COLDWATER, MI — Branch County Circuit Judge Zachary W. Stempien on Tuesday, May 19 appointed recently retired Cass County Prosecuting Attorney Victor Fitz as temporary Branch County prosecuting attorney.
Fitz, 68, will serve until voters elect a successor in November.
Former Prosecutor Terri Norris, now a Public Defender, and Assistant Public Defender John Vincent qualified to run after the governor appointed Stempien as Circuit Judge, following Bill O’Grady’s January resignation.
Both are on the August Republican primary ballot with no opposition.
Fitz brings over 40 years of prosecuting experience, including 23 years as Cass County’s elected prosecutor and about 15 years in Muskegon County.
As an out-of-county resident, Fitz is ineligible to run for the remainder of Stempien’s term. Stempien said the appointment ensures continuity and is not an endorsement for any future election.
Fitz’s resignation in Cass County took effect May 20. He has not given interviews since deciding to step down.
WVPE, the Elkhart, Indiana NPR station, reported the resignation less than a month after tensions flared at the April 9 Cass County commissioners meeting, where the commission rejected Fitz’s request to raise pay for his deputy prosecutors.
Stempien said Fitz was one of several applicants for the position.
Fitz is known as a career prosecutor with extensive trial experience, especially in serious felony and homicide cases, and is a long-standing figure in Southwest Michigan’s legal system.
During his career, Fitz handled over 100 murder cases and numerous serious felony trials involving sexual assault and armed robbery.
Fitz is best known for reopening and prosecuting the decades-old killing of Robert Stasiak, a case originally ruled a suicide in 1977.
Under Fitz’s leadership, investigators re-examined the death after family concerns prompted a new review, leading to Stasiak’s exhumation, a new autopsy, and updated witness interviews.
The renewed prosecution led to the 2016 arrest and guilty plea of Raymond Richmond, the victim’s cousin.
The conviction—nearly 40 years after the killing—became one of Michigan’s oldest successfully resolved homicide cases.
Fitz served as president of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan in 2017.
He is expected to take over from Branch County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Nora Geiger this month.
Contact Don Reid, dReid@USATodayCo.Com
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Victor Fitz new temporary Branch County Prosecutor
Reporting by Don Reid, Coldwater Daily Reporter / Coldwater Daily Reporter
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
