There is now a fifth suspect connected to the fatal shooting of Oak Park jeweler Daniel “Hutch” Hutchinson on June 1, 2022.
Phillip Sumpter, 59, appeared with his court-appointed attorney Melissa Krauskopf in a brief hearing Wednesday before Oak Park 45th District Judge Michelle Appel.
At one point the hearing descended into pseudo-legal gibberish stemming from Sumpter’s claims that he is a “sovereign citizen.”
Sovereign citizen movement adherents in general hold, without reality-based evidence, that U.S. laws have no legal constraint over them.
When contacted, Oak Park police said little about Sumpter, who was arraigned in Oak Park court back in November on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder and jailed without bond.
“Phillip Sumpter was arrested in the Columbus Ohio area in late October and extradited back to Michigan to face conspiracy to commit murder involving the Daniel Hutchinson murder,” said Oak Park Public Safety Lt. Marlon Benson in an email Tuesday.
Benson provided information about Sumpter’s court date and bond denial. But he would not respond to any question about how Sumpter is connected to the murder or provide a police booking photo of the suspect to the Daily Tribune.
Hutchinson,47, of Pleasant Ridge, died when he was shot about a dozen times. He was in his SUV with his wife, Marisa, outside the Pay Beny Pawn shop on Greenfield Road, which he had just bought. She was uninjured. The hit job happened just down the street from Hutchinson’s Hutch’s Jewelry store.
Three of four suspects connected to the fatal shooting were ordered to stand trial on murder and related charges last year.
Those suspects are attorney and alleged mastermind in the killing Marco Bisbikis, 38, of Novi, along with Angelo Raptoploous, 33, of Commerce Township, and Roy Larry, 45, of Detroit, the accused shooter.
Jury selection for the trial is scheduled to start Feb. 20 in Oakland County Circuit Court, but a motion was filed last month to delay the trial.
A fourth suspect, Darnell Larry, 58, of Detroit is a cousin of Roy Larry, and made a plea deal in 2022 to testify for the prosecution and pleaded guilty to solicitation of murder.
All suspects are jailed without bond.
Sumpter’s probable cause conference Wednesday before Judge Appel shed little light on what role he is accused of playing in the Hutchinson homicide. Defense attorney Krauskopf told Appel she requested the in-person conference hearing because Sumpter was unable to understand or hear all that was said during an earlier court hearing via Zoom from the county jail.
Sumpter took umbrage with the legal language and statements in the charges against him, and appeared to suggest he was not the person identified in the criminal charge.
“They told all these lies,” he said. “All these statements here … no disrespect to the court, this is not me. I do have a problem … I did not consent to any of this.”
Judge Appel told Sumpter she respectfully disagreed that he was a sovereign citizen who could disregard the law.
“You can’t pick and choose which laws you wish to (apply to) yourself,” Appel said.
Sumpter later said he wanted a new court-appointed attorney and was told he had to write a letter to Appel making that request.
Sumpter is due back in Oak Park District Court for a preliminary examination March 14.