UPDATED: Monster Admitted to 11 Michigan Murders For Subway

UPDATED March 25, 2024: NewsNationNow reports that, according to sources close to the case, Garry Artman's confession was in exchange for a private hospital room and a ham sandwich from Subway. Grand Rapids detectives aren't commenting on the case until their investigation into Artman's confession can be substantiated. Below are the details of Artman's confession.

In September of 2023, he proclaimed his innocence and denied any involvement in the murder of which he was convicted. Then, while he lay dying in a prison hospital bed in Jackson, Michigan, just three months later, he confessed to killing 11 additional people, 10 of whom were from the Grand Rapids area.

Related: How 35-Year-Old Three Rivers, Michigan Cold Case Was Solved

Garry Artman woke from a comma, asked to speak with Grand Rapids detectives, and admitted to murdering Sharon Hammock, and 10 other unsolved murders. Hammock's murder was the only one he had been convicted of.

West Michigan Police Agencies Following Trail of Killers Deathbed Confession

The notorious long-haul trucker denied being a killer in September of 2023 during his sentencing for Sharon Hammock's murder, a conviction based on DNA evidence collected from the scene of the murder in 1996. However, just months later, while dying of lung cancer, Artman told a different story.

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In addition to admitting to killing Hammock, he claimed he murdered Dusty Shuck, who, at the age of 24, was found beaten, raped, tied up, and stabbed at a Maryland truck stop. Shuck's mother, in an interview with WOOD TV, thinks that Artman used his long-haul trucking job to victimize women nationwide.

Michigan Cold Case Victims' Families Remain Hopeful

Artman had been linked, via DNA, to Shuck's murder, but his lung cancer diagnosis made getting him to trial to face a jury difficult. Grand Rapids police and at least 3 other Michigan agencies continue to investigate the details of Artman's confession.

Related: Michigan's Most Sadistic Serial Killer: 'I Take Pleasure in Pain - Theirs'

The exact number of Artman's victims may never be known, given the huge geographic area he covered as a truck driver. Lt. Brunner of the Kent County Sheriff's Office, speaking with WOOD TV, had a message for families looking for closure following Artman's confession and the ongoing investigation:

Any time we investigate these cases, we cannot forget the impact that has on a victim’s family,Someone that’s had a loved one go missing or murdered a long time ago… it’s just a huge loss and then to not have answers on top of that. So, our investigators feel that burden as well when they look into these cases to try to help bring closure to these families. Obviously, Mr. Artman has passed away, so some people are going to have differing emotions about that. But, to bring closure to these families even beyond his death, that is their goal.

Cautious optimism may best describe families' and investigators' feelings about Artman's admissions. The number of murders he confessed to, 11, remains suspect as that was the number of cold cases the prosecutor mentioned Artman was being investigated for during his sentencing.

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Kent County Sheriff's Office officials have pledged to follow the trail left by Artman's chilling deathbed revelations, acknowledging the impact of unsolved crimes and the ongoing efforts to provide closure to grieving families in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and, perhaps, around the country.