More details are emerging in the story of Michael George, who along with wife Renee, has been running the Pittsburgh Comicon for many years. As reported yesterday, George was arrested on Monday for the 17-year-old slaying of his first wife Barbara in 1990. Barbara George was found slain execution-style in the Michigan comics shop George then owned. Comics were stolen from the store and it was believed to be a robbery. However, police now believe George staged the robbery:

Killing his wife execution-style in his Clinton Township store in a staged robbery was likely a philandering husband’s scheme to collect life insurance and start anew with another woman, prosecutors said.


Prosecutors and the victims family has kept the case alive for all this time, according to this much longer and more detailed story in the Johnstown Tribune Democrat.

Following the murder, George relocated to Pennsylvania and remarried, opening a chain of comics shops and co-running the Pittsburgh show with current wife Renee. We have never attended the Pittsburgh show ourselves, but Michael and Renee George were always kindly spoken of in the industry, known for raising thousands of dollars for charity, and the shocked reactions to the arrest can be read in this Newsarama thread.

1 COMMENT

  1. Considering what happen several years ago with the guy that ran Dragon*Con and some other misc. cons that’s had various things with their people, this doesn’t suprise me. It sad to say that, but it doesn’t come as a shock to hear news like this involving a con organizer.

  2. The question isn’t whether he did it, the spouse is usually the bad guy…It is what took so long?

  3. Innocent until proven guilty. The man still hasn’t been proven guilty, just charged with a crime, so we shouldn’t assume he did it yet, right? Nothing in the articles states any solid evidence that he did it, only coincidental factors so far (neither are the police forthcoming with the new evidence, it appears). Marriage problems are hardly reason to conclude he did it; lots of people have problems with their marriage and take out life insurance, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to kill their spouse. And the money left in the pockets bit: that would mean touching the person and leaving fingerprints. Of course whomever did it wouldn’t check her pockets; they were there to steal comics.

    Now, if they can find where those stolen comics were sold to, then maybe they’d have some real evidence and an ID. It sounds like they stole some pretty rare stuff, and if the owner DID do it and has them stashed away somewhere (because being a shop owner, I hardly doubt he’d have just thrown something so valuable away), then get a search warrant for his house and any storage places he keeps and look for them . . . or look for sudden deposits of large unreported sums of cash to his bank accounts.

  4. Even if he is found innocent, the people who will suffer the most is those who attend Pittsburgh Comicon. I don’t think there is someone who is willing to step into his shoes and do as good of a show as he did. It is why I prefer organizations in running conventions. You have turnover, but because it is owned by an organization they can fill the spaces and make the event happen. I do hope that someone takes on Pittsburgh Comic Con to continue the show. It seemed like a fun show.

  5. “Even if he is found innocent, the people who will suffer the most is those who attend Pittsburgh Comicon.”

    Because being falsely accused of your wife’s murder pales in comparison to comic book fans and creators not having a good fun Pittsburgh convention. Nice.

  6. I do apologize for what I said. It was not the right opening sentence for the paragraph. I think alot of people are forgetting that the impact of this is not just on him and his family (that is important), but on a local fan community. I hope that justice is fair to this man.

  7. Im hearing he tried selling a gun to his neighbor, who took it to the police to see if it was stolen. Ballistics were run on the gun, and it turns out that its the same gun that killed his wife 17 years ago. He’s 100% guilty.

  8. I think that the police would not have gone after him with out some hard evidence especially after all these years. The family has ALWAYS suspected him this entire time and now there will finally be a trial and justice will be served once he is proven guilty.

    The people that have suffered the most is Barbara’s family. Michael on the other hand moved on without a problem… he married someone else within a short amount of time and moved away starting a whole new life and not looking back.

  9. In responce to Dan Potchak ‘s Post I do not know where you get your facts but they are not correct. First off it was not Michael George’s neighbor the gun was sold too it was his wifes uncle and it was sold a couple of years ago when Mr. George Inherited the gun when his father pasted away. Second MI investigators wanted the gun and his wifes uncle would not turn it over to them. He called Windber poilce and gave the gun to them to be documented. Third as far as anyone knows the Ballistics report has not been completed and certianly not made public. So I think you should stick to the facts. Michael George is Innocent Untill Proven Guilty and I mean in a court of law and not by your OPINIONS

  10. I was shocked to learn this news. I personally do not believe he guilty. I can see why he would want to start over in his life after his wife was murder.

    Sadly his life now if proven innocent will be forever changed. There will always be those who believe he is guilty. It is no win game for everybody. The victim family wants closure and justice. Renee and the adult children are going to lose as well.

    Just imagine their legal bills. It is beyond ugly situation all the way around.

  11. I was just surfing google, and entered my name, and this site came up—I have know idea who is using my name but it’s not me—-who ever you are , your are a pussy