle
November 13, 1992
Murder trial starts
The Daily Times
November 13, 1992
Attorneys silent on defense for Bradford King
The Marshall Chronicle
November 18, 1992
King shows no signs of grief
Witness testifies that defendant's personality changed after wife's death
The Marshall Chronicle
November 25, 1992
Over covered?: Nation's eyes on King trial
The Marshall Chronicle
November 27, 1992
Court TV a hit at bowling alley
The Marshall Chronicle
November 27, 1992
JUDGE BLOCKS TESTIMONY IN KING MURDER TRIAL
Rocky Mountain News (CO)
December 4, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
A judge in the trial of Bradford King refused to let the jury hear testimony from a friend of Diane Newton King who said the slain television anchorwoman had wanted to leave her husband.
Calhoun County Circuit Judge Conrad Sindt on Wednesday agreed with defense attorney John Sims that the testimony was hearsay.
King's trial on charges he shot and killed his wife began Nov. 3. He has maintained his innocence.
Diane King, a former television newswoman in Grand Junction, was slain in the driveway of the couple's Fredonia Township house on Feb. 9, 1991.
"She said she was very unhappy and could walk out of the marriage," Regina Zapinski testified during a hearing without the jury present.
Zapinski, who lives in the Detroit area, said she knew Diane King for 20 years.
Zapinski was called as prosecutor Jon Sahli outlined his theory of the motive: that the Kings were unhappy and Diane King was ready to leave the marriage, taking away the children and King's income.
King was a part-time criminology instructor at Western Michigan University at the time of his wife's death. He was arrested in Denver about a year after the slaying.
King verdict may come by end of this week
The Marshall Chronicle
December 08, 1992
JURORS TOUR MICHIGAN SITE WHERE ANCHORWOMAN SLAIN
EX-COLORADAN'S HUSBAND, A FORMER POLICE OFFICER, IS ON TRIAL IN SHOOTING
Rocky Mountain News (CO)
December 9, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Jurors in the murder trial of a former police officer were taken Tuesday to the farmhouse where his wife, a TV anchorwoman, was shot to death nearly two years ago.
All but one of the 13 jurors climbed to the hayloft on the wooded property where a sniper lay in wait for Diane Newton King as she got out of her Jeep Wagoneer on Feb. 9, 1991. The Kings' two children, then ages 3 months and 3 years, were still strapped in their car seats.
Bradford King, a former Pontiac police officer and university criminal- justice instructor, is charged with murder in her slaying.
Calhoun County Prosecutor Jon Sahli had requested the unusual outing
because, he said, photographs and diagrams give the jury only "bits and pieces of isolated evidence." A visit would provide total perspective, he said.
Circuit Judge Conrad Sindt agreed to the visit over objections from defense attorney John Sims.
Sindt, his secretary, court reporter and bailiff, attorneys and three news reporters accompanied the jurors on the hour-long tour. The jurors traveled to the site from the courthouse on a county-owned bus.
King, 45, did not go because he did not want jurors to see him in leg irons and handcuffs, which authorities would have required on the outing, Sims said.
After touring the barn, five jurors turned back while the rest sloshed through mud, snow and heavy brush to the creek where a tracking dog had found what is believed to be the murder weapon two days after the crime. They also walked to the wooded area where King said he was walking when he heard gunshots.
According to prosecutors, King shot his wife, a former Grand Junction, Colo., television newswoman, through an open door in the hayloft and then dumped the .22-caliber rifle in the creek before calling police to report the slaying.
Diane King, 34, was a morning anchor for WUHQ-TV, now WOTV, in Battle Creek.
Closing arguments in the trial are scheduled today.
Prosecution claims she was killed because she wanted to quit job
Ludington Daily News
December 10, 1992
Prosecutor: Anchorwoman-wife slain because she wanted to quit her job
The Argus-Press
Dec 10, 1992
Battle Creek [AP] - The prosecution painted a picture of a man frightened of losing his wife's income. But the defense said Bradford King was just an easy target when police were looking for suspects in his wife's slaying.
King, 45, a former police officer, is charged with open murder in the Feb. 9, 1991, slaying of Diane Newton King, a television anchorwoman.
It will be up to a Calhoun County jury, scheduled to begin deliberations today, to decide whether King was responsible for his wife's death.
Prosecutor Jon Sahli said during closing arguments Wednesday that King killed his wife because she wanted to quit her job and stay home with couple's children.
Sahli disputed defense claims that the killer could be an obsessed fan who sent Ms. King a threatening note and made harassing telephone calls to her in the month before she was shot to death.
Ms. King, 34, was killed in the driveway of her Marshall farmhouse as she got out of her Jeep Wagoneer. The Kings' two children, then ages 3 months and 3 years, were still in their car seats.
An autopsy showed the first and fatal shot through her heart came from a hayloft in a barn on the property. The second shot was to her vaginal area, and the angle showed the bullet was fired from the ground at closer range as she lay dying, Sahli said.
"This was not the shot of a stranger. The was not the shot of an obsessed fan," Sahli said. "This was a revenge shot.
Sahli argued that King, a former Pontiac police officer, was enraged that his wife wanted to quit her job as morning news anchor for WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek. At the time of the slaying, King worked part time as a criminal justice instructor at Western Michigan University.
Defense attorney John Sims argued that it made no sense for King to kill the family's primary wage earner.
"The breadwinner wanted to quit her job," Sahli countered. "That's why he might want to kill the breadwinner."
Friends and family members close to the victim testified during the five-week trial that she was unhappy in her marriage and had considered leaving her husband.
King told police he was walking on the wooded property behind their home when his wife was killed. He said he heard gunshots but ignored them because the area is frequented by hunters.
Two days after the slaying a police dog found what is believed to be the murder weapon, a 022-caliber rifle, in a muddy creek on the property.
King told police he sold a similar gun in 1984. But several witnesses testified they saw a rifle that closely resembled the suspected murder weapon at the King's home a month before the slaying.
Sahli said Ms. King was terrified after receiving a letter Oct. 30 that read, "You should have gone to lunch with me." She had also been receiving harassing calls at work from a fan.
After receiving the note, Ms. King refused to get out of her car when she arrived home until her husband came outside to meet her, friends testified. Sahli said Ms. King got out of her car the night of the slaying because she saw her husband in the hayloft.
Several of King's female students at Western Michigan University testified during the trial that King had lied to them about being separated from his wife and having custody of his 3-year-old son. At least two of the women told police they were having an affair with King, but that testimony was not admitted at trial.
"You may not like Mr. King," Sims told the jury. "But you can't convict him because he's not a very nice person."
Sim's argued that the case against King was purely circumstantial. He accused police of botching the investigation by not looking further than King for suspects.
"This is a dog-and-pony-show," he said.
Sahli asked the jury to convict King of first-degree, premeditated murder. If convicted of that, he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
ANCHORWOMAN CASE
Rocky Mountain News (CO)
December 11, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
A Michigan jury on Thursday began deliberating the fate of a former police officer and criminal-justice instructor accused of gunning down his wife in the driveway of their home. In closing arguments Wednesday, prosecutor Jon Sahli told jurors that Bradford King killed his wife, TV anchorwoman Diane Newton King, because she planned to quit her job and stay home with their two children. Diane King, a morning news anchor in Battle Creek, Mich., was a former television anchorwoman in Grand Junction.
Jury resumes deliberation in Bradford King case
The Marshall Chronicle
December 14, 1992
TV anchor's spouse convicted in her death
Houston Chronicle
DECEMBER 15, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. -- A jury on Monday convicted a former police officer of shooting to death his anchorwoman-wife in the driveway of their home.
The jury deliberated about 15 hours over three days before finding Bradford King, 45, guilty of first-degree murder and possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Prosecutors said King and his wife, Diane Newton King, were having marital problems and he was angry because she wanted to quit her job anchoring the morning news at WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek to stay home with their two children.
King, who maintained his innocence, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole when he is sentenced Jan. 6.
"Mr. King grabbed hold of the table" as the verdict was read, said Suzanne Sinclair, a secretary for Circuit Judge Conrad Sindt.
"He was very pale and very solemn."
Two hours earlier, jurors gave Sindt a note saying they were at an impasse after deliberating since Thursday. The judge urged them to continue talking.
"Final justice has not been served. Brad will have to answer to God," said Alan Marler, the victim's brother.
Mrs. King, 34, was killed Feb. 9, 1991, at the couple's home as she got out of her vehicle after a visit with her parents in Sterling Heights.
Prosecutor Jon Sahli said she was shot once through the heart by a sniper in a hayloft on the property. As she lay dying, a second shot was fired, Sahli said. The Kings' children, then 3 years and 3 months old, were still in their car seats.
Defense attorney John Sims said he would appeal. He said the prosecution's case was purely circumstantial and speculated during the trial that the killer could be an obsessed fan who sent Mrs. King a threatening note and made harassing calls to her in the months before her slaying.
After she turned down invitations to lunch, a note made with letters cut out of magazines was dropped in her mailbox. It read, "You should have gone to lunch with me."
Sahli said the note so frightened Mrs. King that she adopted a practice of sounding her horn and waiting for her husband to come out and meet her when she arrived home. Sahli said she probably left her car the night of the slaying because she saw her husband, a former Pontiac police officer, in the hayloft.
Several family members and friends of Mrs. King said she was unhappy in her marriage and was considering leaving her husband, a part-time instructor in criminal justice at Western Michigan University.
At least two of King's students told police they were having affairs with him. Others testified that he said he was separated from his wife and had custody of the couple's 3-year-old.
JURY CONVICTS HUSBAND IN NEWSCASTER'S DEATH
VERDICT COMES AFTER 15 HOURS OF DELIBERATION IN TRIAL OF MAN ACCUSED OF SLAYING EX-COLORADAN
Rocky Mountain News (CO)
December 15, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
A jury Monday convicted a former police officer and criminal justice instructor of gunning down his TV anchorwoman-wife in the driveway of their home.
The Calhoun County Circuit Court jury deliberated about 15 hours over three days before finding Bradford King, 45, guilty of first-degree murder and possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Prosecutors said King and his wife, Diane Newton King, formerly of Grand Junction, were having marital problems and he was angry because she wanted to
quit her job anchoring the morning news at WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek to stay home with their two children.
Diane King worked two years at the Battle Creek station. She also worked as a news anchor at KJCT-TV in Grand Junction and as a research assistant at KRMA-Channel 6 in Denver.
King, who maintained his innocence, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole when he is sentenced Jan. 6.
"Mr. King grabbed hold of the table" as the verdict was read, said Suzanne Sinclair, a secretary for Circuit Judge Conrad Sindt. "He was very pale and very solemn."
Just two hours earlier, jurors told Sindt they were at an impasse after deliberating since Thursday. The judge urged them to continue talking. After the verdict, jurors left the courthouse under armed guard without commenting.
"Final justice has not been served. Brad will have to answer to God," Alan Marler, the victim's brother, said after the verdict.
Diane King, 34, was killed Feb. 9, 1991, at the couple's Marshall home as she got out of her Jeep Wagoneer after a visit with her parents in Sterling Heights.
Prosecutor Jon Sahli said Diane King was shot once through the heart by a sniper hiding in a hayloft on the property. As she lay dying, a second shot was fired into her pelvic area from the ground at closer range, Sahli said.
The Kings' two children, then ages 3 years and 3 months, were still strapped in their car seats.
Defense attorney John Sims said he would appeal. He maintained the prosecution's case was purely circumstantial and speculated during the trial that the killer could be an obsessed fan.
EX-COP GUILTY IN MURDER OF TV NEWS-ANCHOR WIFE
THE ORLANDO SENTINEL
December 15, 1992
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
A jury on Monday convicted a former police officer of shooting to death his wife, an anchorwoman. The jury deliberated about 15 hours over three days before finding Bradford King, 45, guilty of first-degree murder and possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. Prosecutors said King and his wife, Diane Newton King, were having marital problems, and he was angry because she wanted to quit her job as a news anchor at WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek to stay home with their two children. Diane King, 34, was killed Feb. 9, 1991, at the couple's home as she got out of her Jeep Wagoneer after a visit with her parents.
Former cop killed wife, jury finds
The Blade
Toledo Ohio
Tuesday, December 15, 1992
Battle Creek, Mich. [AP] - A jury has convicted a former police officer and criminal justice instructor of shooting to death his TV news anchor-wife in the driveway of their home.
Bradford King, 45, was found guilty yesterday of first-degree murder and possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Prosecutors said King and his wife, Diane Newton King, were having marital problems and that he was angry because she wanted to quit her job as morning news anchor at WUHQ-TV in Battle Creek to stay home with their two children.
King, who maintained that he was not guilty, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole when he is sentenced Jan. 6.
Mrs. Newton King, 34, was killed Feb. 9, 1991, at the couples Marshall, Mich., home as she got out of her Jeep Wagoneer after a visit with her parents in Sterling Heights, Mich.
Prosecutor Jon Sahli said Mrs. Newton King was shot once through the heart by a sniper hiding in a hayloft on the property. As she lay dying, a second shot was fired from the ground at closer range to her pelvic area, Mr. Sahli said.
The Kings' two children, then ages 3 years and 3 months, were still strapped in their car seats.
Several family members and friends of Mrs. Newton King said she was unhappy in her marriage and was considering leaving her husband, a part-time instructor in criminal justice at Western Michigan University.
.
Man is convicted of murdering his wife, a TV anchorwoman
The Vindicator
December 15, 1992
The husband was angry because she wanted to quit her job at the TV station, prosecutors said.
Battle Creek, Mich. [AP] - An ex-policeman faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parol after his conviction in the fatal shooting of his wife.
A Calhoun County Circuit Court jury Monday convicted Bradford King of murder and possessing a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Reaction: King, 45, grabbed the table and turned pale as the verdict was read.
Sentencing was set for Jan. 6.
Prosecutors said King and his wife, Diane Newton King, were having marital problems and that he was angry because she wanted to quit her job anchoring the morning news at WUHQ-TV to stay home with their two children.
Ms. King, 34, was killed Feb. 9, 1991, at the couple's home as she got out of her car after a visit with her parents in suburban Detroit.
Prosecutor Jon Sahli said she was shot once through the heart heart by a sniper hiding in a hayloft on the property. As she lay dying, a second shot was fired at closer range.
King found guilty of murder
The Marshall Chronicle
December 15, 1992
Husband convicted of killing wife
The Intelligencer
December 15, 1992
Officer convicted
The Orange County Register
December 15, 1992
Jury convicts husband
The Daily Times
December 15, 1992
Jury convicts wife killer
The Stars and Stripes
December 16, 1992
Double-tragedy has effects
Slain anchorwoman's children coping
The Marshall Chronicle
December 19, 1992
Ex-policeman gets life in fatal shooting of wife
Pacific Stars and Stripes
December 21, 1992
King murder trial
The Dec. 14 conviction of Bradford King for killing his wife, TV morning news anchor Diane
The Marshall Chronicle
January 02, 1993
Bradford King scheduled for sentencing today
The Marshall Chronicle
January 06, 1993
Ex-cop gets life in murder of wife
The Capital
January 06, 1993
Ex-policeman gets life term for killing wife, a TV anchor
The New York Times
January 06, 1993
Slain TV anchor's husband gets life
King maintains innocence
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO)
January 7, 1993
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. - An ex-police officer launched a scathing attack on the justice system Wednesday before he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering his wife, a former Grand Junction television news anchor.
"What occurred was a conspiracy to convict," Bradford King calmly told Calhoun County Circuit Judge Conrad Sindt. "I have nothing but contempt for you."
King maintained his innocence as he did throughout the six-week trial. He was convicted Dec. 14 of first-degree murder and possessing a firearm in committing a felony. He said he will appeal.
Standing in chains and a jailhouse-orange jumpsuit, King angrily maintained: "I did not kill my wife. I am not guilty."
He blamed his conviction on what he called overzealous news coverage, a biased judge, an incompetent investigation and a jury that failed to follow court rules.
King, 45, a former Pontiac police officer, has charged he was the only suspect ever investigated in the Feb. 9, 1991, shooting of his wife, Diane Newton King. She was in the driveway of the couple's rural Marshall home when she was shot from a hayloft as their two young children sat in their car seats.
Diane King, 34, was the morning news anchor for WUHQ-TV, now WOTV, in Battle Creek.
At the time of the slaying, Bradford King was a part-time criminal justice instructor at Western Michigan University.
Prosecutor Jon Sahli said in court that one reason Bradford King killed his wife was because she wanted to quit her job to stay home with their two children, a 3-year-old son and 3-month-old daughter. The children now live with Dianne King's mother and stepfather.
Friends of the victim testified that she was thinking about divorcing Bradford King.
EX-COP GETS LIFE IN MURDER OF WIFE, A TV ANCHORWOMAN
Philadelphia Daily News (PA)
January 7, 1993
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
A former police officer was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without possibility of parole for killing his wife, a television news anchorwoman.
Bradford King was convicted Dec. 14 of first-degree murder and possessing a firearm in committing a felony in the slaying of his wife, Diane Newton King.
Diane King was shot Feb. 9, 1991, in the driveway of the couple's rural Marshall home in front of their two young children.
King maintained his innocence, as he did throughout the trial.
Milwaukee Sentinel
Thursday, January 7, 1993
Battle Creek, Mich.- A former police officer convicted of killing his TV news reporter wife in a sniper attack was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Bradford King read a statement before sentencing, claiming he was innocent.
King, 45, a part-time criminal justice instructor, was convicted last month in the February 1991 death of his wife, Diane Newton King, 34.
Ex-Policeman Gets Life Term For Killing Wife, a TV Anchor
The New York Times
January 07, 1993
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/07/us/ex-policeman-gets-life-term-for-killing-wife-a-tv-anchor.html
A former police officer convicted of killing his wife, a television news anchor, in a sniper attack at their home two years ago was sentenced today to life in prison without possibility of parole.
The sentence was imposed on Bradford King by Judge Conrad Sindt of Calhoun County Circuit Court. Mr. King, who is 45, was convicted last month. Mr. King's wife, Diane Newton King, 34, was killed in February 1991, shot twice in the driveway of the couple's home in Marshall, just east of Battle Creek, as she was removing their two infant children from her car. The authorities say the shots were fired from a hayloft on the property.
"I didn't kill my wife"
Bradford King sentenced to life in prison
The Marshall Chronicle
January 07, 1993
Husband gets life in TV anchor's death
Daily News-Record
January 07, 1993
Husband of slain anchor gets life
The Daily Times
January 07, 1993
Murderer gets life sentence
Ironwood Daily Globe
January 07, 1993
Former policeman sentenced
The Gazette
January 07, 1993
Ex-cop sentenced
The Orange County Register
January 07, 1993
01201993--Bradford-King--MI-Court-Of-Appeals--Case#-160499--Conviction-Affirmed
Diane King story will appear on network television in 1994
The Marshall Chronicle
February 28, 1993
True-crime books look at same murder
Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph
July 24, 1994
PAPERBACKS EXPLORE VIOLENCE, MURDERS
Deseret News, The (Salt Lake City, UT)
July 31, 1994
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Here are brief reviews of recent paperback releases:
TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, 1992, by Anna Deavere Smith, Anchor, $12.95.
``Twilight'' - the name of a Los Angeles gang leader Smith interviewed in the wake of riots, uprising, revolt; all those terms are used - began as a one-woman performance at Mark Taper Forum, moved to Princeton's McCarter Theater, then to the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York, where it was nominated for a Tony.
It probably works better as theater than as text, but it still works, and Smith supplies descriptions within the text to show the expressions, movements and postures she herself supplied as she portrayed the many Los Angelenos and visitors she interviewed.
She finds no solutions to the diverse situations that led to the riot, nor did she expect to. She was after perceptions, nuances, viewpoints, and she found them in the 21 voices the book contains; it's an expanded version of the performance. They range from a somewhat repentant LAPD Chief Darryl Gates to Rodney King's aunt, from black scholar Cornel West, whose normal eloquence failed him here, to Twilight, who as much as anyone articulates the pain of isolation that afflicted South Central L.A.:
``And I know that in order for me to be a full human being I cannot forever dwell in darkness. I cannot forever dwell in the idea of identifying with those like me and understanding only me and mine.''
``Twilight's recognition that we must reach across ethnic boundaries,'' writes Smith, ``is simple but true.''
LOVE KILLS: The Stalking of Diane Newton King, by Andy Hoffman, Anchor, $5.50.
With everyone's mind on the O.J. Simpson case, this true-crime tale will resonate. Here the celebrity, Diane King, was a news anchor at a TV station in Battle Creek, Mich., who was stalked, then murdered in front of her two small children in 1991. Her ex-husband, Brad King, was an ex-cop and part-time criminology teacher who enjoyed the celebrity of being married to Diane, who had talked about leaving her job for full-time motherhood, which caused him trouble.
As Diane's ex-husband, Brad King was automatically a prime suspect, but he was clever in his dealings with detectives, so muddying the investigation that it took nearly a year to build a case against him. At his six-week trial, where former students testified to having had affairs with him while he was married, he was found guilty, but maintained his innocence and showed his contempt for the police, for the judge and for the legal system itself in his final statement. The judge responded by sentencing him to life in prison.
IN THE ELECTRIC MIST WITH CONFEDERATE DEAD, by James Lee Burke, Avon, $5.99.
A serial killer is loose in New Iberia, La., as is a movie company making a film about the Civil War, a film financed by a violent big-time criminal who was a childhood friend of Burke's protagonist-narrator, sheriff's detective Dave Robicheaux, who is himself a recovered alcoholic with a short temper and a fondness for philosophizing and who in this story has conversations with a dead Confederate Gen. Hood. Further complications are an alcoholic actor who also has visions of Confederate soldiers and an FBI agent who helps the troubled Robicheaux solve a murder.
Weird! But Burke's trademark is the blurring of reality and fantasy, and at the end of the case, which of course he solves, the reader is left to wonder what really happened and what didn't.
Wichita Eagle, The (KS)
August 14, 1994
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Love Kills: The Stalking of Diane Newton King" by Andy Hoffman (Anchor, $5.50) With everyone's mind on the O.J. Simpson case, this true-crime tale will resonate. Here the celebrity, Diane King, was a news anchor at a TV station in Battle Creek, Mich., who was stalked, then murdered in front of her two small children in 1991. Her ex-husband, Brad King, was an ex-cop and part- time criminology teacher who enjoyed the celebrity of being married to Diane, who had talked about leaving her job for full-time motherhood, which caused him trouble.
As Diane's ex-husband, Brad King was automatically a prime suspect, but he was clever in his dealings with detectives, so muddying the investigation that it took nearly a year to build a case against him. At his six-week trial, where former students testified to having had affairs with him while he was married, he was found guilty.
Crime Flashback
The ideal couple ... the fatal shot ... the almost perfect murder
A view to a kill
The Lethbridge Herald
August 13, 1995
02231996--Bradford-King--MI-Supreme-Court--Case#-105685--Application-For-Leave-To-Supreme-Court--Denied
Courthouse Step Mavens:
Murder of TV Anchorwoman Diane Newton King
June 24, 2006
http://s2.excoboard.com/exco/archive.php?ac=t&forumid=124593&date=06-24-2006&t=799178-1
On February 9 1991 a news anchor in Battle Creek, Michigan, , Diane Newton King, was murdered in her home near Marshall, Michigan .
Her husband Brandford King was convicted of first-degree murder, and is serving a life sentence.
The case received national attention in 2004 when it was aired on Court TV's Forensic Files program. The case was also profiled on A&E's City Confidential in an episode titled "Bad News in Battle Creek."
From the moment Diane King, a popular 34-year-old television anchorwoman from Battle Creek, Michigan, was shot dead in the driveway in front of her two children, her husband, a criminal justice professor at Western Michigan University and a former policeman, was the primary suspect.
The Kings were an attractive contemporary two-career couple, with two children and a seemingly idyllic life. But as police probed, many flies were found in the ointment.
Brad was a compulsive womanizer, unable to hold a job for very long; Diane was a strong, in-charge type of person. It soon became apparent that Brad was the murderer; the problem was how to prove it. Spending close to a year, the police and prosecutors built a very strong circumstantial case, which ultimately led to Brad's imprisonment on first-degree murder.
January 7, 1993: A former police officer convicted of killing his wife, a television news anchor, in a sniper attack at their home two years ago was sentenced today to life in prison without possibility of parole.
The sentence was imposed on Bradford King by Judge Conrad Sindt of Calhoun County Circuit Court.
Mr. King, who is 45, was convicted last month.
Mr. King's wife, Diane Newton King, 34, was killed in February 1991, shot twice in the driveway of the couple's home in Marshall, just east of Battle Creek, as she was removing their two infant children from her car.
The authorities say the shots were fired from a hayloft on the property.
Court TV returns to retell story of Diane King's '91 murder
The Marshall Chronicle
August 25, 2007
