Stabbing-Turned-Murder Case Moves Forward One Year Later

Almost one year to the day of the crime, the murder case against a Fraser man accused of brutally stabbing a Macomb Township woman will move into circuit court.

Initially facing counts of felony home invasion and assault with intent to commit murder, the charges against Joseph T. Reiner, 28, were upgraded to murder in December 2011 following the death of the victim, 69-year-old Joann Eisenhardt.

Although DNA evidence has failed to link Reiner to Eisenhardt–as Macomb County prosecutors had hoped–the murder charge against him will stand based on Macomb County Medical Examiner Dr. Daniel Spitz's testimony Wednesday in 41A District Court.

Spitz testified that the double stabbing Eisenhardt suffered Feb. 23, 2011, did contribute to her death in September.

Based on this and other testimony offered during the last seven to eight months of Reiner's preliminary examination in district court, Judge Douglas P. Shepherd bound over the case and ordered Reiner to appear in Macomb County Circuit Court for a Feb. 27 arraignment.

This story first appeared on Macomb Patch almost one year ago today. The suspect is alleged to have broken into a Macomb Township home and stabbed a 69-year-old resident twice in the neck with two steak knives before stealing pieces of jewelry and fleeing the scene. .

Just days later, Reiner was arrested following an that ended on the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Months of testimony followed, during which Reiner make frequent changes to his appearance, most recently to his forehead.

in May 2011, whose testimony would have tied Reiner to Eisenhardt, has forced the prosecution rely on circumstantial evidence to make its case.

Reiner will be held in the Macomb County Jail while his case is tried in Macomb County Circuit Court.