David Tyll and Brian Ognjan

[wiseguy182]

As you may recall, UM very briefly profiled this pair during a rundown of 10 rapid-fire missing persons cases. This was the case of the missing Michigan hunters. This case was covered much more extensively on a Cold Case Files episode, which was reran yesterday. Here are some additional details to the case. As it was reported on here earlier, the rumor has it that their bodies were chopped up and fed to pigs. 2 brothers have since been convicted.

-reportedly, there was an argument over a deer. Tyll and Ognjan had claimed they shot and killed a deer, while 2 of the Duvall brothers said they had. The Duvall brothers put the deer in the back of their truck. Tyll and Ognjan pressed the issue after running into the brothers again at a bar, so 3 more of the Duvall brothers were rounded up and they laid a group beating on the pair.

-I think there were as many as 7 brothers. The group had a bad reputation around town as bullies.

-Another one of the brothers (not one of the ones that was convicted - sorry I can't keep them straight) is believed to have broken down the missing Bronco (which still hasn't been found) and sold it for parts.

-The beating was very brutal. The star witness said that Tyll's head "popped like a pumpkin." as they beat him with a baseball bat. Tyll was the first to be killed. Ognjan was obviously very distraught over his friends death and pleaded for help. He made a run for it, but was eventually caught. One of the brothers remarked that Ognjan had literally "pissed his pants" in terror.

-This occured in 1985. The case was cold until 2003 when the star witness began to give out pieces of information when the authorities started visiting her. This culminated nearly 20 years later when she finally admitted to witnessing the actual event. The Duvall brothers threatened her life if she ever told. After she came forward, several other witnesses did also.

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

As you may recall, UM very briefly profiled this pair during a rundown of 10 rapid-fire missing persons cases. This was the case of the missing Michigan hunters. This case was covered much more extensively on a Cold Case Files episode, which was reran yesterday. Here are some additional details to the case. As it was reported on here earlier, the rumor has it that their bodies were chopped up and fed to pigs. 2 brothers have since been convicted.

-reportedly, there was an argument over a deer. Tyll and Ognjan had claimed they shot and killed a deer, while 2 of the Duvall brothers said they had. The Duvall brothers put the deer in the back of their truck. Tyll and Ognjan pressed the issue after running into the brothers again at a bar, so 3 more of the Duvall brothers were rounded up and they laid a group beating on the pair.

-I think there were as many as 7 brothers. The group had a bad reputation around town as bullies.

-Another one of the brothers (not one of the ones that was convicted - sorry I can't keep them straight) is believed to have broken down the missing Bronco (which still hasn't been found) and sold it for parts.

-The beating was very brutal. The star witness said that Tyll's head "popped like a pumpkin." as they beat him with a baseball bat. Tyll was the first to be killed. Ognjan was obviously very distraught over his friends death and pleaded for help. He made a run for it, but was eventually caught. One of the brothers remarked that Ognjan had literally "pissed his pants" in terror.

-This occured in 1985. The case was cold until 2003 when the star witness began to give out pieces of information when the authorities started visiting her. This culminated nearly 20 years later when she finally admitted to witnessing the actual event. The Duvall brothers threatened her life if she ever told. After she came forward, several other witnesses did also.

CCF usually doesn't creep me out too badly, but this one gave me the chills. I remember not sleeping well after I first saw it. I think it was simply the thought of the eyewitness (Barb...?) keeping that entire story to herself ALL those years. The constant fear (and guilt) is something I can't begin to imagine.

[Steve W.]

It's interesting that you mention that, as I was flipping channels yesterday and caught some of that rerun. That's horrendous if his head really did "pop like a pumpkin" after so many blows. Did they ever find the baseball bat and determine which brother is was that was swinging it? How was the other guy killed?

I saw that two of the brothers received life in prison. They should have gotten the death penalty for that.

[crystaldawn]

Such a horrible case I even cringed when I read the title of the thread having remembered the story well. I could never bring myself to read it but if any of of you have the guts there is a book about the case called "Darker Than Night."

[RobinW]

I still think that rapid-fire "missing persons" montage where UM featured this case is one of the creepiest segments in the show's history. I believe this may be the only one of those cases which has actually been solved, but MAN, what a horrible solve!

[wiseguy182]

Originally Posted by Steve W.

It's interesting that you mention that, as I was flipping channels yesterday and caught some of that rerun. That's horrendous if his head really did "pop like a pumpkin" after so many blows. Did they ever find the baseball bat and determine which brother is was that was swinging it? How was the other guy killed?

I saw that two of the brothers received life in prison. They should have gotten the death penalty for that.

Good question. I don't think they ever found the baseball bat, but I'm not 100% positive on that. This case had been cold for nearly 2 decades, so I think the bat is probably long gone. Now that you mention it, it does seem that eyewitnesses played a huge role here, as they were what put 2 of the brothers behind bars while the rest of them were not.

[WishfulDreamer]

Originally Posted by RobinW

I still think that rapid-fire "missing persons" montage where UM featured this case is one of the creepiest segments in the show's history. I believe this may be the only one of those cases which has actually been solved, but MAN, what a horrible solve!

I agree 100%. I think only one of the other missing persons was found (John Simmons) and sadly, he had been murdered. His killer has not been caught. The music and quick blurbs while the pictures are shown make this quite possibly the scariest 2 minutes of UM for me.

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by WishfulDreamer

I agree 100%. I think only one of the other missing persons was found (John Simmons) and sadly, he had been murdered. His killer has not been caught. The music and quick blurbs while the pictures are shown make this quite possibly the scariest 2 minutes of UM for me.

Going to CP to gather more info on those cases in the past yielded some even creepier details. The substation where Julie Weflen was abducted showed clear signs of someone being dragged away in the gravel. Kyle Clinkscales' credit card was found eleven years after his disappearance in some random location. An unconfirmed sighting of Susan Cappel had her demanding a bus driver let her off near a gas station close to the town she was last seen in, and she bolted off the bus. And of course, there's the entire horrifying story of Tyll and Ognjan.

I get the chills just thinking about all of them.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

Going to CP to gather more info on those cases in the past yielded some even creepier details. The substation where Julie Weflen was abducted showed clear signs of someone being dragged away in the gravel. Kyle Clinkscales' credit card was found eleven years after his disappearance in some random location. An unconfirmed sighting of Susan Cappel had her demanding a bus driver let her off near a gas station close to the town she was last seen in, and she bolted off the bus. And of course, there's the entire horrifying story of Tyll and Ognjan.

I get the chills just thinking about all of them.

Kyle Clinkscales' disappearance in general is kind of creepy.

In 2005, a man told Kyle's parents that when he was seven, he witnessed the disposal of Kyle's body. He claimed that it had been covered with concrete, stuffed in a barrel and dumped in a private pond. The tipster's information soon led to the arrest of Jimmy Earl Jones and Jeanne Pawlak Johnson. Jones was charged with concealing a death, hindering a criminal's arrest, and two counts of making false statements. Johnson was also charged with concealing a death, false statements, and obstructing justice. They were not charged with Kyle's murder because the real killer was believed to be Ray Hyde, who died in 2001. Kyle's body has never been found.

There's some nightmare fuel.

[thinwhiteduke74]

I'm reading "Darker Than Night." I agree that the two-minute segment in which this case first appeared is among UM's scariest moments. I'd love more info on the Clinkscales case too.

[brianh333]

just saw the Tyll/Ognjan case portrayed on one of these Investigation Discovery documentaries... does anyone know if the Duvall brothers snippet from '89 is on any one of the 16-CD set? I think I've worn those CD's out over the years, but I don't ever remember catching it.

[Hops3098]

I'm pretty sure that MP roll call is not on any of the discs. If anyone has it and is willing to share I would welcome your DM ;-)

[Spark Of Spirit]

Originally Posted by RobinW

I still think that rapid-fire "missing persons" montage where UM featured this case is one of the creepiest segments in the show's history. I believe this may be the only one of those cases which has actually been solved, but MAN, what a horrible solve!

In relation to this segment, it looks like Susan Cappel was recently legally declared dead.

Still no new info, though. Since the husband died over ten years ago, there's little chance they'll ever find out what happened to her since there are no other leads or suspects.

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by thinwhiteduke74

I'm reading "Darker Than Night." I agree that the two-minute segment in which this case first appeared is among UM's scariest moments. I'd love more info on the Clinkscales case too.

I just finished 'Darker than Night,' yesterday. This case was already horrific on it's own but I wanted to read it more out of curiosity because of the location. While the murders happened about three hours north of me, the hunters (Tyll and Ognjan) were from St. Clair Shores, which isn't far from where I grew up.

My head sort of felt like it was spinning after reading the details. Investigators knew as early as 1989 that the Duvall brothers were responsible. They boasted and bragged to so many people over the years, even within ear shot of complete strangers, that they had killed the hunters. They used it to threaten anyone within their inner circle to get their way. When the wife of one of J.R.'s sons was thinking about leaving her husband (because being a female in the Duvall family means getting beaten on a regular basis) J.R. threatened her saying you don't want us to do to you what we did to those two hunters.

Other than the murders themselves, what I found most disturbing was the reaction out of the Duvalls after Coco had swung the bat (or pipe?) and David Tyll's head had exploded like a melon. They laughed like it was one of the funniest things they had ever seen. Can you imagine what must have been going through Brian Ognjan's head when he saw his best friend get killed in that manner and knowing he was going to be next? Horror movies don't get more terrifying than this. It's infuriating knowing these men were allowed 18 more years of freedom after doing what they did.

[mphs95]

Originally Posted by crystaldawn

Such a horrible case I even cringed when I read the title of the thread having remembered the story well. I could never bring myself to read it but if any of of you have the guts there is a book about the case called "Darker Than Night."

I vacation in Kalkaska every summer, about 30 min away. Every time I get off the freeway in Grayling and see the turn off for Mio....I think of this case. Creepy...