Mark Casterman
By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor
LUDINGTON — The jury trial for a 60-year-old Grand Rapids man accused of running over his wife with a car and killing her in 2023 is scheduled for May 19-23 in Mason County’s 51st Circuit Court.
Mark Lazon Casterman, who is currently lodged in the Mason County Jail on a $1 million cash/surety bond, is charged with homicide – open murder, operating while intoxicated causing death, operating while license suspended causing death and third-offense operating while intoxicated.
Homicide is punishable by up to life imprisonment; operating while intoxicated causing death carries a 15-year maximum; operating while license suspended, revoked, or denied causing death also carries a 15-year maximum; and third-offense operating while intoxicated is punishable by one to five years in prison.
An argument during a ride home from the Little River Casino led to the death of 45-year-old Melissa Casterman-Medacco, who the prosecution alleges was run over by a car driven by her husband of 16 years on Sept. 15, 2023 on US 31 near Freeman Road in Free Soil Township.
Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole previously said Casterman-Medacco was killed instantly and declared dead at the scene.
Former Prosecutor Lauren Kreinbrink said that “the fight, the anger and the drinking led to the crash” during a preliminary examination in 79th District Court, Dec. 6, 2023.
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