DETROIT – Startling new evidence came to light Tuesday in a Detroit murder case, and the man charged in the case wound up bound over for trial in the killing of 55-year-old Gracie Hughes.
This was a particularly vicious crime, as Hughes was stabbed 67 times.
She celebrated Mother's Day just two days before she was brutally murdered in her childhood home that she refused to leave, even though it had no utilities.
Torius Inge, 46, of Detroit, is charged in her murder.
Testimony revealed that at the time of Hughes' murder, Inge was bald, which mattered when a nearby liquor store owner, Latif Danyal, testified to an encounter he had with Hughes, a store regular, the night of the murder.
He said Inge came in drunk and looked as if he was in tough shape.
"When he was trying to pay for the beer and he put money on the counter, and there was blood on it, and I also noticed some scratches on his face and, like, woman hair on his head, the side of his head," Danyal said.
Danyal said the hair was 6 to 7 inches long and was dark in color -- clearly not Inge's.
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He did not take Inge's money that night. Inge returned the next day to the store after Detroit homicide detectives had paid Danyal a visit. Danyal told them Inge was back in his store, and they arrived and arrested him.
Police said after stabbing Hughes 67 times, Inge burned her house down with her body inside. Firefighters found her body in the home's living room after they put out the flames.
Hughes' close friend also took the stand Tuesday. Michilliam Thompson said she had seen Hughes and Inge together the day before the murder.