Man arraigned in shooting death of Muskegon-area real estate agentremembered

Thu, Jul 3, 2008    to del.icio.us

ROOSEVELT PARK (AP) — Friends, relatives and co-workers described slain real estate agent Troy VanderStelt as an honest, intelligent and likable man who was dedicated to his family and to his career.

Robert Arnold Johnson, 73, of Roosevelt Park, was arraigned Wednesday in Muskegon County District Court on charges of first-degree premeditated murder and using a firearm during the commission of a felony.

A conviction on the murder count carries a mandatory life prison sentence with no possibility of parole.

At the hearing, Johnson appeared on a video feed from the Muskegon County Jail wearing a dark, sleeveless, one-piece garment designed to prevent an inmate from committing suicide. He was being kept in a holding area under a suicide watch, said Sheriff Dean Roesler.

Johnson responded clearly to questions from Judge Harold F. Closz III, who granted a petition for a court-appointed attorney but ordered that the defendant continue to be held without bail. A preliminary examination was scheduled for July 15.

There was no answer to telephone calls made to his home.

Prosecutor Tony Tague said Johnson was upset that he could not sell a home that he had purchased through VanderStelt in 2005, so he went to Nexes Realty on Tuesday and shot VanderStelt in the head at point-blank range with a .22-caliber semiautomatic handgun that police recovered.

The victim was declared brain-dead about four hours later at a Muskegon hospital.

VanderStelt, 33, lived in nearby Norton Shores with his wife of nearly four years, Bridget, their young daughter and son, and two children from an earlier marriage.

Nexes broker-owner Bill Carlston, who was not in the office when the shooting occurred, said Troy VanderStelt often spent time after work and on weekends riding his bicycle and pulling his two youngest children behind in a child trailer.

Longtime friend and Omni Fitness Club owner Lana Carson said VanderStelt belonged to her health club for many years and worked hard to keep physically fit. Everybody there knew and liked him, she said.

"He had everything going for him," Carson said. "He was intelligent, good-looking and fit, a great husband and father. You don't get any better than him."

The killing has shaken real estate agents in the Muskegon area, said Emily Jensen, an agent with Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors.

"This can happen," she said. "There are crazy people losing money on houses."

Dennis VanderStelt said his son would not have taken advantage of a client.

"It's a senseless act what this person did. It has no rhyme or reason," he said. "Steps had been taken several times to resolve this situation and (Johnson) just wouldn't let it go.

"Someone has to speak the truth: Troy didn't have a mean-spirited bone in his body. He would have never done anything that would be considered cheating someone."