What did Danny Ranes and Brent Koster do?
Danny Ranes and Brent Koster were American murderers who committed a series of killings together in Michigan. On the 5th of July 1972, they raped and killed teenagers Linda Clark and Claudia Bidstrup at a gas station, where Ranes was working at the time. After killing them, they put their dead bodies in the back of their car, and Koster drove it into a wooded area and set fire to it. Clark and Bidstrup’s remains were found 2 weeks later by a motorcyclist.
On the 5th of August 1972, Ranes and Koster picked up a hitchhiker called Pamela Fearnow. They took her to some woodlands and raped her before Ranes strangled her to death.
What happened during the investigation?
Koster was arrested on the 5th of September 1972, and during the interrogation, he admitted to the murders and implicated Danny Ranes, who was then arrested that same day. Koster also told police Ranes had told him he killed a woman called Patricia Howk back in March. Ranes was subsequently charged with the 4 murders in October 1972.
During Ranes’ murder trial, Koster was the key witness. Ranes was found guilty of first-degree murder for killing Fearnow and second-degree murder for killing Howk. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole on the 9th of August 1973. He was handed 2 additional life terms for the murders of Clark and Bidstrup.
Koster made a plea deal with prosecutors and was charged with the second-degree murder of Clark. On the 21st of July 1975, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.
Where are Danny Ranes and Brent Koster now?
Danny Ranes died of natural causes at Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater, Michigan, on the 29th of January 2022. He was 78 years old. He was the brother of fellow serial killer Larry Lee Ranes.
Brent Koster was supposedly a model prisoner but was denied parole on many occasions. However, in September 2020, his parole application was approved after he apparently showed remorse for the murders and the board thought he was unlikely to re-offend.
After 48 years in prison, Koster was released from the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility on the 21st of January 2021. He will be on licence until January 2025 when he will be a totally free man. He is 64 years old now.
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