American kidnapper, a former policeman, abducted his ex-wife, Susan Foster Kropowenski on 3/05/1993. The couple had been together about 14 years before separating in March 1991 and divorcing in January 1992.
When they had divorced, Michael was so embittered that a month after their separation, he had entered the house and raped Susan. Michael’s breakdown apparently came from the loss and change in his life during the former decade.
Michael had joined the army in 1971 after graduation from high school. After leaving the service, he joined the Somerville Police Dept in 1978. A quiet and easy going officer, during his four-year career, he earned no commendations and received no reprimands, nor did he have any behavior problems.
In 1982, he was forced into retirement from the police force after injuring his back. He spent his time caring for his widowed mother and doing odd jobs around the house and yard. Not working, he turned inward to brooding anger and his marriage began to unravel. With their mean divorce, he lost custody of his two kids, whom he adored. When Susan went on with her life and began a relationship with Gary Delviscio, who moved in with her, he became vindictive and abusive.
The morning of the kidnapping, Gary had just dropped off Susan’s six-year-old son at school when he was confronted by Michael, who forced him at gunpoint to drive to Susan’s condo. When Susan came out of the house, Michael smashed Gary down with his gun barrel and forced Susan into the car.
After an abusive day of driving around and fighting, they stopped at a Greenfield restaurant to eat. Susan slipped away from her husband by pretending to go to the ladies room. She was petrified and showed signs of being beaten. She told the hostess that she’d been kidnapped and hid under the basement stairs while the hostess called 911. Police took Michael into custody without incident at 8:40 PM, nearly 12 hours after he had grabbed Susan from outside her Watham condominium. He was charged with kidnapping, doing domestic assault, carrying an illegal weapon and violation of a restraining order. He was also arraigned on charges of assault and battery for the pistol-whipping of Susan’s beau, Gary Delviscio.