Colleagues back scrutinized former 'U' regent

From staff and wire reports

Former University Regent Nellie Varner (D-Detroit) has spent the past month fighting off allegations of her possible involvement in the July 24 murder of her daughter's ex-boyfriend.

Janniss Scott Varner, Nellie Varner's daughter, lived with Alvin Knight for nearly five years and helped Knight raise his son, Alvin Norwood. Scott Varner is not biologically related to Norwood, but she has been trying to obtain custody since 1997, claiming she has virtually raised the boy.

Varner

On the night of July 24, one day after Knight gained custody of the boy, a masked gunman reportedly shot and killed Knight outside his Detroit apartment.

Police obtained a warrant to search the Detroit home Varner shares with her daughter. The warrant said the custody dispute provided "a motive for the murder (for) hire of the complainant."

The Detroit News reported that during the raid of Varner's home, police found more than 15 bullet holes, an altar with candles, oils and incense and notes allegedly describing how to kill Knight, obtain a false death certificate for him and gain custody of the child.

Police said they also found papers in Knight's apartment in which he described the custody battle with the Varners, including death threats he has received.

Varner, a prominent Detroit real estate investor, left the University Board of Regents in 1996 after serving for 16 years. She is one of the main investors in Atwater Casino Group, one of three groups selected for a Detroit casino license.

Those who worked with Varner during her tenure at the University said they highly respect her.

Former University President James Duderstadt said Varner made a lasting contribution during her tenure on the board.

"Nellie Varner was always very highly regarded, both by the University and her fellow regents," Duderstadt said. "She was thoughtful and very supportive of the University."

Duderstadt said Varner worked with him on the Michigan Mandate and was instrumental to its implementation. Passed in 1988, the mandate is an ongoing University initiative to increase diversity on campus.

Regent Philip Power (D-Ann Arbor), who served on the board for nine years with Varner, said that as a former University political science professor, Varner knew the University's inner workings better than any other board member.

"She is a reserved person," Power said. "I saw her at many football and basketball games with her grandson, who is a charming and delightful young man."

Police investigators and Varner's attorney Harold Fried insist neither Varner nor her daughter are suspects in the murder.

"Nellie Varner is not a target" of the police investigation, Fried said. "She has passed a polygraph about the murder of Alvin Knight."

The July murder was not the first violent incident involving Knight in which police have investigated a possible connection to the Varners.

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