Venus Stewart

WAKESHMA TOWNSHIP, MI -- For the past eight years, Doug Stewart was likely the only person who knew the location of his estranged wife's remains.

That changed on Monday, Oct. 22, when Stewart, in prison for the murder of Venus Stewart, led police to the grave where he buried her body, according to Michigan State Police officials.

Police found remains they believe are those of Venus Stewart buried in a five-foot-deep hole at the location Doug Stewart described in Wakeshma Township, in the southern part of Kalamazoo County, Detective Sgt. Todd Petersen said.

The Michigan Department of Corrections agreed to honor some requests from the convicted murder, including providing Xbox gaming systems for use by him and other inmates at the Saginaw Correctional Facility.

Venus Stewart and Doug Stewart both grew up in the area and lived in Schoolcraft after they married in 2002. They moved to Newport News, Virginia in 2009, and Venus Stewart returned to Michigan in February 2010.

Venus Stewart was reported missing by her parents April 26, 2010.

In June 2010, Doug Stewart was arrested and charged with first-degree premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree premeditated murder in connection with Venus Stewart's disappearance and alleged killing.

Doug Stewart was convicted in 2011 with the murder of his estranged wife, Venus Stewart. He is serving life in prison, currently at the Saginaw Correctional Facility in Freeland.

Petersen, who was first assigned to work on the case as a trooper, has continued to investigate Stewart's disappearance as a detective for the better part of a decade.

He and Michigan State Police Detective First Lt. Chuck Christensen have visited Stewart at least once a year since he was imprisoned -- and more frequently recently -- traveling to state prisons in Carson City, Ionia and Saginaw.

Stewart's mood changed over the years, Petersen said. On Oct. 12, after years of claiming innocence in the murder, Stewart admitted to police that he killed his estranged wife in 2010.

Several factors contributed to the murderer's willingness to lead officers to the burial site, police said.

Both families, including the woman's daughters, wanted to know where Venus Stewart's body was, Petersen said.

"They wanted to know where their mother is at," he said.

The Michigan Department of Corrections also approved some requests for Doug Stewart in exchange for the information, Petersen said.

The Michigan Department of Corrections is adding three Xbox consoles to the veterans unit at the Saginaw Correctional Facility, where inmates with permission to use them will be allowed to play 30 minutes at a time, MDOC spokesman Chris Gautz said. He said inmates will be allowed to play sports games on the gaming consoles, which were donated. The Xbox consoles will not be connected to the internet, Gautz said.

Stewart, a U.S. military veteran, will also be allowed to participate in a program to train dogs while incarcerated, and will also be allowed to teach a class at the prison.

Doug Stewart

Gautz said the MDOC did not give Stewart a number of other things he asked for, and said the things he was given was not special treatment.

Stewart declined a request for an interview with MLive and the Kalamazoo Gazette, an MDOC official said on Oct. 23.

Petersen said he spoke with Stewart numerous times on the phone as well as in person. Stewart started talking mostly about hypothetical situations, and eventually was ready to tell them where he hid the body.

"I was skeptical right up until yesterday," Petersen said, noting that every time he talks to family members of Stewart, it drags them back to the day she disappeared.

"It was nice to be able to say, 'Hey it actually worked, and we found her,'" he said.

Detectives are still waiting for an official confirmation from the medical examiner's office identifying the remains found by police Monday.

Stewart's account of the killing differs somewhat from the version of the story presented in court on which a jury convicted him, Petersen said. That new version of events included that he killed Venus at the burial site, and in a different manner than the strangulation theory presented in court.

"I think sometimes he makes things up or embellishes things for no particular reason," Petersen said.

Interviewing Stewart was different than an interrogation or criminal suspect interview, he said.

"I'm not coming from a place as an adversary. It was more of, hey, I'm on the same side as your family," Petersen said.

Christensen said the case was at the top of the ones for which he wanted to find answers. He thanked the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office and St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office for assistance and using their equipment during efforts to find Stewart. Detectives are indebted to the director of the MDOC and the warden of Saginaw's prison for their help, Christensen said.

Christensen said he believes Stewart made the decision to share the information in part for his own peace of mind, and also because of pressure from both families to do the right thing.

"The truth is, without his cooperation and pointing out the location to us, we wouldn't have found it any other way," Christensen said.

The inmate was extremely nervous and anxious as he brought to police to two locations within feet of each other, where they found the remains, Christensen said.

Stewart was familiar with the location because he worked in the area cutting wood when he was 15 or 16, Christensen said.

Christensen said he sensed relief in Stewart when, after more than eight years of looking, police were standing at the site of the missing woman's grave.

Petersen said Stewart's demeanor changed over the years, from denying having any involvement in the killing, to talking about it hypothetically and dropping hints about his guilt, to admitting responsibility for her killing earlier this month.

"I think he had come to the realization that he wasn't leaving, this is what he had to deal with in his future," Petersen said.

Christensen and Petersen both said their focus all along has been on getting answers for family members.

"The family deserves to have her back," Petersen said.