Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 91

X- 4B 12 U) I I' I' S. OAKLAND WEDNESDAY, AUGUST IS, 2000 TP rains Detroit Dair empire i By BRIAN BALLOU Lawyerin court today in 1982 murder iTLjili fli ljff.ft i-f-titH 34 fhK')'i '(, -t, 'tit- 4tiih: 'AfUv 1 v- IP i Thomas Randolph Jr. and his wife Marie Jackson-Randolph were influential businesspeople. roled and enlisted in the Army, serving one year in Vietnam, according to the biographical information. He joined the Army's track team and after being discharged, he accepted a track scholarship at Western Michigan.

He became a four-time All-America and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame. He also was an alternate on the 1968 Olympic Track Team. Randolph served as executive vice president of Sleepy Hollow day-care centers; and even though he oversaw 17 employees, he was not suspected in having a part in the money laundering scheme in which Jackson-Randolph was convicted, said Kevin Kendrick, the head of the FBI office in Detroit. With the exception of Randolph's half-brother, who sued Randolph for fraud several years ago, family members who were contacted declined to comment. Michael Smith, Sharron Randolph's oldest son by a previous marriage who lives in California, said he'll possibly, attend the legal proceedings against his one-time stepfather, who faces life in prison if convicted of conspiracy to commit murder or first-degree murder.

i "My family and I always thought that he was involved but had no way to prove that. It will be strange to see him again," he said. Contact BRIAN BALLOU at 248-586-2617 or balloufreepress.com. 6 if lieve Thomas Randolph could have had his wife killed. Claude Chapman, 60, who has known Randolph for more than 30 years and lives within a mile of him, said, "I have The Farmington Hills Inn announces its new 24-resident Sanirell Vinelli Reflections Unit .1.1 i i i nut PKESS STAFF WRITER After marrying in 1982, Thomas Randolph Jr.

and Marie Jackson-Randolph established themselves as movers and shakers in Detroit by building a chain of daycare centers and a law firm, but their empire toppled this year when she was convicted in a multimillion-dollar money laundering scheme and he was charged with the 1982 murder of his third wife. Jackson-Randolph, who ran the Sleepy Hollow day-care centers and served from 1984 to 1989 on the Detroit School Board, started serving a 9-year sentence in February after being convicted on 63 counts of fraud and money laundering. Randolph was arrested last month outside his Detroit law firm and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder. He is accused of hiring a drifter to kill his third wife, Shar-ron Randolph. Thomas Randolph, 58, maintains his innocence and is scheduled for a preliminary exam today in 46th District Court in South-field.

Sanirell Vinelli, who also goes by Sanirell Shannon, the man police say Randolph hired to kill Sharron Randolph, also faces a preliminary examination today. Both men are being held without bond at the Oakland County Jail. Jackson-Randolph, 60, is appealing her sentence. She is at a federal prison in Pekin, 111. Investigators said that from 1988 to 1993, she padded the meal tally books at her Sleepy Hollow Educational Centers and defrauded the Agriculture Department's Child and Adult Care Food Program out of more than $15 million.

Coming from meager beginnings, the pair seemed to typify the rags-to-riches story. They were trustees at their church, active members of the Detroit Urban League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, attendees and co-organizers of large-scale social functions, and were respected in the community, friends said. They lived together in an expansive ranch-style house in the exclusive Palmer Woods neighborhood in north Detroit and vacationed in Aruba and the Bahamas. Randolph brought to the union two children from his second marriage, which ended in divorce. Jackson-Randolph's three children from a previous relationship died in a house fire in 1979.

They were 7, 11 and 18. Randolph's 27-year-old son, Thomas Randolph III, is a partner in his father's law firm. Neither he nor his sister, Stacey Randolph, 30, would comment on the charges against their father. Friends stand by them Some friends say they don't be- 1 robbery, Vinelli shot Sharron Randolph outside a Southfield restaurant and Thomas Randolph later paid him about $45,000 for the job, Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Steven Vitale said. Randolph told police that he and his wife were ordered at gunpoint into their car.

Following a brief scuffle inside the car, he said, the assailant shot his wife and escaped. In December, members of Oak Force, a multi-jurisdictional task force that specializes in unsolved crimes, revisited the 1982 case, starting with a witness who originally stated he didn't see the crime. The witness, according to Vitale, was with Vinelli on the night of the slaying. The witness told police that he knew of no plan between Thomas Randolph and Vinelli but that he did see Vinelli shoot Sharron Randolph and was present when Vinelli got into an argument with Thomas Randolph later over payment for the job. He also said he saw Randolph pay Vinelli, Vitale said.

The witness has not been charged. Possible motive: Debt Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca said Randolph may have been motivated by debt. "His credit cards were maxed out, and he collected about $240,000 in life insurance policies." Court records also show that in 1983, Randolph received $72,000 in a settlement with the owners of the strip mall where his wife was shot. Randolph claimed the mall didn't have proper security or lighting. When Vinelli was arrested in connection with the Sharron Randolph case in Hattiesburg, members of Oak Force found a card in one of his pockets with Thomas Randolph's home and business phone numbers, Vitale said.

Randolph's lawyer, William Mitchell, said his client is innocent but would not comment further. According to Randolph's resume and other biographical information provided by Mitchell, he earned a bachelor's degree from Western Michigan University in 1969 and obtained a master's degree in social work in 1971, a doctoral degree in sociology in 1978 and a law degree from Wayne State University in 1990. Randolph opened his law firm in 1991. He was born in Harlem, N.Y., and dropped out of high school when he was 16 to join a gang, according to the information provided by Mitchell. Less than a year later, Randolph was arrested for assault and battery and sentenced to three years in prison.

After two years, he was pa- BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOES WIDTHS FROM iVv A A.FFFF i Our proven commitment 20 years of unsurpassed care and protection for the elderly now assures the comfort, well-being and security of residents with Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia. Our experienced professional staff devotes around-the-clock individual attention to every need. Health care monitoring medication management are provided. A registered nurse and LPNs are on staff. A geriatric psychiatrist and physicians are on-site regularly and on-call 24 hours.

Personal safely is assured in our beautiful, single level, fireproof building, which features secure landscaped courtyards. Everything is included for $85 per day Three home-cooked meals daily laundry and housekeeping services transportation to medical appointments supervised recreational all the necessities and amenities The Farmington Hills Inn Licensed superior quality assisted living for the elderly, since 1980 30350 W. 12 Mile Farmington Hills, MI 48334 (248)851-9640 never seen anything in his character or actions that would indicate he is capable of what he is accused of. "Tony is a person whose only fault was overextending himself to help other people," said Chapman, who met Randolph in 1969. Randolph was in his last year at Western Michigan University and Chapman had just graduated from Central State University.

The two men worked as counselors and teachers at Wayne County Community College. Chapman was the president of the Federation of Teachers Union, Local 2000, and Randolph was the union's chief negotiator from 1978 to 1991. Chapman was one of the first people to see Randolph at Providence Hospital in Southfield following the January 1982 death of his wife and also identified Sharron Randolph's body. "The things they say he did are just unbelievable," said Chapman, speaking publicly for the first time about his friend's arrest. The Rev.

Nyathi Mangewa, the assistant pastor at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit, where Randolph and Jackson-Randolph have been members for more than 20 years, said the pair always took a leadership role in the church. "I've known them since they started attending, and he is a good Christian man who always helped out with our functions," Mangewa said. "The church stands behind him." Prosecutors disagree and say Randolph arranged a murder-for-hire scheme, enlisting the help of Vinelli, a nursing student he had counseled at Wayne County Community College. Under the guise of an armed Farmington Hills 1 TJ mm I I Open doors. 1 1 Od en arms.

i i fp) PCLRRIS ATV'S i JUDGE I Appeals expected after rigged-trial charges 1 1 1 1 i fH. tit' rl (--'fit-' mju. nil' I rmrriiin.m imiti wii xM) starting? $0 QQQ from LiyxJ kToHOOOf ON ALL 4X4 MODELS Whilo Supplies Last From Page IB help Assistant Prosecutor Beth Hand gain convictions in at least six drug cases. In one case, the clerk reported, Warshawsky declared a mistrial after listening to jury deliberations and concluding jurors were on the brink of an acquittal. In another, the clerk says Warshawsky allowed a prosecution witness to watch other witnesses' testimony before taking the stand.

Warshawsky has vigorously denied the allegations. Hand remains on the job and referred requests for comment to Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca. Howard ordered soundproofing in jury deliberation rooms last week and said Tuesday that a new committee chaired by Circuit Judge Joan Young will look at the future of the visiting drug judge position, and whether it should be retained. Warshawsky's attorney, Bill Hampton, said Tuesday that he was puzzled why the court compiled the statistics. "If a lawyer filed a motion asking for a new trial, of course they'd want to pull that case and address it on its merits.

I would wait to see what lawyers do in the way of filing motions," Hampton said. He said the prospect of new trials and appeals of cases handled by Warshawsky will evaporate after an investigation shows the charges to be groundless. Warshawsky is scheduled to be interviewed by State Police detectives next Tuesday, Hampton said. Contact HUGH McDIARMID JR. at 248-858-2292 or mcdiarmidjrfreepress.com.

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