Naman Shrestha
The life of a bright and ambitious 19-year-old woman named Wanda Musk was cut short in 1993, after she went missing from her workplace. The tragedy sent shockwaves across the entire community and left her loved ones grief-stricken. Despite the best efforts of the authorities, the investigation remained unsolved for several years. In the episode titled ‘1993: Her Last Shift’ of ‘People Magazine Presents: Crimes of the 90s,’ the primary focus is on all the intricate details of the homicide and the investigation that ultimately led the detectives to the perpetrator responsible for the gruesome crime.
Wanda Musk Was Killed While Working Nightshift at the Gas Station
Born on May 7, 1974, in Muskegon County, Michigan, Wanda Lynn Musk was adopted by US Air Force Veteran Ross E. “Butch” Musk as a baby and raised in the city of Muskegon. When she turned 14, she relocated to the Flint area and began living with the Mast family. After graduating from Kearley High School with flying colors, Wanda enrolled in Mott Community College. In order to finance her studies and lead an independent life, she also started working at One Stop Food Store on Richfield Road in Flint, Michigan. 19-year-old Wanda had a bright future ahead of her, but fate intervened and shattered all her dreams.
The fateful morning of November 13, 1993, started like just another day for Wanda Musk, who was serving her night shift (3rd) at the local gas station as usual. However, she went missing at about 7 am from the store. Before her disappearance was reported, her unclothed remains were discovered by a newspaper deliveryman in a field several miles away on North Vassar Road just south of East Mount Morris Road, about an hour after she vanished. When the authorities arrived at the scene, they inspected the site and concluded that she had been beaten to death. At the scene, the detectives also discovered DNA evidence, which would help crack the case several years later.
The Killer Was Serving Time For Another Murder When Linked With Her Killing
As part of the investigation, the detectives asked witnesses around the convenience store in order to form a clearer picture of her disappearance and death. Several witnesses claimed to have seen Wanda outside the store with a man, with whom she left. Due to a lack of evidence and leads, the case went cold and remained unsolved for nearly two decades. During that time period, a potential suspect also falsely confessed to killing the 19-year-old woman. When Jerry Parks, a retired police officer, took over the cold case, he combed through over 600 individuals, including a serial killer named Jeffrey Gorton and a Clio bike path rapist named Jack Hall, trying to crack open the case with the help of the DNA evidence collected from the crime scene.
By January 2012, a new law required the inmates of the Michigan Department of Corrections to submit their DNA for testing. As it turned out, the DNA of one of the inmates, Matthew Lorne Alder, matched the evidence of the Wanda homicide case. At the time, Matthew was already serving time for a 1994 murder he had committed in Roseville. As per reports, there were several similarities between the two killings. With enough evidence against the already incarcerated criminal, the authorities charged Matthew with the first-degree murder of Wanda Musk. The killer had abducted the 19-year-old woman on the morning of November 13, 1993, from the convenience store and beat her with a steel baton before disposing of her remains in the field in Genesee Township.
Matthew Alder is Currently Incarcerated at a Michigan Prison Facility
Several months after Matthew Alder was charged with Wanda Musk’s 1993 homicide, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on August 21, 2013. During his plea hearing, he admitted to beating Wanda to death with a steel baton. He also addressed the court and stated, “No matter how I acted, my disposition would have been scrutinized…I’m not quite as remorseless as everyone would like to think.” Less than a month later, his sentencing hearing took place on September 11. During the hearing, Wanda’s family finally got the opportunity to speak to her killer, whom they deemed to be a monster. In the end, Matthew Lorne Alder was sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison, while he was already serving a life imprisonment sentence for an unrelated murder charge. As of today, the 55-year-old killer is serving both his sentences at Saginaw Correctional Facility in Freeland, Michigan.
