Mears couple plead for justice for their son murdered 7 years ago

OCP file photo/William and Denita Buchanan hold the urn that holds contains the ashes of their son, William “Billy” Craig Buchanan II.

By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor

LUDINGTON — April 16, 2026, marks seven years since William and Denita Buchanan’s 32-year-old son, Billy, was murdered, and the man who was accused of killing him remains free.

“We’re going into the seventh year, and we’re no further than the day it happened,” said Denita.

The murder, assault and weapon charges against Corey Ryan Beekman, now aged 39, were dismissed in Mason County’s 51st Circuit Court, Sept. 22, 2020.

OCP file photo

Beekman was accused of murdering William “Billy” Craig Buchanan II of Mears, April 16, 2019 and wounding then 33-year-old Katlin Buck with a gunshot to the arm in Beekman’s home at 10550 N. US 31 in Mason County’s Free Soil Township. A former Army National Guard staff sergeant, Beekman was in an hour-and-a-half standoff with police following the shooting.

Buck, a key witness in the case, evaded authorities trying to serve subpoenas on her and her two children — who were in the home at the time of shooting.

In 2020, Mason County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Spaniola (now retired) announced that charges against Beekman were being dismissed “without prejudice.” Spaniola explained in a press release that the dismissal was due to the unavailability of witnesses. 

Contributed photo/Billy Buchanan

Beekman, who had been lodged in the Mason County Jail on a $750,000 bond since the time of the shooting, was released.

“Without this important testimony, justice would not be able to be served. Mr. Beekman is considered innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. A dismissal without prejudice means that charges may be refiled at a later date. The statute of limitations on a homicide never expires, and the case may be brought forward at a future date. 

“I am optimistic that one day this case may be able to be heard so that Billy Buchanan and his family can receive the justice they deserve,” said Spaniola.

Spaniola said multiple attempts were made by Mason County sheriff’s officers to serve subpoenas issued by both the prosecution and the defense on key witness Buck and her two children. However, Buck evaded authorities.

OCP file photo/Photos of Billy hang in the living room of the Buchanan home.

The subpoenas were in the possession of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office with instructions to “further make efforts” to serve them, Spaniola said previously. Now the subpoenas would need to be re-issued, said Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole. It is illegal to evade the service of a subpoena, he said. 

“We had an uncooperative witness in the other victim,” said Sheriff Cole in reference to Kaitlin Buck. “That was an obstacle the prosecutor had to deal with. She was not coming to the door when we wanted to serve the subpoenas.”

Now the case is in the hands of a third prosecutor, Beth Hand, who was elected to the position in 2024.

“The case is still under investigation,” said Hand in a recent interview. “It is not, in my opinion, prudent of law enforcement—whether it’s the actual officers or the prosecutor—to discuss the facts of the case or the angle of an investigation the case is taking. It’s case suicide, so to speak. Discretion is the better part of valor.

Billy Buchanan with his son, Billy III.

“Cases over time get less momentum, and sometimes cases over time can pick up momentum,” said the prosecutor. “Facts and circumstances change over time that can lead to greater strengths, or it can cause some weaknesses. But my goal is if and when the case is recharged, I want to make certain that I have a very good probability of a conviction. We only get one shot at trying it—one shot—and I am not going to screw that shot up.

“So I am going to make sure if and when the case is reissued, that I have a very strong probability of obtaining a conviction. Whether or not it’s ever reissued, that’s yet to be determined, but I can tell the family that I am not going to do it unless I know that I have a very strong probability of finding justice for their son.

OCP file photo/Billy Buchanan’s high school graduation photo at left and his son’s at right.

“It is something that I think about frequently, and it is not forgotten. It’s just a matter of making sure that if and when it’s rewritten, I have good, solid evidence. There is no statute of limitations.

“Is he enjoying his freedom while these decisions are being made? Yes, he is,” she said of the defendant, Beekman. “But rushing to justice for Mr. Buchanan isn’t justice at all.”

Judge Susan K. Sniegowski said she did not receive any requests from the prior prosecution to place Buck in custody, which would have ensured that she testified. Nor did she receive any requests to place the children in some form of protective custody to secure their testimony.

The Buchanans were awarded a default judgement of $8.26 million including interest in a wrongful death lawsuit against Beekman in 2021 in Mason County’s Circuit Court. The family has never received any payments from Beekman, Denita said.

OCP file photo/A memorial made by Billy’s dad, Bill, Sr.

At the time the criminal case was pending, Beekman’s alleged innocence was being proclaimed via a billboard on US 31 by his house. The sign displayed a picture of him sitting next to a dog. He was wearing a military Stetson hat displaying sergeant stripes. The sign stated: “I was defending myself in my own home!” For the Buchanans, seeing the billboard was like throwing salt in their emotional wounds. Denita said there were similar billboards on display in other locations in the area.

“There was speculation in the community more than anything else that it could have been self defense,” said Sheriff Cole. “I personally don’t believe that. I believe the evidence that was presented at a preliminary examination showed that there was intent. The judge agreed with that—he was bound over (to 51st Circuit Court) on the homicide charge, and then once Kaitlin started dodging the subpoenas, that became a big problem for the prosecution moving forward. 

OCP file photo

“After the shooting went down, Beekman stayed in the house,” said Sheriff Cole. “He could have easily come out and allowed law enforcement to render aid to the victim. That wasn’t done—he stayed in the house. There was an opportunity for him to come forward and make efforts to save the victim’s life. And that didn’t happen.”

While Beekman was in jail, he made plans to harm Sheriff Cole. “There were correspondences from our jail to people on the outside where he was trying to get someone to harm me. He had made a plan to harm me in the jail.” 

Cole said he has no history with Beekman.“I don’t know Beekman—I’ve never had any interaction with him before.”

MCP file photo/Corey Beekman and attorney Al Swanson, Jr.

After his release from jail following the dismissal of the case, it is believed Beekman continued to harass the sheriff by leaving voicemails at his office. The voicemails were left on Saturdays when the caller likely knew he would not be at his desk to answer the phone. “I will get a Saturday morning phone call when it’s highly unlikely I’m going to be at my desk, but someone will call in and make rude comments and disparaging remarks about our agency and about me, and the guys that listen to the recordings say it’s Beekman.”

About three years after the dismissal of the criminal case, the Buchanans’ emotional nightmare intensified when Beekman—who was living in Florida—was honored by then US Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida). The former Army National Guard staff sergeant—dressed in uniform—led the House Judiciary Committee in the Pledge of Allegiance. Videos of the ceremony were shared by Gaetz’s office on social media, but were later removed.

MCP file photo/Kaitlin Buck takes the witness stand.

The Buchanans were outraged after the man who was charged with murdering their son was publicly honored. However, a flag honoring their slain son and a written apology from Gaetz were sent to the family. 

Billys’ heroic efforts the day of the shooting may have saved the lives of Kaitlin Buck’s two young girls, Denita said. “The police told us he was a hero, because he saved those little girls by telling them to say put. Our son was a hero.” Denita believes her son went to Beekman’s house with Buck to help her move out of Beekman’s house, and she thinks Beekman shot her son in a jealous rage. “I think he assumed Billy was there to be boyfriend/girlfriend.”

Billy was cooking breakfast for Kaitlin’s children when the shots were fired, said Denita. “He told the kids, ‘Get under the table and don’t come out until policemen come and get you.’ I guess Corey was accusing Billy of kicking in the door of the bedroom, which police said was already broken and that Corey may have done it to blame it on Billy. There was no sign at all that Billy had done anything wrong.”

OCP file photo

Investigators told Billy’s parents that Billy and Kaitlin had been friends for a long time, but they were unaware of the friendship. Denita said she doesn’t think the two were romantically involved. 

“I’m so tired of hearing that Kaitlin is a victim,” she said. “I don’t see Kaitlin as a victim because if he wanted to shoot her and kill her, he would have done it. He just wanted to graze her to say, ‘I mean what I’m saying, and you’re not going with anybody else.’”

It is unclear when Beekman entered the home prior to the shootings, she said, but she knew that Billy had spent the night in the house. He lived with Denita and Bill, Sr. in their mobile home, and he had called them to let them know he would not be back until the morning because he and Kaitlin had stayed up late packing for her move. She did not know where Kaitlin was planning to move. She said Kaitlin picked up Billy at the Buchanans’ Mears home to take him to Beekman’s Free Soil home the night before the slaying. It was the first time Billy’s parents had ever met her, and Denita said she had an uneasy feeling about her. Her motherly instincts turned out to be right, unfortunately, because that was the last time she ever saw her son.

“I don’t think this is ever going to get solved because Kaitlin wants to play games,” said Denita. She also worries that because so much time has passed, witnesses’ memories will fade. “Now it’s seven years later, are these people going to remember?

“It scares me that everything is not going to come together in order for us to get justice. It’s eating away at us that seven years have gone by, and we’re no further than we were the day we heard it. We live with this every day.” Denita said this year’s anniversary of his murder stings even more than usual after the death of her younger sister, Karen, April 14.

“This is where we get to see our son,” she said as she pointed to the many pictures of Billy on the walls of their home and her voice began trembling. “All the pictures on the wall and all the memories that he left us.”

Beekman was charged with second-degree murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and felony firearm for the shooting death of Buchanan and wounding Buck. A nine-day jury trial was scheduled to commence in Mason County Circuit Court on Sept. 22, 2020, but it never occurred because the charges were dismissed.

Billy leaves behind a son, Billy III, who is now 22 years old. “He doesn’t have his dad in his life to say, ‘I’m so proud of you,’” said Denita.

“We are tired of our son just being swept under the rug and nobody wants to do anything. It changes you as a person, because you have so much hate and anger for the two responsible, and then you have anger because the system isn’t working for you. Then, you have the pain of seeing that,” she said as she pointed to Billy’s urn and photos, “and that’s all we get to see of our son. It’s always in the back of your mind. When he died, a part of me died.”

Portions of this article are from a May 29, 2025 OCP article about this case.

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