On a late summer evening in Detroit, the life of off-duty Michigan State Trooper Paul L. Hutchins, a 30-year-old male, was tragically cut short on August 29, 1985. Hutchins and a companion had just left a restaurant and were walking in the Hart Plaza area when they were accosted by two young men. One of the assailants was armed with a handgun and demanded Hutchins's wallet and his friend's purse.
After the initial robbery, the suspects forced the pair to walk toward a more secluded location. It was then that the robbers noticed a second wallet in Hutchins's pocket, which contained his badge and police identification. In a final, heroic act, Hutchins pushed his companion to safety and began to draw his own revolver while identifying himself as a police officer. Before he could fully react, he was shot once in the forehead. The suspects immediately fled the scene.
A dedicated task force of State Police detectives and Detroit Police officers launched a thorough investigation into the murder. Their efforts led to a grand jury indictment in the fall of 1986, implicating four members of a local gang. The suspects were tried in Detroit Recorders Court and subsequently found guilty of second-degree murder and armed robbery.
Each of the four individuals was initially sentenced to 150 to 300 years in prison for their roles in the death of Trooper Hutchins. These sentences were later reduced to terms of 95 to 150 years. One of the suspects would later receive a life sentence for his involvement in two other unrelated murders in Detroit.
