Troy

Son to stand trial in beating death of father

By Terry Oparka
C & G Staff Writer

A 21-year-old honor student charged in the beating death of his father will stand trial after a judge said the evidence presented, which included blood-soaked clothing found in the basement of a Troy home, constitutes just cause to move the case forward.

Patrick Mikes Jr., a former University of Notre Dame student and honor student at University of Detroit Jesuit High School, stands charged with the murder of his father, Patrick Mikes Sr., 55. The cause of death was multiple blunt-force trauma to the head. Police found Mikes Sr.’s body in a cornfield in Montrose Township Aug. 10  after his sons reported him missing July 29.

Judge William Bolle bound the case over in 52-4 District Court Oct. 1 on the murder charge after considering evidence and testimony given Sept. 24 by Mikes Jr.’s younger brother, Andrew, 16, as well as testimony from the medical examiner, a resident of Montrose Township and Troy police. Evidence included cellphone call records and blood-soaked clothes and rags police found in garbage bags near the furnace in the basement of the Mikes’ home after officers were called there on a report of the father’s disappearance.

Mikes Jr.’s attorney, Christopher Andreoff, had asked that those blood-soaked items be excluded as evidence because Mikes Jr. did not give consent for the search and police did not have a warrant when the items were discovered.

Police said officers at the home had received verbal consent to search the home, and they reportedly detected an odor upon arriving. Police said they had not been called to the home before July 29.

“We presented what we thought we needed, and the judge agreed,” Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney Jessica Cooper said.

Andreoff said he will review the preliminary exam transcripts and applicable laws governing the filing of additional motions regarding the evidence and testimony within the next 30 days.

Police testified that officers found a baseball bat pushed into couch cushions in the basement of the Mikes’ home, and Andrew said the relationship that Mikes Jr. and his father had was tense at times and not loving. According to Andrew, his brother said he and his father had verbally argued about Mikes Jr.’s use of Andrew’s credit card for personal items the morning of July 27. Andrew said the last time he saw his father alive was the evening of July 26.

Andrew, who police say is not a suspect, testified that he and his brother were required to work for their own spending money for entertainment and food outside the home. He said their father supplied them with an American Express card to be used for gasoline purchases only. He said his father canceled his card after discovering $100 in purchases Mikes Jr. had made for food and movies after Mikes Jr. asked to borrow the card from Andrew.

Andreoff said Mikes Jr. had searched, unsuccessfully, for a summer job in the medical field this summer because he hoped to apply to medical school.

Mikes Sr. was a contract employee at TRW, and his last scheduled day of work was to be July 31. Andrew said his father did not have another job lined up after that date.

Mikes Jr. remains in the Oakland County Jail pending his arraignment on the murder charge in Oakland County Circuit Court.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Terry Oparka at toparka@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1054.