BEULAH -- Authorities charged a man with murder in the April beating death of a Frankfort woman.
Robert Lester Cheek, 54, was arraigned Thursday in Benzie County on an open count of murder. Police believe he killed his live-in girlfriend, Valerie Smith, 52.
Cheek was returned to and will remain in custody in Manistee County, where he awaits trial on several assault charges tied to the severe beating of a Bear Lake-area man. That incident happened a few days before police discovered Smith's body on April 29, and investigators believe the incidents could be related.
Frankfort Police Chief Keith Redder is glad months of investigation resulted in a murder charge.
"It feels good ... we still have some follow-up to do, but we're pretty glad to be (here)," he said.
Potential charges languished because it took several months for items to be processed by crime lab officials, Redder said.
Smith, who lived with Cheek in a mobile home, died of trauma to the head, Redder said. The weapon hasn't been positively identified.
"From what the medical examiner told us, it was some sort of round instrument," he said. "It could have been a pipe, it could have been a baton, a hammer handle, something like that."
Police believe Smith died a few days before they found her body on a bed in the home. The alleged victim in the Bear Lake incident, Richard Scott Nanni, told police Cheek said, "I will bash you like I bashed her," according to police reports.
Nanni knew both Smith and Cheek well. Cheek told Nanni that Smith died of liver disease and he came to Nanni's home to sell some items to help raise money for her funeral, reports indicate.
Cheek severely beat Nanni and left him for dead, authorities said. Nanni later told police that Cheek might have killed Smith because she planned to tell police that Cheek kept stealing her prescription medications.
Cheek hasn't detailed a motive in either incident, Redder said.
"As far as being able to talk with him about a motive or what tripped him off, he lawyered up from the get-go," Redder said.
Authorities found blood on several items in the home where Smith and Cheek lived, and it appeared someone tried to clean up some of the blood, police said.
Cheek's preliminary examination, held to determine if there is enough evidence to send a case to trial, is scheduled for Dec. 17. Attorneys representing him in both the Manistee and Benzie cases couldn't be reached for comment.
