Beverly McCallum: Michigan woman convicted 22 years after strangling husband to death as remains found near blueberry field

Warning: This article contains graphic description and recollection of crime that may trigger some. Readers' discretion advised.

LANSING, MICHIGAN: A Michigan jury found a woman, who killed her husband by beating him with a hammer, strangling and stuffing his body into a footlocker, setting it on fire, and leaving it next to a blueberry field with the assistance of two individuals, guilty of murder, nearly 22 years after the horrific incident.

Beverly McCallum, 63, was found guilty of second-degree murder as well as disinterment and mutilation of a body in the 2002 death of her husband 37-year-old Roberto Caraballo near Lansing. 

Police were unable to identify the body until 2015

The murder, which became known as the "Jack in the Box case", perplexed investigators for years since they couldn't identify the body.

It wasn't until 2015 that one of McCallum's children revealed to the authorities who the real remains belonged to.

Finding McCallum was the next challenge as authorities subsequently discovered that she was traveling the world, visiting places like Jamaica, Pakistan, and Italy.

McCallum's life on the run ended in 2020 when she was apprehended by police at a hotel outside Rome. In 2022, she was extradited to Michigan to stand trial.

Prosecutors claimed that McCallum wanted Caraballo dead because she was unhappy in their marriage, the Lansing State Journal reported.

It was reported that she plotted to have her daughter, Dineane Ducharme, now 43, and her friend Christopher McMillan, now 45, kill him.

During the trial, McMillan testified that after McCallum shoved Caraballo down the stairs, Ducharme gave him a hammer blow to the back of the head.

According to McMillan's testimony, he intended to use a baseball bat to complete the deed, but as he swung, he struck a pole, breaking it.

As per the testimony, McCallum then took the hammer from her daughter and killed Caraballo by beating him. He further said that the three then put a rope around his neck and covered his head with a plastic bag until he stopped breathing. 

The outlet stated that after placing the body in a footlocker, they drove to a distant blueberry field, doused it with gasoline, and set it on fire.

Beverly McCallum found guilty of murdering husband Roberto Caraballo in 2002

During the trial, McCallum testified on her own behalf and blamed McMillan and her daughter. She denied murdering her husband but acknowledged getting rid of the body.

“It’s like a made-for-TV movie, is what it seemed like, especially as she took the stand and tried to give an explanation that didn’t make any sense at all,” Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd told the LSJ after the verdict.

The outlet claims that after a six-day trial, jurors found McCallum guilty in just two hours. Ducharme and McMillan were convicted for their part in the murder already.

Ducharme was sentenced to life in prison, while McMillan was given a sentence of 15 to 40 years. McCallum will be given a life sentence by a judge on May 23.