Category: Death Row

This Day in Infamy: The Murder of Terry Lee Chasteen and Her Children

Young mother of three, Terry Lee Chasteen

April 28, 1978 – Divorced mother Terry Lee Chasteen was taking her three small children – Misty (5), Stephen (4), and Mark (2) – to the babysitter when another driver motioned for her to pull over. Terry pulled to the side of I-465, and the man pulled in behind her, explaining something was wrong with one of her rear tires. He offered to look at it for her, and the young mother gratefully accepted.

Tragically for Terry and her children, their supposed Good Samaritan was actually a conniving, violent criminal named Steven Timothy Judy. Once he had access to Terry’s car, Judy disabled it under the guise of fixing the nonexistant problem with her tire. Then, when she was unable to drive away, he convinced her to accept a ride.

Within an hour, Terry and all three children were dead.

After initially proclaiming his innocence, Judy later confessed to raping Terry before strangling her to death in full view of her children. Then the remorseless killer threw each of the kids, one by one, as far as he could into the cold water of White Lick Creek and watched as they drowned.

Steven Timothy Judy was executed in Indiana’s electric chair on March 9, 1981.

This Day in Infamy: The Death of A Serial Killer

March 6, 1994 – Convicted killer and Indiana native Larry William Eyler (41) died of complications related to AIDS in the infirmary of the Pontiac Correctional Center (IL). Two days after his death, Eyler’s defense attorney released a posthumous statement in which Eyler confessed to the murders of at least 21 young men. In the confession, he also alleged Robert David Little (52) of Terre Haute had been his accomplice in some of the killings, and was the sole person responsible for the death of Daniel Bridges. Little, an Indiana State University professor with whom Eyler had lived for seven years, was brought up on charges in connection with one of the murders but later acquitted. He then returned to teaching.

Just The Facts: Michael Overstreet

Name: Michael Dean Overstreet

Known Aliases: (none)

Date of Birth: November 18, 1966

Claim to Infamy: On September 7, 1997, Overstreet abducted, raped, and murdered 18-yr-old college student Kelly Eckart. Her partially-nude body was found four days later in a ravine at Camp Atterbury.

Indiana Connection: A native of Boggstown, Kelly had just finished her shift at the Franklin WalMart when Overstreet kidnapped her. According to statements given to police, he took her to the Franklin Days Inn motel before transporting her to Camp Atterbury with the help of his brother, Scott A. Overstreet. Scott Overstreet has never been charged in connection with this crime.

Current Status: Sitting on Indiana’s Death Row in Michigan City

Random Disturbing Fact: Overstreet ‘saw’ demons and other hallucinations as a child, but his mother never sought help for him. Mental illness continued to plague him through adulthood; he served only three months in the Marines before being discharged on those grounds.