Man convicted of 1982 murder may receive parole
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MARQUETTE -- Earl Pleau, who as a teenager was found guilty of two counts of felony murder for the February 1982 killing of Colleen Ryan, was back in court this week and may be eligible for parole, courtesy of a 2025 decision by the Michigan Supreme Court.
Pleau is now 63.
Pleau was convicted by in a bench trial by Judge Clair Hoehn in December 1982, receiving life in prison without parole. Hoehn found that Pleau encountered Ryan as she left her job at Regis Salon in the Marquette Mall, that he killed Ryan after raping her and stealing from her and finally that he drove her to the Marquette County Airport, where he abandoned her in her car in the parking lot.
In a December 1982 Mining Journal Article by Jeff Eaton, Hoehn is quoted saying that the beating Ryan received was over a large area of her body and was "brutal and savage," including several serious wounds to the head and signs of strangulation. The crime occurred only 10 days after Pleau had been bonded out of jail from an unrelated arrest.
In that same article, Eaton describes Pleau's defense that he and Ryan had had consensual sex and that he had panicked after Ryan had said she would accuse him of rape. Eaton wrote that Hohen "did not find that believable."
In a 2022 Michigan Supreme Court case, People v Parks, the court found that subjecting 18-year-olds to life in prison without parole was unconstitutionally cruel punishment, "because it precludes consideration of the juvenile's chronological age and its hallmark features - among them, immaturity, impetuosity and failure to appreciate risks and consequences," according to the Michigan Supreme Court's report of the decision. In 2025, that decision was extended to 19 and 20-year-olds as well.
Those decisions led to Pleau returning to Marquette Circuit Court this week, where Circuit Judge Andrew Griffin is set to decide whether Pleau's sentence will be amended so that he is eligible for parole, or whether the original sentence will be upheld.
After arguments concluded on Thursday, Pleau's lawyers and Marquette Prosecuting Attorney Jenna Nelson have about a month to file additional briefs with Judge Griffin before he makes his decision.
During arguments on Thursday, the defense focused on a letter of remorse Pleau wrote to Ryan's family, as well as adverse childhood experiences and his record of improving behavior in prison as evidence for Pleau's capacity for rehabilitation.
The prosecution focused on that same record of Pleau's behavior in prison, citing specifically instances Pleau was found to have been stalking and threatening female Michigan Department of Corrections staff in 2005 and 2007, as well as a 2025 incident where Pleau was found to have been trying to set up female staff for disciplinary action, as evidence that Pleau should not be released.
The defense argued that the stalking and threatening incidents had occurred 15-20 years ago and that Pleau's behavior in prison had improved over time, citing positive work reports and a time Pleau had served as a confidential informant, providing information which led to the arrest of a former MDOC employee who had been smuggling drugs into the prison.
Defense also stated that, should he be released, Pleau has plans to move in with his sister in Tennessee.
Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is alippert@miningjournal.net.
