GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The murder and dismemberment case against Jared Chance is pitting brother against brother, but it’s not the first time they’ve faced off against each other, according to police reports.
Holland Department of Public Safety reports obtained by 24 Hour News 8 through a public records request show a long history of disputes and fights between Jared Chance and his brother Konrad at the Chance family home in Holland.
They also show a history of drug- and alcohol-induced behavior by Jared Chance, sometimes bizarre.
Konrad Chance took the witness stand Thursday as a prosecution witness against their father in Grand Rapids District Court.
Their father James Chance, who used to serve as a police officer in Illinois, has been ordered to stand trial on charges of perjury and being an accessory after the fact in the case. Their mother Barbara Chance, who faces the same charges, waived her preliminary hearing Thursday and will stand trial.
Jared Chance is charged with open murder as well as mutilation of a dead body and concealing the death of 31-year-old Ashley Young of Oshtemo Township.
The police reports from Holland show a long history of domestic violence at the Chance family home. The fights between brothers often involved drugs, alcohol or both, according to the reports.
The brothers fought at the family home in January 2016, each claiming the other stole his marijuana, each claiming the other punched him in the face.
Konrad Chance later told police his brother had held a blowtorch to his face, acting as if he was going to burn him, and also hit him repeatedly with a stick.
A month later, police were back at the home after Konrad Chance accused his brother of stealing his pills. His father told police they had fought often.
“Konrad is always able to run away from Jared because he is faster,” their father told police.
Reports also show what appeared to be drug- and alcohol-induced strange behavior, like the time Jared Chance reported three men in camouflage and carrying rifles in his back yard. Twice in 2016, Jared Chance had to be revived from unconsciousness, once by firefighters using Narcan to reverse an opioid overdose, and later by his mother performing CPR in their backyard.
Later that year, Jared Chance was attacked by three men in front of his family’s home, knocked to the ground with a baseball bat, then punched and kicked.
He has also had confrontations with police, head-butting a Holland officer in one case; in another, officers used a Taser on him after he swung at them.
During a traffic stop, in which police found marijuana, he refused to give his last name.
“He said that is what his dad has told him to do,” police wrote.