Police: Remains ‘Zombie Mike’
Alleged rapist hanged himself in woods years ago, authorities say
Case closed. Authorities announced Friday that human skeletal remains and skull found by a hiker March 19, coupled with strong DNA evidence, indicates the suspected rapist and fugitive Michael Hawkins, better known as Zombie Mike, hanged himself years ago.
Officials could not provide a more precise time frame because the condition of the remains. The discovery at the end of Rudge Road off Consaul Road marked the turning point in a vexing investigation spanning several states involving several law enforcement agencies.
Niskayuna police spokesman Sgt. Joseph Twitty said during a news conference Friday at Town Hall that DNA evidence from two pieces of personal identification with Hawkins' name led law enforcement agencies to their determination.
“Given these findings, we can report a high probability that the search for Michael Hawkins is over, and that apparently by his own hand as a fugitive from justice in a wooded area in the town of Niskayuna,” said Twitty, accompanied police brass, Rotterdam officials, State Police, federal marshals and Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney.
Niskayuna police were aided by the State Police forensics investigations unit.
“Additional skeletonized bone remains were found nearby along with a New York state identification card and an employee identification card, all in the same name Michael S. Hawkins,” said Twitty. “A belt was found hanging from a tree limb near the remains, appearing to indicate that the individual had hanged himself, slipping from the restraint after decomposition had set in.” In August, the Times Union reported that authorities believed the remains to be those of Hawkins.
A warrant was issued for Hawkins' arrest after a 2013 rape case. Schenectady police were also looking for Hawkins in connection with an alleged rape. The alleged sexual assault of a developmentally disabled wheelchair-bound woman occurred in June, 2012, officials said. Both women reported the attacks and were tested at Ellis Hospital.
Two molars were sent to the State Police for analysis and the profile was compared to a DNA sample from one of Hawkins’ family members. Semen from rape kits matched Hawkins’ DNA from his teeth, Twitty said.
Rotterdam Police Chief Michael Brown said that after the rape was reported to police they quickly pinpointed Hawkins as the suspect because the victim knew him. Police investigators, said Brown, later went to a Schenectady home in the Bellevue neighborhood where one of Hawkins’ neighbors told them that he had seen Hawkins earlier that day and Hawkins remarked “he was a wanted man” before taking off.
In 2017, Hawkins family members voluntarily submitted DNA samples to investigators.
The accused rapist from Rotterdam drew attention in 2019 from "In Pursuit with John Walsh," a show on the Investigative Discovery channel that focuses on true-crime stories. At the time, authorities described the then 31-year-old as someone "who can hide anywhere" and "survive off of scrap."
In the past, Hawkins worked for traveling carnival companies based in New Jersey and North Carolina, and marshals believed he might have been working for similar outfits in Ohio, Tennessee, Puerto Rico and states along the East Coast.
Carney, the district attorney, talked about how far DNA analysis and technology has come and how it has proven invaluable to police and prosecutors.
"We can confidently say that the case is appropriately closed at this time, which I have mixed feelings about ... it's not the way the case should have ended, it would have been much better I think if he had come into court and been accountable in a court of law for what he did, but on the other hand his decision to do what he did spared these two women from having to relive what happened to them that night," Carney said.