In August 2013, John Douglas White, a convicted murderer and former minister of a small Michigan congregation, hanged himself in his prison cell while serving a lengthy sentence for the murder of Rebekah Gay. He had pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge earlier that year and was serving time at Michigan Reformatory correctional facility in Ionia when he died by suicide.
Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of homicide and suicide. Discretion is advised.
White had previously committed grievous crimes - once in 1980 when he stabbed his 17-year-old neighbor, Theresa Etherton, who survived. His second crime was in 1994, when he murdered his mistress, Vicky Sue Wall. He pleaded no contest to Etherton's assault and was given probation. For Wall's murder, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served 13 years in prison before his release in 2007.
The cases against John Douglas White were revisited on ID's Evil Lives Here on Sunday, August 20, 2023. The official synopsis for the episode, titled My Brother Let the Evil In, reads as follows:
"Christina Thomas believes her brother, John, the first time he nearly kills a woman; she forgives him when he murders another, but when it happens again, she wonders why she trusted him and how she missed the signs he was really a devil in disguise."John Douglas White allegedly murdered Rebekah Gay while her son was in the next room
John Douglas White was found dead in his prison cell at Michigan Reformatory correctional facility in Ionia on the morning hours of August 28, 2013. He had pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree murder of Rebekah Gay earlier that year in April and was serving a lengthy sentence of minimum 56 years and three months in prison.
The convicted murderer died by suicide after hanging himself.
On October 31, 2012, White was arrested after he confessed to murdering 24-year-old Gay, a young mother and his then-fiance's daughter, inside her trailer park home on Coldwater Road in Broomfield Township earlier that same day. He admitted to murdering the victim to fulfill his fantasy of having s*x with a dead body, but couldn't remember if he had s*x with the body.
Gay was murdered in her home with her three-year-old son present in another room. White repeatedly struck her in the head with a mallet before strangling her with a zip tie to stop her breathing. The two were neighbors and he frequently looked after her young son.
The ex-convict was the minister of a small church called the Christ Community Fellowship in Deerfield Township, as per CBS News.
The outlet reported that prosecutors believe on the morning of the murder, White drank one too many beers before heading to Gay's mobile home. There he murdered her and dumped the body in the woods. He then returned to the victim's house, dressed her three-year-old son in his Halloween costume and dropped him off with his father.
More about John Douglas White's criminal background
According to Murderpedia, John Douglas White's series of crimes began in 1980. He was a married 22-year-old man when he lured his 17-year-old neighbor, Theresa Etherton, to the basement of his Battle Creek house. There, White stabbed Etherton, but she survived the attack. He got away with only two years of probation and no prison time after an insanity defense.
White, still married, committed a second crime in 1994. This time he murdered his 26-year-old mistress, Vicky Sue Wall. She was seen getting into his truck right before she went missing. Six weeks later, her naked body was discovered. He pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, receiving an sentence of eight to 15 years and was released in 2007.
Evil Lives Here on ID further delves into the crimes of John Doughlas White.
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