alloway, referred to the boys in the present tense, Skelton consistently spoke of them in the past tense - a detail that raised red flags for investigators.

Dream led investigators to dumpster, then landfill

On Nov. 29, 2010, Skelton told Liberti he had a dream that frightened him - that he was standing on Route 15 in Holiday City, Ohio, near a dumpster outside a motel across from a hotel he and Tanya Zuvers had stayed at previously.

 In his dream he said it was like having tunnel vision - that he saw his van pull up, park beside the dumpster. He saw Joanne Taylor get out of the car, then it became him,  Liberti testified.

Skelton drew a diagram of the location and urged investigators to search there.

 He kept telling us - go get them, go get them. He kept telling us he had a bad feeling. He told us at one point there is not nothing there,  Liberti said.

A search of the dumpster found nothing. Investigators then tracked the dumpster's contents to the Williams County Landfill.

Landfill search turned up animal bones, stuffed animals

Christopher Garnett, senior team leader with the FBI's Evidence Response Team out of the Cleveland field office, testified via Zoom about the searches.

The landfill search, which began around 2:30 a.m., involved a bulldozer removing trash layer by layer while crews searched with rakes and shovels.

Garnett said each 30-by-30-yard section took about two hours to search, and the team went through the process three times.

 We were pretty confident there was nothing,  Garnett said.

Several stuffed animals were recovered during the search and shown to the boys' mother, Zuvers, for possible identification.

911 call from 2010 played in court

Christopher Hudson, now the Lenawee County 911 director, testified that on Nov. 20, 2010, he received a call at around 7:20 p.m. from the Skelton boys.

In the recording, 7-year-old Alexander can be heard calling because his father was missing.

His older brother Andrew then took the phone.

 I remember my teacher saying in school,  If there is any problem, call 911,  Andrew told the dispatcher.

 Andrew, you did the right thing,  the dispatcher responded.  I'm going to get you some help. 

The boys told the dispatcher they were too frightened to go upstairs, where they believed their father might be.

An officer arrived, and Andrew opened the door - telling the dispatcher he had found his dad upstairs.

Prosecution, defense made their cases

In closing arguments, prosecutors pointed to Skelton's electronic footprint - including internet searches about rat poison and how to break a neck in November 2010.

Also, cell phone tracking data showed Skelton left his home in the early morning hours of Nov. 26 and traveled roughly 20 miles southwest of Morenci before returning at 6:46 a.m.

Prosecutors also referenced Skelton's comment to his daughter Katie -  you're the youngest Skelton now. 

Also, a statement he made during an FBI interview in 2011 that  boys will hibernate until they graduate. 

 Today, Andrew Ryan would be 24 years old, Alexander William would be 22 years old and Tanner Lucas would be 20 years old,  the prosecutor said.  All would have graduated. There are simply no signs of life, your honor. 

The defense argued no physical evidence connected Skelton to the boys' deaths.

 While it is tragic that these boys are not here right now and we can't find them - there is no physical evidence connecting John Skelton to the death of his children,  defense attorney Bill Amadeo said.

The defense asked for the case to be dismissed.

Judge bound Skelton over on all counts

Judge Schaedler said she was convinced Skelton and the fictional Joanne Taylor were the same person, and that the evidence pointed to his involvement in the boys' disappearance and deaths.

 I'm convinced by a preponderance of the evidence that the children are gone. They are dead. They are buried somewhere and/or hidden somewhere, and we just don't know where - and the perpetrator, by a preponderance of the evidence, is in fact John Skelton,  Schaedler said.

She bound Skelton over on all six counts.

He is due back in court Wednesday, Sept. 16, for arraignment in circuit court at 8:15 a.m.