Marvin Gabrion

Michigan abolished the death penalty in 1846, but as Timmerman's body was found within the Huron–Manistee National Forests, a federal government-owned forest; the murder was therefore also a violation of U.S. federal law, which authorizes the death penalty irrespective of local state law.

Marvin Charles Gabrion (born October 18, 1953) is an American murderer, rapist, and suspected serial killer convicted of the 1997 kidnapping and murder of 19-year-old Rachel Timmerman, of Cedar Springs, Michigan.

Timmerman and her 11-month-old daughter, Shannon, disappeared two days before Gabrion was set to stand trial on rape charges filed by Rachel the previous summer.

Rachel's body was found in Oxford Lake, weighted down by cinder blocks.

Shannon remains missing, but is presumed deceased.

Although Gabrion was not tried for killing Shannon, court documents describe her murder as “virtually undisputed.”

Gabrion is also the prime suspect in the disappearances and murders of several other people, including an additional witness who was set to testify against him in the trial for rape, his handyman, another potential witness and family friend, and an unknown man.

The bodies of these people, who were witnesses to his case, are yet to be found, but various items belonging to them were recovered from his home.

The case received national attention both for the brutality of the crime and for the controversial sentence.

Gabrion, who was tried in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, thus is the first person sentenced to death by a federal court located in a non-death penalty state since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988.

Gabrion is the fifth of six children of Marvin Sr. and Elaine Gabrion.

Gabrion's father was an alcoholic who reportedly abused him.

Gabrion's parents were often absent from the home, leaving his sisters to care for Gabrion and his brothers.

Gabrion's sister Yvonne remembered when her mother threw a butcher knife at her father.

On August 7, 1996, Rachel Timmerman reported to Newaygo County Sheriff's department that she had been raped by Marvin Gabrion.

The previous evening, she had been invited to a card game by a family friend named Wayne Davis and a classmate of Rachel's named Mikey Gabrion.

Davis and Mikey Gabrion arrived to pick up Timmerman along with Gabrion's uncle Marvin.

On the way to the card game, Marvin Gabrion allegedly forced Davis and Mikey Gabrion out of the car before driving off and raping Rachel.

Gabrion was arrested and charged with the crime.

On June 3, 1997, two days before Gabrion's trial on the charge of rape, Timmerman left the house with her 11-month-old daughter Shannon, telling her family she was going on a date with a man she met at work.

Her father soon received a letter stating that she planned to leave town and elope.

The prosecutor and the judge presiding over the case also received letters in Timmerman's handwriting stating that the rape allegations were fabricated and that she wished to drop the charges against Gabrion.

Another letter identified the man she left with as "Delbert."

Rachel's family believed the letters were legitimate, and her disappearance was not investigated at the time.

On July 5, 1997, two fishermen found Rachel's body in Oxford Lake chained to cinder blocks and her face wrapped with duct tape.

According to the coroner, she was alive when she entered the lake and died from drowning.

Gabrion quickly became a prime suspect in her death.

A search warrant was executed for his residence and keys that matched the padlock used to secure Rachel's body were found at Gabrion's home, along with concrete blocks stained with the same paint as the ones retrieved from the lake.

Marvin's nephew, Mikey Gabrion, led police to a campsite that had frequently been used by his uncle.

Gabrion's tent was found there, along with bolt cutters, chain, duct tape, a woman's hair clip, and nipples for a baby bottle.

Gabrion's neighbors reported that Gabrion had a handyman named John Weeks.

Investigators contacted Weeks' girlfriend, who identified a photo of Gabrion as a man introduced to her as "Lance".

She reported that Lance had left the area with Weeks and she hadn't heard from him and was unsure of how to get hold of him.

She also reported to police that on one occasion she caught John on the phone with a girl named Rachel.

When she confronted him, she was told that he was trying to do a favor for Lance, who was interested in being set up with her.

Authorities believe that Weeks was the mystery date who picked up Rachel and Shannon on the day they were last seen and that he arranged the date at the behest of Gabrion.

The search for Gabrion lasted two months until they received a tip that Gabrion was set to receive a social security check from a post office in Sherman, New York.

FBI agents covertly staked out the location and he was arrested as he left the post office.

Timmerman's daughter, Shannon, has never been found.

However, it is "virtually undisputed" that Gabrion caused her death.