(WXYZ) — He is a key suspect in one of Michigan’s most notorious unsolved murder mysteries: the Oakland County Child Killer case. Now the man who says he shared a prison cell with Arch Sloan is sharing new details about the convicted pedophile.
Watch Heather Catallo's investigation:
7 Investigator Heather Catallo first revealed in July that detectives had met with Arch Edward Sloan in his final hours alive, and that Sloan did give law enforcement new information to pursue in the Oakland County Child Killer case.
Ever since forensic test results linked hairs found in Sloan’s car to victims in the Oakland County Child Killer case, the convicted pedophile has been a key suspect.
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Between 1976 and 1977, four children were abducted along the Woodward corridor in Oakland County. They were held for days and then murdered.
Sloan died in early June. The 84-year-old had been locked up since 1984 after he pleaded guilty to raping a 10-year-old boy inside his camper in the city of Detroit. That case ended a 14-year stretch of arrests and convictions for various sex crimes with minors between Pennsylvania and Michigan.
That lengthy criminal history prompted police to question Sloan in 1976 about the very first Oakland County Child Killer victim – Mark Stebbins. In February 1976, the 12-year-old’s body was found just 7 miles from Sloan’s home. At the time, police took samples from Sloan’s Pontiac Bonneville, which decades later matched hairs found on both Stebbins and the child killer’s 4th victim, Tim King.
Related: 2016 coverage from WXYZ: More details emerge about Arch Sloan
“They offered if he would just tell him what happened to the kids, they'd let him go and he refused,” said William Whateley.
Whateley says he spent 9 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. While he was locked up, he says he was assigned to be Sloan’s cellmate for about two years while the two were held at the Gus Harrison Correctional Facility near Adrian.
“Did Arch Sloan's fellow inmates believe he was the Oakland County child killer,” asked 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.
“Yeah, that's how I found out who I was living with. They told me, who you're in there with was the Oakland County child killer,” said Whateley.
Sloan’s involvement in the case has never been publicly proven. The hairs from his car that are connected to the two male victims are not Sloan’s DNA.
Whateley says Sloan kept a picture of the Bonneville in his cell, and he says Sloan had a friend who would send him money in prison.
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“He said that ‘that's one of the guys that was usually around me in my cars.’ He said ‘he's older than me, he's a couple years older than me and he still drives a diesel truck to this day. And all I can do is call him and he sends me money,’” said Whateley.
Whateley says Sloan would never talk about the child killer case, or his criminal history.
“He said ‘I got nothing to say.’ I mean, at that point you would think he'd say ‘I didn't do it’ or something. He'd just say ‘I don't want to talk about it.’ That was what Sloan always said. Even in the room, you try to ask him what did you do. He'd tell you, ‘I got one of those cases, but that's all I'm going to tell you. I don't talk about my case,’” said Whateley.
Whateley says Sloan described trips up north with a group of friends, and what they allegedly did there.
“They said they buried a car up north. He said they were digging holes for gophers and for something else in a place where they would go to hunt, but they never hunted. They got drunk all the time instead, anyways, and high. And he said, ‘we ended up with a great big hole, and we buried one of my buddy's cars out there,’” said Whateley.
Whateley says he doesn’t remember exactly where ‘up north’ Sloan would visit, but there are other suspects in the case with ties to northern Michigan.
Detectives say Christopher Busch would often visit a home on Ess Lake, and then there’s the potential connection to the massive pedophile ring associated with North Fox Island off the coast of Charlevoix.
Related: Former neighbor of person of interest in OCCK case speaks; tells story that haunts her to this day
Whateley does remember another disturbing detail. He says Sloan loved the show Dance Mom’s which features young dancers.
“When I would walk in the room, he would hurry up and change the channel because he always had that on. That was always on,” said Whateley.
“With little kids in it?” asked Catallo.
“Yeah, little kids,” said Whateley. “It just creeped you out, because you knew what he was there for already.”
Whateley says he saw Sloan in February as Whately was preparing to be released.
“They were wheeling him around the yard. He was in a wheelchair, but he still worked in the prison library,” said Whateley. “I walked by him and said hi and he looked at me and said ‘yeah, I heard you're going home.’ I said ‘yeah I am,’ and he said, ‘good luck,’” said Whateley.
Whateley’s case was officially dismissed on August 4. He says while he doesn’t know for sure if Arch Sloan was involved in the Oakland County Killer case, he’s hopeful the families of the victims will have answers soon.