Woman who helped kill husband in 2002 sent to prison for 40-60 years

CHARLOTTE — A long-running murder case involving three defendants accused of killing a Charlotte man whose remains went unidentified for more than a dozen years is finally over.

Beverly McCallum, 63, the last defendent to be prosecuted, was sentenced to 40 to 60 years in prison Thursday for second-degree murder in connection with the 2002 death of her husband at the time, Roberto Caraballo. Eaton County Circuit Judge Janice Cunningham also gave McCallum a concurrent term of 10 to 15 years for disinterment and mutilation of a body.

Caraballo's burned remains were found partly inside a metal footlocker in May 2002, but they went unidentified until 2015, when police received a tip about who the victim might be.

McCallum, her daughter, Dineane Ducharme, and Ducharme's friend, Christopher McMillan, were charged in connection with his death.

McMillan pleaded guilty to second-degee murder and conspiracy to commit murder in 2019, and was sentenced to 15 to 40 years in prison. He testified against both Ducharme and McCallum, saying the three of them conspired to kill Caraballo, who was bludgeoned with a hammer in the basement of a home on Horatio Street in Charlotte.

Caraballo's body was put into a metal footlocker and driven to an Ottawa County farm, where his remains were set afire.

Ducharme was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and disinterment and mutilation of a dead body and is serving life in prison without parole.

McCallum was living out of the country when the charges were issued. She was arrested in Rome in 2020 and held in an Italian jail until being extradited to Michigan in 2022.

McCallum was convicted after a jury trial that ended April 1. She denied any involvement in Caraballo's death, but Eaton County Prosecutor Douglas Lloyd argued she was the ringleader.

McCallum will get 1,500 days credit for time served, which includes her time spent in jail in Italy.

Lloyd lauded the detectives who worked on the case for their "doggedness" and "tenacity."

The case was investigated by Ottawa County Sheriff's Detective Robert Donker and Eaton County Sheriff's Detective Jim Maltby, both of whom are retired. The last detective to have the case was Eaton County Sgt. Josh Ivey.

Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Woman draws 40 to 60 years in prison for 2002 killing of husband in Charlotte