A 37-year-old Gaylord man is held without bond after being formally charged with murder Monday in the death of a 67-year-old man whose body was found in Gratiot County two weeks ago by hunters.
Joseph Robert Zoran was arrested Friday at his home on Dorothy Drive after meticulous police work across agencies led investigators from Gratiot County to Gaylord seeking evidence and information.
Zoran was charged Monday in Otsego County Court with one count of open murder in the death of Robert Jack Counterman Jr., whose last known address was also in Gaylord.
The 37-year-old was not offered bond, said Ostsego County Prosecutor Bredan Curran.
Related: Coordinated, thorough police work leads to arrest
The Gratiot County Sheriff’s Office worked with other agencies to trace Counterman’s last days by following a trail of credit card receipts and store security footage after the 67-year-old’s body was found in a garbage bag on March 11 at the side of Warner Road near Olive Road in Seville Township.
As investigators interviewed Zoran at his home, Gratiot County Sheriff’s Lt. Roy McCollum noticed what looked like blood spatter on a wall; police searched his home and Zoran was arrested and lodged in the Otsego County Jail over the weekend.
Zoran lists 2849 Dorothy Drive as his home on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry, a property that Ostego County records indicate belongs to Counterman’s sister.
That sex offender registration is a requirement stemming from a 2005 child pornography conviction out of Minnesota.
Zoran was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison at the time for possessing child pornography of girls and distributing it over the Internet, according to reports in the Shakopee Valley News.
While serving his sentence, Zoran faced discipline for possessing various materials including a letter he wrote to an agency requesting photos of child models, a letter seeking to sponsor a young girl in Honduras along with various books written on topics such as child abuse, serial murders and fugitive life, the newspaper reported.
Zoran was briefly at the center of news coverage in Shokopee, Minn. in 2008 when he was a soon-to-be released Level III sex offender; initially Zoran was set to be placed in the county’s work-release program but the decision was later rescinded.
Other past convictions include giving a false name to a law enforcement officer, drug possession and hazardous speeding.
About the Author
Lisa Yanick Litwiller is a photographer and community engagement editor. She is a 2000 graduate of CMU, the mother of two boys, is terrified of birds and close spaces, and loves wine, music and gossip. Reach the author at llitwiller@michigannewspapers.com .