Hackel: Grant will be convicted in wife's grisly slaying

Charles E. Ramirez, Rob Snell and francis x. donnelly / The Detroit News

Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel said today he is confident Stephen Grant will be convicted in court for the murder and mutilation of his missing wife in the wake of his capture in rural northern Michigan.

Grant was arrested by Emmet County Sheriff's Deputies at about 6:30 a.m. today -- almost 300 miles from his suburban Detroit home.

Grant is accused in the death of his wife, Tara Lynn Grant. A torso and body parts believed to be those of the businesswoman and mother of two were found in and near their home in Macomb County's Washington Township.

"It is very horrific what he did to her," Hackel said. "People can only imagine from watching television or reading about it in some type of novel."

A shoeless, exhausted Grant was found under a tree in the snow-covered woods of the state park, Emmet County Sheriff Pete Wallin said in a press conference this afternoon.

He had been in the woods for at least eight hours during a night when the temperatures dipped to 14 degrees, Wallin said. He was discovered three miles from the vehicle he abandoned on a road south of the park.

"I don't think he could have made it much longer," Wallin said. "I wouldn't have wanted to be out there."

Grant had withdrawn money from his bank before fleeing but Wallin wasn't sure of the amount. No weapons were discovered on him.

He had walked and jogged through the woods at night, sometimes lying down to rest, the sheriff said.

He was discovered after an intense air and ground search conducted along with the FBI, Michigan State Police, Mackinaw County Police and other authorities.

He was transported to Northern Michigan Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition this afternoon, Dr. John Bednar said. He suffered from hypothermia and frostbite to his feet and will be kept at the hospital overnight.

"He's awake, alert and cooperative," Bednar said.

Hackel said it did not appear that Grant was injured in a suicide attempt.

A truck Grant was believed to have driven from his home 30 miles north of Detroit was found Saturday night near Carp Lake, just west of Wilderness State Park, located near the Mackinac Bridge linking Michigan's Lower and Upper Peninsulas.

Grant was found in the general area where the truck was found and was airlifted to the hospital, Hackel said.

It was unclear why Grant fled to that region, some 300 miles from his Washington Township home, but Tara Grant was raised in rural Perkins, which is about 144 miles northwest from where Stephen Grant was found early Sunday morning. Tara Grant's family still owns a cabin near Perkins.

Macomb County Sheriff's deputies were headed to the hospital to guard Grant and investigators will comb the area where he and the truck were found.

"I didn't want to believe that this would be the outcome," Hackel said.

He said the search was aided by several tips from unnamed people.

"People took this case as if it was one of their own missing," Hackel said.

Grant, 37, went missing on Friday, hours before police found the torso in the garage of his home. Searchers on Saturday also found what were thought to be other parts of Tara Grant's body in a nearby public park.

Hackel had said Stephen Grant left the area in a friend's pickup truck shortly after allowing deputies inside his house to execute a search warrant.

Childhood friend Melissa Hanson worried about Tara Grant's 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son and hoped they would be raised by her sister Alicia Standerfer and mother Mary Destrampe in Ohio.

"People who are warm and caring and can try to help those kids heal," Hanson said Sunday. "I can't imagine how the family can cope with this. I can't imagine what's going to happen to those children."

Hanson lives in Rock, which is a few miles away from Tara Grant's hometown Perkins in the Upper Peninsula. Residents there have followed the disappearance closely and responded by holding moments of silence during a boy's basketball game and during a Board of Education meeting.

"It's just so sad to me that (Stephen Grant) did these things," Hanson said. "Tara was a beautiful person inside and out and he took that away. She can't even be buried with dignity."

On Saturday, Grant's attorney, David Griem, said he firmly believed that Grant committed suicide. He said Grant sounded desperate and incoherent in two separate phone conversations early Saturday morning.

Today, Griem said he was withdrawing as Grant's attorney.

Grant's lawyer said earlier Saturday that he feared his client was suicidal, but Hackel had said police were aware of contact Saturday afternoon between Grant and two other people he would not identify.

Hackel said that deputies from his office are continuing to search Stony Creek Metropark today for more remains of Tara Grant. He said the search was being conducted with fewer officers than Saturday, but tracking dogs were being added. Authorities would be using five dogs today, three from the Michigan State Police and two from the sheriff's canine unit.

The torso was found in the garage of the Grants' home during a search that began Friday night, three weeks after 34-year-old Tara Grant was last heard from. Investigators obtained a warrant to search the home after persuading a judge that there was probable cause to believe a crime had been committed there.

The body had not been positively identified as of late Saturday, but the sheriff has said he was certain it was Tara Grant's. An autopsy was scheduled for Sunday.

An arrest warrant was issued Saturday charging Stephen Grant with murder, as well as disinterment and mutilation.

About 100 law enforcement personnel looked for other evidence and additional body parts Saturday near the Grants' home and in nearby Stony Creek Metropark. That search was expected to resume Sunday.

Tara Grant last was seen Feb. 9. Stephen Grant reported her missing five days later. Police say the day she went missing, the Grants argued over her frequent business trips abroad. Throughout the search, Stephen Grant has maintained his innocence.

You can reach Charles E. Ramirez at (586) 468-2905 or cramirez@detnews.com.