FeedsTeens bound over in beheading case
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Jean Pierre ‘JP’ Orlewicz, with attorney James Thompson, listens to the testimony against him and Alexander Letkemman on Friday.“Stay strong,” family members told Alex Letkemann Friday afternoon as he was led out of a courtroom at the 35th District Court in Plymouth. “We love you.”
They filled the benches , their wrists decorated with beaded bracelets that spelled out ‘Alex,’ bordered by tiny ceramic hearts.
The Letkemanns learned their battle to clear the name of their 18-year-old son was not yet over. He and 17-year-old Jean Pierre Orlewicz of Plymouth were bound over for trial on charges of first degree murder and mutilation of a corpse following the death of Daniel Sorensen, a 26-year-old River Rouge man earlier this month. A third charge, of felony murder, was dropped because Judge Mike Gerou said Friday there was not probable cause.
Letkemann and Orlewicz face an arraignment on information on Dec. 14 at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit.
The ruling came after about six hours of testimony at the preliminary examination on Friday that included a reading of a sworn statement from Letkemann as well as a video of a conversation between him and Canton detectives Mike Steckel and Sgt. Rick Pomorski.
Raymond Cassar, Letkemann’s attorney, tried to get the statement stricken because the Westland teen had been read his Miranda rights nearly 20 hours before he made the statement.
Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Robert Moran argued, though, that they were still in effect and Letkemann was aware of them.
“There’s no requirement in law that someone has to be re-advised of their Miranda rights,” he said. “Once they’ve been read, they’re sufficient.”
Gerou agreed.
In his statement—which Steckel read into the record—Letkemann told police he was surprised that Orlewicz carried out the deed. He said it had been initially planned for Nov. 7. Orlewicz called it of after Sorensen was dropped off at the home, according to testimony. He then planned the crime for the following day.
“I was expecting him to call it off,” Letkemann told police, adding that he didn’t have time to stop the attack that claimed Sorenson’s life. “I couldn’t react. It knocked the wind out of me.”
According to additional testimony, Orlewicz lured Sorenson to a home in Canton Township to allegedly extort money from another teen, named Adam. A tarp had been laid on the floor of the garage and cleaning supplies were nearby. Sorenson’s throat was cut from behind and he was stabbed 13 times, according to a report from the Wayne County Coroner’s office. His head was sawed off after he was killed, the report added.
“I don’t know why he killed him,” Letkemann told police in the video. “I don’t know why he had it out so bad for that guy.”
He said he helped clean up the mess and dump the body because he feared for his own life.
A third teen, Isam Ayyash, 17, of Livonia, was granted immunity for his testimony. He said he was called to help lift the body into the truck . He said he was shocked when he arrived and saw the body wrapped in the tarp.
“I asked if it was a joke and they said ‘no’,” Ayyash testified. He helped move the body and then gave Orlewicz his clothes because the other teen’s were bloody, he said. He then left the scene wearing boxer shorts and a sweatshirt.
Steckel testified that Letkemann was cooperative throughout the process. He said he was the one that took police to an area of Hines Drive near Outer Drive where they recovered the victim’s head.
Cassar argued that there was enough evidence that Letkemann helped in the crime.
“There’s been nothing to show my client offered aid or encouragement,” he said. “If he’s done anything, it was as an accessory after the fact. There has been no testimony that my client participated in anything.”
Moran said the fact that he returned gave probable cause that he helped commit the murder, though.
“If he didn’t go back the second day, there’s no crime,” he said. “But he went back.”
