People v. Williams

Defendant was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder, MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548, and was sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison. He now appeals by leave granted.

On April 15, 1978, Frances Brattler, a 79-year-old woman, was found dead in her home in Bay City. Thinking that she had died of natural causes, Ms. Brattler’s son-in-law, who had discovered the body, arranged to have the body taken to a funeral home. While preparing the body for the funeral, the mortician noticed a wound in the chest and notified the medical examiner. After an autopsy, it was determined that the cause of…