Michigan man sentenced in 1997 assault, slaying of woman, 88

FLINT (AP) — A man who pleaded guilty in the 1997 killing of an 88-year-old Michigan woman was sentenced last Friday to at least 10 years in prison in the long unsolved case.

A Genesee County judge sentenced Michael Adam Bur, 43, to a minimum of 120-240 months for second-degree murder and 120-240 months for first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Mary Prieur's slaying. Both sentences will run concurrently.

Bur was also ordered to face mandatory lifetime electronic monitoring and register as a sex offender for life, The Flint News reported.

Bur had pleaded guilty to the charges in December following his 2021 arrest in Prieur's death. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss a kidnapping charge he had faced.

Prieur's body was found in February 1997 in a wooded area near her residence in the Genesee County village of Lennon. Prieur, who had been beaten, strangled and sexually assaulted, had emigrated from Czechoslovakia as a child and later operated a candy business in Flint.

Bur, then 17, lived near Prieur's house at the time of her killing.

A DNA sample taken from Bur in the months after the crime remained in storage until 2021, when a Michigan State Police Crime Lab used more advanced techniques than what existed in 1997 to link him to samples taken from the murder scene.