Three more men have been 

convicted in the 2020 plot to 

kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. 

Thirteen men were charged 

with aiding in the plot to kidnap 

the governor, two of whom were 

previously convicted in August. 

Six of the men faced federal 

charges for orchestrating the 

plan.

Of the 13 men, seven were 

charged at the state level by 

Michigan 
Attorney 
General 

Dana Nessel, including Paul 

Bellar, Pete Musico and his son-

in-law Joe Morrison. Two men 

were acquitted.

Following a probable cause 

hearing in March 2021, it was 

announced 
that 
Morrison, 

Musico and Bellar would not 

face charges for false report or 

threat of terrorism but would 

still be charged with gang 

membership, providing material 

support for terrorism and felony 

firearm.

After 
a 
three-week 
trial, 

Bellar, Musico and Morrison 

were found guilty in Jackson 

County for providing “material 

support” for a terrorist act 

as members of the Wolverine 

Watchmen. The three men were 

also convicted on counts of 

gang membership and firearm 

violations. The three-week trial 

was the first of the state trials 

connected to the kidnapping 

plot 
allegations. 
Adam 
Fox 

and Barry Croft were federally 

convicted in August for leading 

the plot. In the October trial, 

the Michigan attorney general’s 

office had to prove Bellar, 

Musico and Morrison aided Fox 

or Croft in the plan. 

The men each face up to 42 

years in prison when they are 

sentenced Dec. 15. They were 

convicted of providing material 

support for terrorism, which 

carries a sentence of up to 20 

years. They also face up to 20 

years for gang membership and 

an additional two years for a 

felony weapons charge. 

Whitmer thanked Nessel and 

the prosecution for the verdict.

In a press release, Nessel also 

praised the verdict. 

“Make no mistake, the quick 

actions 
of 
law 
enforcement 

saved 
lives,” 
Nessel 
said. 

“We 
are 
pleased 
the 
jury 

clearly 
understood 
that. 

These 
defendants 
believed 

violence was an appropriate 

way to address an ideological 

grievance. 
Today’s 
verdict 

sends a clear message they were 

wrong.”

It’s 
finally 
Halloween, 

which means students at the 

University of Michigan have 

spent the weekend celebrating 

a Wolverine victory over the 

Spartan football team, watching 

Disney’s new “Hocus Pocus” 

sequel and telling spooky stories. 

As it turns out, some of those 

chilling tales may have taken 

place across the University of 

Michigan campus.

If you’re looking to avoid a 

ghostly scare while walking 

to class this Halloween, The 

Michigan Daily has got your 

back. We spoke to members of 

the campus community to hear 

what buildings and spaces on 

campus might be haunted. 

While approaching students 

on the Diag over the past week, 

The Daily learned from about 10 

students that the Hatcher stacks 

might be the spookiest place on 

campus, though the Samuel T. 

Dana Building, Stockwell Hall, 

Shapiro Undergraduate Library, 

the Modern Languages Building 

and 
various 
other 
buildings 

were also mentioned.

A couple of ghost stories about 

the University have stood the 

test of time, such as the ghost of 

Helen Newberry remaining at 

the Helen Newberry Dormitory 

Residence Hall, and television 

shows, like the show School 

Spirits. However, today U-M 

students base their decision on 

personal experience with eerie 

campus spaces.

When asked about the most 

haunted 
place 
on 
campus, 

Business 
sophomore 
Daniel 

Austin 
was 
quick 
to 
name 

Stockwell Hall.

“I know it’s Stockwell. I 

know there’s a ghost there. I 

will find it, in time,” Austin 

said. “I thought I heard there 

was a ghost, and I used to live 

in Stockwell last year. It’s just a 

creepy old dorm.”

LSA 
sophomore 
Isaac 

Lieberman 
disagreed. 
He 
is 

confident that the “stacks” of 

the Hatcher Graduate Library 

are the most haunted place on 

campus, 
citing 
unexplained 

occurrences 
and 
a 
strange 

feeling.

“It has to be the stacks of 

Hatcher,” Lieberman said. “I 

mean, you never know what’s 

around the corner. I could see a 

book falling off the shelf, I think 

it gets pretty haunted down 

there.”

Rackham students Liz Nichols 

and Jeff Dutter said the Dana 

Building is the most haunted 

campus space, explaining the 

history of the building as a part 

of the medical school, including 

a rumor that the basement of the 

building used to be a morgue.

“I’m down there like all the 

time. It totally looks like a 

morgue,” Nichols said. “It’s just 

really, like, stark white. (There 

are) weird old archways and 

everything. I feel like if there’s 

some weird energy (on campus), 

it’s probably in the basement of 

Dana in my opinion.”

Emma 
Volkert, 
a 
Public 

Health graduate student, said 

she has heard of many strange 

stories around Ann Arbor and 

the U-M campus, though not all 

are entirely supernatural.

“My other creepy Ann Arbor 

(story) is (about) Ted Kaczynski, 

the Unabomber,” Volkert said. 

He won a math award, so if you 

go to East Hall, his name is on a 

plaque.”

Kaczynski plead guilty and 

was convicted of killing three 

people and setting off bombs 16 

times that injured an additional 

22 people between 1978 and 

1995. 
Before 
becoming 
the 

“Unabomber,” Kaczynski also 

attended the university as a 

student, earning his master’s 

and PhD in mathematics in the 

1960s.

Though some students say 

there are places on campus that 

could be haunted, other students 

grapple with the question of 

whether they believe ghosts 

exist or not in the first place. 

Volkert says she is unsure if 

ghosts exist because she has not 

had any paranormal experiences 

personally, while some members 

of her family have.

“I’m pretty much open to 

anything — hearing out anyone’s 

experience — I just haven’t had 

one of my own,” Volkert said. 

“So I wouldn’t go as far to say 

that I’m a ‘believer.’”

Nichols 
said 
she 
doesn’t 

necessarily 
believe 
in 
the 

Ghostbusters-esque 
image 
of 

a ghost, but does believe there 

are spirits from those who have 

passed that remain in our world.

“I believe that a spirit can stay 

within a certain area and that 

if a super bad thing happened 

somewhere that energy kind of 

stays within that place,” Nichols 

said. “But I guess I don’t really 

believe in (the idea that) when 

people pass away that their form 

is this lifeless, floating, haunting 

presence. Like, I don’t really 

believe in that, but I do believe 

in leftover spiritual energy.”

Engineering junior Matthew 

Weerakoon says ghosts aren’t 

real, in his opinion, and the 

depiction of a ghost that can 

move objects seems unrealistic 

to him.

“I do not believe in ghosts,” 

Weerakoon said. “I am a very 

scientific 
person, 
being 
an 

engineer. But I do believe in 

spirituality. I think ghosts are 

way too far of a line to believe 

in. To possess anything or to 

lift objects, like if people think 

they saw something levitating, 

I always think, ‘No, there’s no 

way.’”

Dutter said he believes in 

ghosts and said ghosts are an 

important part of storytelling.

“Yes, I believe in ghosts,” 

Dutter said. “I believe in myth 

and folklore, and I feel like 

ghosts are a huge part of telling 

stories, and I think you can 

be pretty loose with the term 

‘beliefs.’ So I’m gonna just say 

that I believe stories I’ve been 

told about ghosts and how 

they’ve impacted my childhood 

and how they impact me now.”

While there are differing 

opinions on which buildings 

are 
the 
most 
haunted 
and 

whether ghosts are real, make 

sure to listen out for a ghostly 

howl or just that gust of wind 

outside your dark windows as 

Halloween approaches.

2 — Wednesday, November 9, 2022
News

UMich students discuss possibility of campus 
hauntings on Halloween

NEWS

 Three men convicted in plot to kidnap 
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

From the Modern Languages Building to the stacks of the 
Hatcher Grad Library, students chat ghosts, mysterious gusts

Members of Wolverine Watchmen face up to 42 years in 
prison for domestic terrorism charges

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