MANISTIQUE – Garry JC Cordell, 47, of Manistique, had his last opportunity to speak Thursday before being sentenced to prison for the remainder of his life for the murders of Heather Aldrich, Carrie Nelson, and Jody Hutchinson.

On Nov. 5, Cordell pleaded guilty to three felony counts for the murders of sisters Aldrich, 25, and Nelson, 31, both of the Newberry area, and Nelson’s boyfriend Hutchinson, 42, of Gould City. The bodies of the victims were discovered on April 17 inside Hutchinson’s 2000 Oldsmobile Bravada, which had been lit on fire, on County Road 436, also known as River Road, in Doyle Township.

“I’ve never been an advocate of the death sentence, but in this particular instance I could probably find an exception if this were a different state, such as Texas, because you’ve earned a different penalty in this court’s opinion than will have to be dealt,” 11th Circuit Court Judge William Carmody told Cordell as he handed down the three mandatory sentences of life without parole.

Prior testimony from former codefendant Kenneth Daniel Brunke, 46, of Manistique, and multiple accounts written by Cordell himself paint a violent picture of the three victims’ deaths.

On April 16 Cordell and former codefendant Marietta Carlson, of Manistique, were house-sitting for Brunke, who had had his home broken into and robbed recently. According to Cordell, who openly admits to being a drug dealer, the items stolen from Brunke’s home were bottles of change and cocaine from a PVC pipe that had been partially buried in the backyard.

While Brunke was at work, Aldrich and Nelson broke into his home in search of morphine that Brunke had promised Aldrich. Brunke claims the morphine never existed and text messages promising the drugs were a pretense to see Aldrich, who had spurned his romantic advances and was difficult to reach.

Cordell claims he confronted Aldrich about the stolen cocaine, and that Aldrich gave him both cocaine and money. Believing that the cocaine was from Brunke’s backyard and the money was from selling a portion of the drugs, Cordell forced the two women into the basement at gunpoint. He and Carlson then bound the women to support beams with zip ties and fed them drugs.

While the women were bound, Cordell learned that Hutchinson was outside, waiting in his vehicle for the women. Cordell went outside, invited Hutchinson into the home, and then ushered him into the basement with the two sisters.

Upon seeing the bound women, Hutchinson drew a knife on Cordell. One of Cordell’s written accounts claims he pulled a plastic bag over Hutchinson’s head in the ensuing struggle. Another account by Cordell claims that after punching Hutchinson in the stomach, Cordell bound him to a support beam, placed a bag over his head, and secured it with duct tape around Hutchinson’s neck.

“You took Jo from us,” Hutchinson’s mother, Linda Cole, read to Cordell Thursday from a letter she’d written. “You took his body, and tortured it by putting a bag over his head till he could no longer breathe. It takes four minutes for someone to suffocate. Four minutes that Jo looked you in the eyes and begged for mercy. You gave him none.”

At some point, Cordell allowed Aldrich, who was near passing out from the drugs, to leave the basement and lie on Brunke’s bed. In one account, Cordell claims to have killed Aldrich himself, but later testimony alleges that Carlson went into the bedroom and choked Aldrich to death while he watched.

All testimony suggests Nelson was choked to death by Cordell in the basement.

“I, as a human being, have always tried to find the good in people, but for you, Garry, there is no good,” Aldrich and Nelson’s aunt, Kim Morrison told Cordell as the victims’ mother stood near. “The loss of my nieces is beyond words. Between them they have a total of seven children who will now miss out on the laughter, the hugs, and the sense of security that all children deserve.”

During Cole’s statement, she noted that Hutchinson had five children and two grandchildren.

Family members of all three victims wept as Schoolcraft County Prosecutor Timothy Noble played a four-minute slide show, which featured photos of the victims smiling followed by a photo of the burned SUV in which their remains were discovered.

Cordell protested as the slideshow began to roll.

“Your Honor, I’ve got pictures myself if you want to look at pictures,” he interjected before being ordered to remain silent.

After the slideshow had ended, Cordell was given an opportunity to speak for the last time as a free man about his role in the victims’ deaths. He rambled as he tried to explain to the court that things were different for people “living on the other side of life,” as he and the victims were.

“There’s different things that people go by, and we know what they are. They knew what they were. They’ve been doing it for years, I’ve been doing it for years, Your Honor. There’s no – there’s no excuse for what I did. I just was the unfortunate one who had the responsibility to take care of matters,” he said.

He told Carmody that he was content with his current situation, but that he was sorry for putting the court in a position where there would be no discretion in his sentencing. Each of the charges Cordell pleaded guilty to on Nov. 5 – homicide first-degree multiple theories, for the death of Aldrich; murder first-degree premeditated, for the death of Nelson; and murder first-degree premeditated, for the death of Hutchinson – carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

While the sentence was non-negotiable, a restitution payment to the victims’ families of $8,498 for funeral expenses and the burnt SUV is not. Cordell protested the fee, and his attorney stated a written objection would be filed.

“Sir, this vehicle that they’re looking for restitution on, the vehicle wasn’t even registered to any of them. Unmarked, wrong license plate tags on it, it wasn’t even in any of their names,” said Cordell.

“Your Honor, we’ve been running the streets doing the dope, and doing the dope, and doing the dope. Even the police don’t like snitches. They knew what they were doing when they were running the streets working with them,” he added.

Testimony has not clearly indicated who set the Bravada on fire, but how the bodies ended up on River Road has been all but settled.

When Brunke arrived home from work on April 16, Cordell met him in the home’s attached garage. Cordell was still carrying Brunke’s .40 revolver, the gun which he had used to force the victims into the basement.

The two men had a brief confrontation over a display in Brunke’s home, which Cordell believed indicated Brunke was a law enforcement officer. Once Cordell was satisfied Brunke was not associated with law enforcement, he took him into the basement and showed him the bodies of Nelson and Hutchinson.

Cordell, Carlson, and Brunke loaded the bodies into the SUV. Based off testimony by both Cordell and Brunke, Brunke helped only with Nelson and Hutchinson. He refused to touch or look at Aldrich’s body.

It is unclear who drove what vehicle to the scene of the blaze, but Cordell, Carlson, and Brunke drove to River Road in two cars: the SUV, and Brunke’s personal vehicle. The fire was set with gasoline provided by Brunke.

A few days later, Brunke fled to Illinois and changed the tires on his vehicle. He was later arrested, extradited, and arraigned on the same 12 counts that Cordell originally faced, which ranged from unlawful imprisonment to open murder.

Brunke’s charges were later dropped in exchange for testimony against Cordell and guilty pleas on two lesser charges: obstructing justice, a five-year and/or $10,000 felony, for fleeing the state disposing of the tires that were on his vehicle; and one count of lying to a peace officer during a violent crime investigation, a four-year and/or $5,000 felony. He will be sentenced Dec. 10.

Carlson was arraigned on eight counts, but died before being able to testify in court about the murders. She was transported to Schoolcraft County Memorial Hospital from her jail cell early in the morning on June 15, after she began exhibiting symptomatic behavior. She died on June 16 at age 28 of endocarditis, an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart.

For Cordell, the future is certain, but this will not be Cordell’s first time in the Michigan prison system, as Cole noted when she referred to him in her statement before the court as “former prisoner number 371416.” Cordell spent 10 years in the system between 2001 and 2011 for breaking and entering a building with intent.

This time, however, there is little chance Cordell will leave the system.

“Mr. Cordell is as ruthless and cold-blooded as human beings can be. To tie someone up, drug them, strangle them or suffocate them, takes a person with absolutely no conscience. Mr. Cordell has no regard for the rules of a civilized society. No regard for the rules,” said Noble Thursday. “No regard for rules; no regard for his fellow mankind, and so now he must live the rest of his life in the most uncivilized of places, prison. Mr. Cordell will never see freedom again.”