UPDATE:
Jonathan Good, who escaped the Mecosta County Jail earlier this week, has been captured. Authorities say Good was apprehended at around 12:00 p.m. on Sunday in Romulus, where he reportedly has a relative. Authorities arrested Good after he was pulled over in a stolen car. Authorities say Good contacted his relative in Romulus, but did not indicate whether the relative was the one who alerted them to Good's location. The relative has not been implicated in Good's escape.
Previous Report
Big Rapids, Michigan (The Weekly Vice) - Jonathan J. Good, a 36-year-old murderer who was released and then re-arrested on kidnapping and attempted murder charges - escapes jail in his boxers.
Jonathan Good is on the "loose" literally and figuratively, after escaping from the Mecosta County Jail Wednesday night.
According to Michigan state records, Jonathan was released from prison after serving sentences for second-degree murder and armed robbery that he committed in 1988. Good was re-arrested in March after he and a group of teenagers allegedly burglarized at least 10 businesses in Barry, Iona, Montcalm, Mecosta, Eaton and Clinton counties.
Police also say Good and several teens took a husband and wife hostage, tying them up and then robbing them while shooting up their home. Authorities say members of the gang returned a few days later and shot the woman in an attempt to keep her from identifying them as robbery suspects. The woman survived the shooting.
Good was captured three days later on over 30 charges including attempted murder and robbery. Several months after his capture, authorities say Good crawled out onto the roof of the jail and fled into the night in his boxers, a t-shirt and a pair of rubber slippers. A corrections officer gave chase, but was unable to catch him.
Anticipating the frosty Michigan weather, authorities have searched known vacant homes and buildings in the Big Rapids area, but have been unsuccessful in locating him.
The Weekly Vice Opinion:
It's amazing to know you can murder someone in Michigan and be out again picking up where you left off, by the age of 36. And for heaven's sake - how secure could this jail be, if a guy in his boxers can just simply jump off of the roof and run away? With the kind of tax dollars required to build such a facility, I'd say someone goofed horribly.
Danny Vice
The Weekly Vice
www.theweeklyvice.com
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18 comments:
Well I agree what are we spending our tax dollars on if prisoners are escaping but it is not a prison he escaped from, it was a holding facilty in the county jail. He is from the area and I am sure that he had help and a ride waiting so he knew what he was doing.
Yeah--Not a prison. It's the county jail--so there is no fence. And if you had done your research, you would know that Good spent 18 years in prison for shooting a guy in Detroit. He was only 16 at the time. So 18 yrs. for a juvenile crime (in any state, not just Michigan) is pretty damn good considering the year was 1988. He was young, and good behavior can get you out after that long. And what is the deal? Why do people keep complaining about how this guy got out, and pointing fingers. The problem is that this guy is still out there and he's dangerous.
Also--update for you, BigRapidsresident (I live here also).. Police released last night that they have "reason" to believe he's still here--Family ties with the police say they found hair clippings and blood in a house and now they are saying he is armed..(guns or weapons are missing from somewhere)..
Am I the only one in Big Rapids keeping up with this? It's a big deal until he is found.
I concede, for a juvenile crime, that's probably a fair sentence - but are you sure he wasn't charged as an adult? There are no records available to me from 1988 to verify.
Either way, yes, this is absolutely a big deal.
I posted this story because there is very little national coverage of this - and while he may still be in the area, he could flee the area at any time.
If your local media digs anything up that I don't have access to and is relevant, please don't hesitate to share.
Why was he in a county jail? He should have been locked in a maximum security facility. One clusterf**** always leads invariably to another clusterf***.
I agree with previous comments. He had help.
I don't understand why a jail wouldn't have the same precautions that a prison has. that just seems stupid to me. One guard gave chase? Why wasn't there a several guards available to go after him?
I understand why he wasn't in prison. He was awaiting trial and hadn't been convicted yet, but still.... that facility owes it to surrounding residents to make it as escape-proof as any prison would be. The people inside are just as dangerous
Oh, and Ferris, I do not agree with you. 18 years for murdering a human being in cold blood is total bullshit. I don't care if he was still a minor or not. Could it be any more obvious that it wasn't long enough?
I wasn't asking you to agree with me BigMac, it IS bullshit that anyone get out of prison for murder. In fact, I believe an eye for an eye, he should have been dead a long time ago. But do you realize how many murderers eventually get out of prison? And some even spend shorter than 18 years. Good behavior counts for something in prison-- and I was just presenting my research.
Oh, and for up to date info and the press conference you can go to www.9and10news.com --Vice, I really appreciate you putting this article up. It does need more coverage, people in this town are scared--The police know more than they are sharing, and they are relentless about searching here..Something tells me there is a reason and there has to be some substantial evidence to make them think he hasn't left..
Ferris Bueller only if you had gone to class and done your homework. Mr.Good was 15 or 16 when he committed several crimes. First he murdered a man in RIVERVIEW not Detroit and stole his truck, then went to pizza king shot three workers in the back of their legs then went to radio shack shot the place up and robbed it. He was sentenced to life in prison with no parole. So he was sentenced as an ADULT FYI. He may have studied law while in prison and won an appeal and released in 2006. He has was captured by Romulus police around 12:30 pm Sunday.
He was caught earlier this afternoon.
It would be interesting to read the particulars of his capture. One can't go too far wearing only underwear and having no cash.
Use this link to see Michigan's Offender Tracking System. This will allow you to see what crimes he was charged with and when he was convicted and so on... It does not show he was sentenced to life in prison...
http://www.state.mi.us/mdoc/asp/otis2profile.asp?mdocNumber=197972
Both of you are forgetting; life in prison no longer means literally spending your life in prison. unless the possibility of parole is also removed. Life can mean 30 years and unfortunately, it is increasingly implemented that way.
I seriously doubt if this was an armed assault murder, that he was charged as a juvenile. This wasn't a crime of passion like a kid who who had been beaten and finally murdered his/her parents in an attempt to end the abuse. It was a cold blooded killing. That makes it different.
18 years is too short of a sentence for murdering people, period!
No Ferris, 18 years is NOT pretty good. Sorry. That's a little longer than some drug convictions get.
There should be a big difference between getting caught with a pound of marijuana vs. murdering a human being.
It doesn't matter either way. By the time this guy gets out again, he'll be so old, he'll be wearing depends instead of boxers.
I'm aware of what the OTIS tracking system says. You don't have to stick your head up the butchers butt to see if the steak is any good just take the butchers word. What OTIS doesn't say is he was sentenced as and adult for first degree murder given life in prison with NO parole. He won an appeal and was released from prison in 2006.
hmm! really absence story. i can understand your felling..
Back in 2006 John was operating a business named "Good Electronics" (complete with business cards), and I did remodeling work with him. I personally spent over 6 weeks working with him on various projects.(In Potterville, Charlotte, Muir, and Lansing)
He frequently talked about how he had done time in prison, but his account of the circumstances were COMPLETELY different from what has been reported.
He admitted that he had gone to prison as a illiterate teen. (For what he said was a self defense charge that had been flipped to attempted murder.)While he was there (according to him) he taught himself how to read, spent countless hours pouring over law books, and did his appeal (which ultimately released him) all on his own.
I figured that someone that determined, hardworking, and seemingly sincere, could have possibly just been lost in the legal system. There was NO way he was "dangerous" to be around. I even had dinner in his home with him and his (at the time) girlfriend.
Over the course of a couple weeks, things started to seem a bit...off about him. I started to notice sneaky tendencies, and getting weird vibes. Once I realized that he was scamming money from the people that were his business contacts I knew I needed to cut ties.
A couple of years later, his face is on the news while I'm eating dinner. Apparently he'd moved "up" in the criminal world, and down in the respectable citizen world.
What I'm amazed about is the lack of embezzlement charges he should have to do time for too. I know for a fact that he took over $30,000 from a couple to remodel their house. And stopped working on it halfway through.
This is about the Jonathan good case im a little pissed I was not informed of his escape especially when im the only witness that helped put him away in the 1988 murder he committed I would say that's a Tad bit messed up
That's my step dad's brother. I knew this guy would end up back in jail. The time he spent out he made a ton of money I guess that's how he did it. Jon was extremely smart, but he doesn't belong out here..
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