Woman convicted 22 years after husband’s remains found near Michigan blueberry field: “Like a made-for-TV movie”

A woman extradited from Italy for the 2002 fatal bludgeoning of her husband in Michigan, was convicted of second-degree murder in a case that prosecutors likened to a “TV movie.”

An Eaton County jury needed just two hours Monday to decide the outcome of the trial against Beverly McCallumthe Lansing State Journal reported.

Roberto Caraballo, 37, was choked and beaten in the basement of his home in Charlotte, about 105 miles northwest of Detroit.

Burned remains were found in a metal locker near a blueberry field in Ottawa County in west Michigan, but the remains were not identified as Caraballo until 2015, more than 10 years later.

McCallum, 63, was arrested in Italy in 2020 and was detained there for more than two years before being returned to Michigan. McCallum showed no visible reaction when the verdict was read, according to Court TV video.

Prosecutor Doug Lloyd said McCallum wanted to get rid of Caraballo in 2002 after he was released from federal prison.

“Robert’s presence limited his lifestyle,” Lloyd explained.

Defense attorney Timothy Havis told jurors that McCallum played no role in the killing but was enticed to take a ride to dispose of the remains.

McCallum was implicated at trial, however, by Christopher McMillan, a witness who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and cooperated with police. He said Caraballo was attacked by McCallum and her daughter, Dineane Ducharme.

Ducharme, 43, is serving a life sentence after being convicted of first-degree murder in 2021. McMillan, 45, is serving a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.

McCallum took the stand Friday, saying she played no role in her husband’s murder, the Lansing State Journal reported. But her daughter, Sicily Caraballo, who was 9 at the time of the killing, was called to testify and refuted some of her mother’s testimony, including her assertion that the injuries she inflicted on her husband were minor, reported the newspaper.

“It’s like a TV movie, that’s what it felt like, especially when she took the stand and tried to give an explanation that didn’t make any sense,” Lloyd said after the verdict was read, the newspaper. reported.