2 charged with murder after bloody carpet found in pickup truck abandoned in Huron National Forest

CBS News

4 days ago

Two people are charged in connection with the murder of a missing man after police found a bloody pickup truck abandoned in the Huron National Forest earlier this month.
On July 13, a Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officer found a truck abandoned in the Huron National Forest in Oscoda County. Michigan State Police responded to the scene after a "large amount of blood" was found in the bed of the truck, along with a rolled-up carpet that was blood-soaked, police said.
Police found the truck's owner, Doreen Kay Schunk of Tawas Township, and discovered that her boyfriend, William Jackson, had been missing since 11 a.m. on July 11.
Investigators determined that the carpet found in the bed of the pickup truck had previously been in a pole barn owned by Schunk, police said. Troopers searched the pole barn, and technicians found droplets of human blood inside the barn, according to prosecutors.
During their investigation, detectives interviewed Clifford Marion Farthing of Tawas Township, who allegedly told them that Schunk and Jackson had argued over money while in the barn. Farthing allegedly told police that he went for a walk as the argument continued before returning and using a .38 caliber revolver that he said Schunk gave him to shoot Jackson three times, prosecutors said.
Farthing told detectives that he rolled Jackson up in a carpet and drove Jackson's truck to the forest, with Schunk allegedly following him to the spot where the truck was found abandoned, and Jackson's body was later found hidden.
Schunk allegedly then drove Farthing to Iosco County, where she stopped at her home in Sand Lake and disposed of the gun, according to prosecutors.
Farthing is charged with open murder as a habitual third offender and felony firearms second offense.
Schunk is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and felony firearm.
Schunk and Farthing were arraigned on July 18. Farthing is currently being held without bond, while Schunk was given a $2.5 million bond.
Prosecutors say Farthing has been held on a parole detainer since July 15.
"I am livid that Mr. Farthing was placed in Iosco County by the Michigan Department of Corrections," said Iosco County Prosecutor James Bacarella in a statement. "The MDOC placed him in this county in violation of their own policies. Mr. Farthing did not have any connection to Iosco County when he was paroled, he was not sentenced by the court in this county, and he did not have a special need that could only be attended to in Iosco County. I met with officials from the MDOC last year about Mr. Farthing and several other parolees they placed in Iosco County in violation of their policy. While they discontinued violating their policy regarding placing parolees in Iosco County, they did not remove the parolees they had placed here. If MDOC had not violated their own policy, Mr. Jackson could still be alive today."