On August 2, 1982, around 9:00 pm Colleen Bitterman was cross country training in a public park when she noticed a cream colored sports car pass her several times. She only saw the back of the driver's head but noted curly, almost permed hair. About 15 minutes later, as she was running over the top of a hill, a man with very curly hair approached her, overtook her, and dragged her into a secluded area. Keeping his head turned from her the whole time he put her shirt over her face, performed oral sex on her, then raped her. He told her to count to 100 and left. |
Livingston County charged Ewing with raping Colleen Bitterman but he was acquitted by a jury in 1985. A second Livingston charge, Stacy Arronson, was then dismissed. It's possible (though not proven) that both Livingston women were attacked by the same man. The physical descriptions are similar (and unlike Ewing). Interestingly enough, both complainants were present at Eskridge's private photo show-up and both ended up naming Ewing as their attacker.
When Ewing was sentenced to life (7/85) for the Coltrain conviction (Jackson County) the Bitterman case had not yet gone to trial. Yet Judge Fleming included the "pending charge" as one of 3 reasons for enhancing the sentence to life. In 1995, 10 years after Ewing's acquittal in the Bitterman case, Jackson County Judge Chad Schmucker ruled by a "preponderance of the evidence" that Ewing did, in fact, rape Bitterman, and affirmed the life sentence.
The ruling was a travesty, especially in light of the evidence, or lack there of:
