Who are the true killers in the 1988 murders of Cathy Sue Swartz and Christina Y Shelton in Three Rivers, Michigan?

Michael (Mike) Mohney’s actions that day subjected Barnes to emotional and psychologically traumatizing torture and damage that still lasts to this day as Mohney tried to get a false confession out of Barnes, insisting that he had spit at or on the squad car. In 1988, Mohney was a White male, and in 1988 he was about 22 years old, standing 5’ 2” and weighing around 135 lbs with a stocky build. Mohney had short blonde hair with a long feathered hair style and a fair skin complexion. This is almost identical to the “woman” who was seen leaving Cathy Sue Swartz’s Riverside Townhouse apartment around the time she was murdered on December 2, 1988. Mohney lived just north of the Townhouses with his family, just minutes away. Mohney’s sister went to school with Swartz, and so did his cousins, a couple of girls from Mendon. The incident with Barnes occurred just months before Swartz was strangled and stabbed to death in her apartment. There was also a traumatizing incident inside a police squad car with officer Michael Costello that I will explain later, along with alarming alleged misconduct by Costello.

“[Mike] Mohney choked me and put his hands on my friend Jason Shutes, and my friend Jeremy Price as well,” Barnes stated. “Jeremy’s the one that Costello took for a rough ride with me,” he continued to allege. Back in 1988, Michael Mohney was also known to have had a short temper, or “short fuse,” as previously described in the alleged assault against Joshua Thomas Barnes who has also described a “seriously nasty bare-handed choke-hold and psychopathic tendencies.”

There is reason to believe it was very odd that Mohney later became a detective who was in charge of investigating Swartz’s murder right up until his early retirement. Mohney decided to retire early so his wife would be able to follow her dream of working for FedEx, even though numerous people have heard stories of him and Michael Costello’s involvement in her murder. There was a suspicious fatal car accident that Swartz’s friend and neighbor Christina Y Shelton was involved in less than one hour later, only a few miles away from the apartments where both women resided. Shelton’s car had supposedly veered off the road and into the St. Joseph River for no apparent reason just after noon. The car landed around three to ten feet from the shore in about five to 10 feet of water, depending on which article a person reads.

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It was reported at the time that two rescue workers helped a “Cop” (Michael Costello?) out of a partially submerged car during the time Shelton drowned.

Shelton was pronounced dead at the Three Rivers Area Hospital at around 2 p.m. Her four-year-old daughter had been hospitalized for some time and suffered from the effects of nearly drowning. However, the daughter miraculously recovered completely with no signs of brain damage after being submerged for more than 30 minutes.

Waneta Truckey is Mike Mohney’s mother, and when given the opportunity to defend her son, she did not. A woman named Deborah Hallock commented that Christina Shelton who drowned in the river was a witness to the Swartz murder and was run off the road by Michael Costello on her way to the sheriff’s office because she knew suspect Mike Mohney was a TRPD officer. Lastly the comment says Shelton’s child was moved out of state for her safety.

Rather than defend her son, Truckey replied with, “This is not true. The child remained and went to school in Three Rivers.” But that was all Truckey was contesting, she did not defend her son Mike Mohney.

Some of the locals in Southwest Michigan had reported at the time that a squad car forced Shelton’s vehicle from Schweitzer Road and into the St. Joseph River, and attempted to flee the police. It’s alleged that Shelton witnessed cops entering Swartz’s Riverside Townhouse apartment back in 1988. It’s alleged Christina Y Shelton had heard Swartz screaming for help as she was being brutally beaten and stabbed repeatedly before her ultimate demise of being strangled to death.

The newspaper covering Christina Shelton’s fatal car crash left out the Swartz murder that day.

Locals had also reported at the time that Michael Costello was at both scenes immediately upon the call from dispatch. Costello allegedly attempted to get Shelton and her daughter out of the car before the rescue divers were able to arrive on the scene. It’s alleged that Costello had rushed into the water to ensure that Shelton never surfaced so she would not be able to tell anyone anything about what she may have or may not have seen, or heard that day. It’s also alleged that Shelton’s daughter was taken to Ann Harbor for treatment to make it more difficult for local law enforcement to be able to reach her.

Reports about the Shelton drowning stated there were no guardrails on the side of the roads during the Shelton drowning. However, there is clearly what appears to be a bent up and damaged guardrail at the scene.

According to Barnes’ uncle, while at the TRPD, he overheard two cops arguing with or about Michael Costello being involved in Shelton’s accident. The uncle said he also heard the cops talking about Cathy Sue Swartz calling and asking about charges against her. You’d think that the cop who had to break it all up (Michael Costello) would’ve been questioned. As far as we’re aware, nobody contacted Barnes’ uncle about this, not the Metropolitan State Police, the FBI, or Crime Stoppers, even after Barnes had sent in the information.

Christina Y Shelton’s car crash on December 2, 1988 is not listed in a database search for vehicle and road traffic accidents in Three Rivers, Michigan in 1988.

Officer Matt Stark in Three Rivers, Michigan whose father is Earl Stark, the former chief of police, told Barnes that his dad personally threw Costello out of the TRPD back in the early 90s.

It’s been said that Costello lost his job at the TRPD after he showed up at the police station in the middle of the night, off duty, with a 14-year-old girl who had been reported as missing. He said he had found her out wandering the streets.

There is a local newspaper print from 1998, 10 years after the Swartz murder, titled “Authorities still hope to find killer of 2 area women,” not just one. A lower article starter title reads, “Police continue investigation in 1988 stabbing death.”

A bloodstain on a pair of sweat pants in the Swartz residence after the murder that police thought resembled a pair of scissors. After tweaking the colors on the sweat pants, it brought out a pattern on the brown one that matches the blade Mike Mohney was practicing with 20 years after the Swartz murder.

A suspect allegedly wiped the blood off in an upwards motion and cleaned the blades before leaving.

To be noted, Mike Mohney had been seen practicing with two large bladed weapons 20 years after the Swartz murder.

Blood splatters from the crime scene do not look like they were from a running woman. A long-range weapon like blades on a pole can cause blood splatters to look like this, and the long-range weapons would also be able to avoid getting any bood on the attacker. There’s also the theory that the blood splatters could’ve been caused by an unconscious Swartz being carried.

We ran a Facebook ad targeting St. Joseph County, Michigan, in the county where the murder(s) happened, and locals came forward, including Cathy Sue Swartz’ own cousin, Mary Wilma. Swartz’s mother and Mary Wilma’s father are brother and sister. We had heard rumors before that the TRPD was involved in drug dealing, including cocaine back in 1988, and allegations of officers extorting drug dealers for money. Cathy Sue Swartz’ cousin, Mary Wilma, has stated that Swartz was selling cocaine for the police and she wanted out. She wanted to get married and have a baby, it was her dream.

There is a woman who was living in Three Rivers, Michigan who alleges that in 1988, officer Costello tampered with her breathalyzer test to make her fail it and get sent to jail. Another officer at the scene noticed what Costello had done and stopped him from arresting the woman. The woman wishes to remain anonymous at this time. There are also locals who partied with Costello and Mohney back in the 1980s, and they’ve described parties filled with alcohol and drugs, including cocaine, and there was often underage use involved at the parties.

Swartz’ cousin Mary Wilma brought up a rumor we’ve heard before, that Mike Mohney was seen leaving the Swartz apartment dressed as a woman during the time of the murder. Joshua Thomas Barnes has previously alleged that Mohney may have put on Swartz’ clothes when leaving the apartment to disguise himself. This would fit into the description of the “woman” who was seen leaving the Swartz residence at the time of the murder. Locals and Joshua Thomas Barnes have alleged previously that drug dealers were selling cocaine for the TRPD back in the 1980s, and the TRPD was extorting the drug dealers for money.

Barnes has told us that back in the late 1980s, Mike Mohney was stalking a girl named Shawna Trine who used to date a guy named Sam Spicer.

In a South Bend, Michigan WSBT-TV Channel 22 news article from 2013, Mike Mohney stated things about how the murder suspect would need to have some type of shoes or footwear on, and “So what did you do, did you take the footwear off and change it. Did you use some of Cathy’s clothes, her boyfriend’s clothes.” Then, near the end of the article, David Swartz, father of murder victim Cathy Swartz, stated “They can tell you the kind of shoe the person wore.”

On Sunday, December 4, 1988, just two days after the Swartz murder, The South Bend Tribune in Indiana reported that police were seeking Swartz’ boyfriend who authorities wouldn’t identify, and that her body was found by a friend around 3:30 pm that they would not identify.

The area of the South Bend-Mishawaka Metropolitan area is part of both Indiana and Michigan.

On December 6, 1988, The South Bend Tribune then reported that Swartz’ body was found by an acqaintance instead of a friend, and that Troy Schulthies, who is now being called her “ex-boyfriend” instead of the fact that he was her current boyfiend before she died, had been apprehended by police and was in the St. Joseph County Jail. Schulthies was soon released and found to be innocent.

The TRPD arrested and charged Swartz’ boyfriend Troy Schulthies on December 2, 1988, the same day of the murder, before questioning him, and the courthouse closed by 4 pm. It’s believe that Schulthies never had any serious criminal history, no record of domestic violence between him and Swartz or anything like that. But police still decided to charge him before they even spoke with him. And arrested him two days before searching his home on the 4th for any evidence that could link him to the murder. He was soon cleared and released.

In this old newspaper release from The South Bend Tribune not long after the Swartz murder, it states that Swartz’ body was found by a friend. It also says Swartz’ “former” boyfriend was later released from custody after being cleared by police. It mentions that TRPD Police Chief James Rifenberg did not rule out a connection between the Swartz murder and Shelton drowning. Also confirms that Shelton’s daughter, Sara, was taken to a further away Ann Arbor hospital while Shelton was taken to a nearby Three Rivers Area Hospital. The report also shows that Swartz’ time of death was between 11 and 11:30 am.

The paper described Cathy Sue Swartz as a “gentle, compassionate and happy person who kepy her doors locked and stayed home most of the time caring for her young daugther.” The newspaper also notes that Swartz and Shelton lived in the same apartment complex.

In this March 20, 1989 report from the Tribune months after the Swartz murder, we’re told that Swartz’ body was found by a “friend,” only to turn around and later claim her body was found by her so-called “fiance” Michael Leon Warner Jr. upon his return from work at around 3:30 pm (when his work shift ended) and 4 pm.

Michael Leon Warner Jr’s parents got divorced around the time Warner has said him and Cathy Sue Swartz were supposed to have gotten married, which is odd timing.

We’ve also uncovered two contradicting news reports from WOODTV.com channel 8 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The two articles tell a different story about how the still alive baby was found at the scene of the murder. One news report says “Warner” was 18 when he came home from work on December 2, 1988 and discovered Swartz’s body, that Swartz was 19, he called 911 and grabbed her 9-month-old baby daughter from her crib in the adjoining room.

However, an article that was published one week earlier is telling. It states that “Tom Bringman, who became the Three Rivers police chief in 2007 and retired in 2021, was 14 years into his career when Swartz died. He and fellow officer Mike Mohney were the first to see her body. He said they cleared the home before getting Swartz’s baby out of the next room.”

Jeffrey Middleton was the assistant prosecutor when the Swartz murder happened, and he ended up being the prosecutor. Middleton said that’s the case he worked the most on and then he ends up being a judge that he still sits as today.

This newspaper release on December 4, 1998 had prosecutor Jeffrey Middleton saying that Swartz’ ex-boyfriend found her and was later arrested, but released. Middleton said Swartz’ ex-boyfriend was Troy Daniel Schulthies, NOT Michael Warner.

Middleton also said Cathy Sue Swartz was killed sometime between 5:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. when they KNEW she was murdered at around 11 to 11:30 a.m.

Mike Mohney’s look in 1988 matched the description of the person in the criminal sketch who police wanted to question about the Swartz murder.

During Mohney’s 2013 interview with WSBT22’s Kristen Been, a partial sketch of a person is shown, who for some odd reason is not labeled as a suspect during the news story who was witnessed leaving the Swartz residence around the time she was murdered. The detailed physical description that originally accompanied the sketch was completely left out. This may be because 25 years before the sketch was shown during Mohney’s interview, the original version was complete with the long feathered hair style that Mohney had back in 1988 that was used to describe a “woman” who was seen in the area the same day as the murder. But according to police, this individual from the sketch was not a suspect, but was instead being sought by authorities who hoped “she may have heard or seen something that day that could help investigators who were working the case.”

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Why would the lead detective in a homicide case (that he was suspected by many locals of being involved in) crop out the feathered style hair from the police sketch before displaying it during his 2013 interview with the media? Perhaps, because in 1988, he matched the description of “White, around 22 years old, standing about 5’ 2” tall, weighing about 135 lbs, with a stocky build, just like the individual who witnesses described that day. He also had blonde hair with feathered long hair at the time.

Police sought to question the so-called “woman” in the sketch, but then suddenly changed their minds. The whole reason the sketch was created in the first place is because the person was actually meant to be a suspect.

The nerve of this guy Mike Mohney who has repeatedly wrongly reported Mr. Barnes’ content regarding these cases as false news in the Crooked Cops Anonymous Facebook group. However, his reports don’t stand up to scrutiny.

All of these news reports around the time of the Swartz murder that wanted to identify the Swartz murder suspect and the person in the police sketch never actually showed the sketch.

During a WSTV22 special video about the Swartz cold case murder, locals commented about what was on their minds. Comments included, “Wasn’t it a cop that murdered her? I remember some rumors,” with a reply to that comment that reads, “It was Detective Mooney [sic],” and another comment where one user says, “Wow the sketch looks just like cop,” when referring to seeing Mike Mohney in the video.

It appears that the TRPD is about to close the Swartz case after 35 years because another person was arrested for the murder on April 30, 2023. However, the suspect named Robert Odell Waters supposedly committed suicide while awaiting to be extradited to Michigan. However, there was conveniently no surveillance footage of Waters’ jail cell at the time of his supposed suicide. If Waters was at the Swartz residence recently before the murder, of course, his DNA evidence would’ve been at the crime scene, and that does not make him the murderer. Waters will also never get a chance to testify in court and try to prove his innocence, how convenient!

Robert Odell Waters had found out that his family was being shunned and harassed from day one. Waters’ daughter “swears up and down” that both the footprint and fingerprint did not match. Just when and where did Waters move exactly? Waters’ daughter was born in Phoenix, Arizona in January 1989, so Waters had already been living in Arizona for some time before the murder. Sam Smallcombe, now a detective, was investigating the Swartz murder, and he has stated that Waters was not questioned in the initial investigation because he moved to Phoenix, Arizona back in September 1988, before the December murder. Waters was allegedly found in the Three Rivers High School freshman yearbook, but not in any years after that, not in the sophomore, junior, or senior years, according to Missouri State Trooper Opie Taylor aka Pepper Walker who was a childhood friend of Joshua Thomas Barnes. One thing that needs to be looked into, is, where Waters filed his first income taxes at.

According to a Watershed Voice news report, Robert Odell Waters was apparently arrested before the DNA and footprint analysis results even came in, after he went in willingly, according to St. Joseph County prosecutor David Marvin who worked the case in 2023 that also notes Waters’ daughter claimed the official report was that her father’s footprint did not match the one found at the crime scene.

Prosecutor David Marvin also told Watershed Voice that they were faced with the fact that they were going to have to look into allegations made against one of the men they had worked with for many years (Mike Mohney), but the investigators working the case decided to buy a little time by charging yet another suspect who was never tried or convicted of anything at all, Marvin goes on to say that it somehow satisfied the multitudes of weak minded people who were demanding answers due to the renewed interest in the the case. We now know that Robert Odell Waters did have a criminal history, namely just a repossessed boat, but he did not have a history of any kind of violence.

The Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) had contacted Det. Sgt. Mike Mohney about the fingerprint on Cathy Sue Swartz’ phone in 2012, but there was no mention at the time of it being “bloody.” And when the DNA and fingerprint was entered into the system at the time, there was no match.

In 2012, retired Detective Baker was told by Detective Mohney that a bloodstain had been found on “that same phone.” This leads to basic questions: Why was the bloodstain not found until 2012? Had the phone been kept in a freezer for 24 years, or had it just been lying in a 1988 storage bin until DNA was tested in 2012? Besides that, Waters’ fingerprints were also collected in 2011 when he was arrested in South Carolina that I will show proof of later, and only then—coincidentally—a blood sample, supposedly his fingerprint, was found in 2012. The timing of the discovery looks highly suspicious. Robert Odell Waters was also arrested in Arizona in 1989 for a misdemeanor when he would’ve also been fingerprinted. DNA evidence wasn’t tested in Michigan until 1990, but all of a sudden this happens to pop up 22 years later in 2012? That doesn’t add up.

To contain any DNA after being stored for 24 years, a bloody fingerprint would need to be stored in a cold, dark, dry, and sealed environment with minimal oxygen and no handling. Without these ideal conditions, the DNA would likely be too degraded for forensic analysis.

Detective Sam Smallcombe stated in an old news report that, “The only time that Mr. Waters was listed was that he moved to Arizona in September before the murders, so I think as far as the original detectives were concerned he moved out of the area before the crime occurred.” Notice how Smallcombe slipped up and said “murders,” not just one murder, but two when referring to the Swartz murder.

Joshua Thomas Barnes spoke with Robert Waters’ brother in law who claimed his sister Julie met Waters in Phoenix, Arizona around 1986 or 1987, some time before the 1988 Swartz murder.

There are a couple of newspaper prints, in one of them, Michael Leon Warner Jr., a supposed boyfriend of Cathy Swartz, claimed that Robert Waters had “shown up” to the apartment with a girlfriend about a month prior to the Swartz’ murder. In the other article, Mike Warner claims that he had ran into Waters, who was visiting the area, and invited him over to the apartment!

Warner recalled that Robert Waters had already moved to South Carolina but was visiting Three Rivers, Michigan when he ran into him and invited him over. Warner said after that he never had contact with Robert Waters again. The problem with this is that Robert Waters had permanently moved to Phoenix, Arizona months before the Swartz murder. But wait, if Warner never again had contact with Waters after that visit, then how did he know that Waters was living in South Carolina?

Robert Odell Waters had visited the Swartz apartment one month before the murder(s), so it’s very likely that his DNA would have been at the apartment, and this does not make Waters look like the killer.

Gerald Warner was a decorated officer in 1988, uncle of Michael Waters, who were possibly assisting in covering up the murders together.

There was no sign of forced entry at the Swartz home, which is common knowledge, and cops often carry lockpicks.

It would seem like a waste of time and resources to fingerprint both men and women if police already knew the DNA gender of the suspect who left the bloody fingerprint, then to not say which DNA gender the suspect was. If everyone, men and women both were being not only fingerprinted, but footprinted too, as Michael Leon Warner Jr.’s sister once said, did they all have the same size feet them? Or did police collect footprings in a particular size range? Such as anyone with a foot between size 6 to size 15 in men’s or size 7 and a half to 16 and a half in women’s.

Robert Odell Waters was never held at the Beaufort County Jail, he was at the Beaufort County Detention Center, a privately owned prison.

Robert Odell Waters owned a plumbing company in Beaufort, South Carolina called Waters Plumbing of the Low Country. Angi.com lists the company as licensed and insured. In South Carolina, all residential licensed contractors are required to have their fingerprints taken when applying for the license. The fingerprints are then ran through the FBI’s criminal database, according to South Carolina’s Department of Insurance. This means the authorities failed to notice that Waters’ fingerprints had already been on record for quite some time, in plain sight.

When authorities were investigating Robert Odell Waters, they claimed he had no criminal record, but these records from Beaufort County, South Carolina prove otherwise. Waters’ boat was seized in August, 2011 in a criminal-traffic type of violation. Therefore, Waters was arrested in 2011 and should have already been fingerprinted. The authorities wouldn’t have needed to fingerprint him because of the stated reason that he had no criminal record. It is concerning that authorities overlooked this fact.

This shows that Robert Odell Waters had indeed been arrested in 2011 at the time his boat was seized for a criminal-traffic violation. We spoke with an official in Beaufort County, South Carolina who told us Waters would’ve definitely been fingerprinted at the time of being arrested and charged.

Robert Odell Waters was also arrested in Arizona in 1989 and would’ve had his fingerprints taken at the time.

Waters even had a warrant out for his arrest in Maricopa County, Arizona after he moved into the state, which once again makes the case for his fingerprints already being taken.

Robert Odell Waters’ mug shot was taken 15 minutes before he was arrested for the Cathy Sue Swartz murder. This raises questions and concerns about standard operating procedure. Authorities would’ve needed high confidence he committed the murder in order to take a mug shot before he was even arrested, which is unlikely due to only having DNA evidence and an alleged fingerprint with nothing else to go by. Or if this was due to a technical error in the times on the recording and photograph devices, which seems unlikely.

Raymond Walter Phegley is the only inmate death listed in Beaufort County, South Carolina on the same day as Robert Odell Waters was supposed to have died there on May 6, 2023. The screenshots above are a search of released inmates from April 30, 2023 to May 10, 2023.

Next I am going to show you five screenshots from the official investigation into Robert Odell Waters’ untimely death, and explain the contradicting discrepancies found in them.

Did C/O Larry Shaw cut the sheet off from around Robert Odell Waters’ neck, or did he loosen the knot in the sheet? Was Waters found sitting on the floor, or hanging by the top bunk bed? Or was Waterz found “sitting with his back against the bunk and a sheet around his neck.” And “sitting on his butt with his legs stretched out in front of him.” Which one was it? Was Waters’ dead body “medium warm” as nurse Banks stated or “cold to the touch” like emergency medical services (EMS) may have said? Someone is lying in these accounts of that day. However, we believe that EMS would have no reason to lie. These are concerning contradicting discrepancies in the official investigation into Waters’ death. Also, according to Joshua Thomas Barnes, in the report, one person said when Waters was found he was blue, while another person said he was red.

Waters corpse being “medium warm” would mean he may have died 3 to 8 hours prior to being discovered. However, a cold corpse would mean he died 8 to 36 hours or even longer before being discovered. Another contradicting discrepancy in Waters’ death.

That’s a photo of the bedsheet from Robert Odell Waters’ jail cell that he supposedly hung himself with, but it wasn’t cut like C/O Shaw said he did to it so he could free Waters from it. However, there is a tear in the bedsheet, but that could’ve been from a struggle. More of, or the whole sheet would’ve needed to be cut in order to free someone from it.

Robert Odell Waters’ death certification which was available on May 11, 2023, shows his parents were James Hurlen Waters and Judith Dangerfield, not John and Judith Waters as Smallcombe would have everyone believe.

“I would like to live long enough to see Swartz and Shelton’s families get justice. Mohney and Costello need to be polygraphed,” Joshua Thomas Barnes told us.

Barnes also had something to say about Costello “In elementary school, I was a safety patrol officer and the next year a crossing guard. When my friend Jeremy Price and I climbed into the back of Officer Costellos’ squad car, we did it solely because he said that he ‘needed our help’ and that ‘it would only take a couple minutes.’ He then [allegedly] held us all day and into the night, repeatedly going from Mr. Good Cop to Mr. Bad Cop. He insisted that we were lying to him, demanding that we ‘just look at their faces’ as he stalked people while grumbling hateful comments as he passed them slow enough that they would walk up to the car and try to see who was in the backseat.”

“‘Is this what you guys want in your city?’ He asked while becoming more and more frustrated as the day went on. ‘Why would we look at their faces when we don’t buy drugs from ANYONE?’ I asked to no response. I told my friend Jeremy Price not to point at anyone, because at 12 years old, I already knew what crazy looked like, and that cop, Michael Costello, was terrifying. My friend was an hour in looking at their faces because the psychopath wearing the badge was driving us around locked inside his squad car and kept telling him to, telling us to.”

Michael Costello had found Joshua Thomas Barnes and his friend Jeremy Price on Spring Street by Scidmore Park, and dropped them off at midnight on 8th Street by Broadway. Near the end of the rough ride, Costello told the boys to “pick a door any door,” while they were right in front of Cathy Sue Swartz’ house. The boys didn’t pick any door, so Costello ended up dropping them off on 8th Street after slamming on his brakes and sending them crashing into the divider between the front and back seats of the squad car, causing the boys to slide down under their knees and onto the vehicle floorboard, then Costello went off on them, raging at the boys like a psychopath. Costello made the boys walk back home from 8th Street by Broadway at midnight.

Barnes added that, “Officer Michael Costellos’ behavior while working for the TRPD during the summer of 1988 was unprofessional and unlawful. He stopped us while walking from his mother’s apartment to my parent’s house as we were headed there for lunch. Assuring us that we had done nothing wrong, he convinced us to get into the back of his squad car where he held us for many hours, into the night, before taking us to Swartz’s apartment.

“I know who supplied cocaine to all the rich people and cops around Three Rivers. I have a friend who used to hear all about Costello regularly from her dealer… Costello owed the drug dealer money.” Barnes noted.

Joshua Thomas Barnes has met the woman who was Michael Costello’s cocaine dealer, and she’s still alive.

The “rough ride” in the squad car that Barnes and his friend Jeremy Price were taken on with Costello was illegal.

“My uncle was being fingerprinted at the TRPD in 1991 when a fight broke out amongst the officers in the lobby. He said he heard them physically fighting, and that they were arguing with or about Costello being involved in Christina Y Shelton’s car crash.”

“My uncle also heard them saying that Swartz had called the station shortly before being murdered to ask about charges she may be facing due to the drugs and money seized from her apartment by members of The TRPD. She was killed before they could take her official statement,” Barnes concluded.

Barne’s childhood friend John Maxon alleges that Michael Costello would pick him up and drive him around in his squad car before dropping him off by the Peeler Street Bridge with a couple of cigarettes, knowing that Maxon was reported as a runaway. Maxon would get into Costello’s cop car voluntarily.

John Maxon also alleges that Costello approached him while on duty and asked him if he ever sold crack, when he told Costello no, Costello just shrugged his shoulders like “oh okay,” and walked off.

A young woman at the time in 1988 named Michele Nelson used to play poker in uptown all the time above the Marina that was pretty much a whorehouse in a bad neighborhood back then. Costello used to play poker there too, down near South Main, where presently there is a Boost Mobile store.

Two weeks before Cathy Sue Swartz was murdered, TRPD officer Michael Costello showed up unannounced and uninvited one evening at Michele Nelson’s apartment. Costello asked her to drive him down East Main, he had a bottle of wine in his car and said they could go drink down by the river at the cemetary. Nelson told Costello she had just got a DUI a few months earlier, and also told him her friend Bob knew she was with him. Michele Nelson used to go fishing “every day” with her friend Bob, and Costello would show up and flirt with her all the time. Costello was angered that Nelson didn’t tell him about the DUI before she drove the car for him. Costello told her never to tell anyone, this was just two weeks before Cathy Sue Swartz was murdered.

1 is the Riverside Apartments
2 is Paul’s Pantry Liquor that used to be Duff’s
3 is the Marina
4 is a Cemetary

Michael Costello then allegedly dropped her off and made Michele Nelson walk from the former Duff’s Liquor store at point two, back to the Riverside Apartments at point one, after picking her up at point one and making her take him to the cemetary so he could drink some wine. Michael Costello allegedly made Michele Nelson, a young adult woman in 1988, take a 29 minute-long walk across town for 1.3 miles while alone in the dark of night. Nelson said she was driving his car, and we wonder if that was a police squad car or if he was in uniform. Michele Nelson says she’s always had a feeling that Costello was involved in the murders.

Now ask yourself, who are the true 1988 murderers of Cathy Sue Swartz and Christina Y Shelton in Three Rivers, Michigan?

Regarding Barnes’ statement about the polygraph tests, while we understand that they aren’t 100% accurate, the odds are still favorable to be accurate.

Joshua Thomas Barnes has experienced emotional and psychological trauma and damage to this day as a result of the incidents with Mohney and Costello in 1988 when he was only 12 years old. Barnes has an instinctual fear of law enforcement that lasts to this day. Barnes’ mother was in a terrible car accident in December of 1989 that caused him to black all of these events out for years. After Barnes sobered up around 2021, he asked his friend if he remembered Costello picking them up, and he remembered it the same way. The friend was also there when Barnes was being attacked by Mohney. This trauma and damage have affected Barnes’ mental well-being and life decisions negatively. At the very least, Barnes needs witness protection. We need justice for the families of Swartz and Shelton which will also give Barnes some peace of mind and ease the trauma and damage that he has suffered from for all these years.

“Earl Stark was a good man, a nice guy who I thought was a great chief of police. And he was a good friend of David Swartz, Cathy’s (Cathy Sue Swartz) father. The men and women working for the TRPD today are a decent bunch, nothing like the two men (Mohney and Costello) who did those things to me,” Joshua Thomas Barnes said, praising former TRPD police chief Earl Stark and the current TRPD.

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• Victim: Joshua Thomas Barnes
• Murder victims: Cathy Sue Swartz, Christina Y Shelton
• Suspects: Former Det. Sgt. Michael Mohney, Officer Michael Costello
• Location: Three Rivers, Michigan in 1988
• Evidence download: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
• Included in the evidence is a video of the “woman” who was seen leaving the scene of the Swartz murder compared to Michael (Mike) Mohney. There are also notes with additional information about the images. A rough draft of this article is included as well.