Category: murder

Man Arrested for Fatal Hammer Attack

Daniel James Smith is accused in the fatally bludgeoning a relative.

A Greenfield man who police say beat his own uncle to death with a hammer has been formally charged with murder.

On February 16th, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department responded to a report of a dead person at the residence 39-year-old Daniel James Smith shared with his mother and uncle. When investigators arrived at the home, they were directed by Smith’s mother to an unresponsive male in the living room. The man had severe facial trauma and was not breathing, but Smith’s mother was able to identify him as her half-brother, Freddie Patterson, 69. She then told officers her son, Daniel Smith, was also in the house.

Upon further questioning, the female resident stated she went to bed around 9 pm but was later awakened by banging. When she got up to find the source of the noise, her son brushed past her on his way to the bathroom, and she thought he had something in his hand like “Jell-O or blood with fruit in it.” She called out to her brother, but there was no answer. She then found him in a chair in the living room, mutilated. The woman also stated her brother and son “did not have a good relationship.”

Smith was arrested without incident. Once in custody, he made various statements to authorities concerning a cult, illegal products, and the Chinese Mafia. He then claimed his uncle was molesting a minor, which made Smith feel “angry and discussed.” Smith admitted to drinking a six pack of beer and moonshine shots in the hours before the murder but claimed he had been programmed by a brain implant to attack Patterson. Informed of the victim’s death, Smith first offered to donate a portion of his own brain to help him, but then told investigators “he was not really sure” if the man he allegedly killed was Patterson.

Smith has pled not guilty to an initial charge of murder. He is currently being held in the Hancock County jail without bond.

Two Men Arrested in 1975 Murder of Teen Girl

John Lehman (L) and Fred Bandy Jr. (R)

Earlier today Indiana State Police investigators and the Noble County Prosecutor announced they have made arrests in the 1975 abduction and murder of Laurel Jean Mitchell.

The North Webster 17-year-old was reported missing by her parents on August 6, 1975, when she didn’t return home from work that night. Two fisherman found Laurel’s body floating in the north end of Diamond Lake the next day, about 17 miles from her home.

John Lehman (67), of Auburn, and Fred Bandy Jr. (67), of Goshen, were arrested at their respective homes Monday. Both men were charged with one count of murder and are currently held without bond in the Noble County Jail. They are due to appear in court for their initial hearings tomorrow.

Poetry from the Twisted Mind of a Killer

Thrill killer Roger Lynn kept an audio diary of his “very deep thoughts.” On that diary, police found the following poem:

The bullet enters its chest,
Then pierces lungs, heart and breast,
The second shot comes thundering through,
And brains and skull are thrown astrew;
The man lies bleeding and dying,
Crying of happiness, victory at last,
Victory from the second blast.

January 1975: Thrill Killer Records A Murder

Roger Lynn had a bit of a reputation as a young teen. He was a well-known “chronic truant” with some very strange hobbies. Rather than obsess over cars, sports, or any number of the other, more socially-acceptable hobbies available to boys in the late 1960s, Roger preferred over-indulging in pornography, guns, and the macabre stories of Edgar Allen Poe. He played cruel jokes on his family, like putting mineral oil in his grandfather’s liquor bottles. Then there was his disturbing habit of killing pets… a couple of dogs here, a cat or duck there.

Neighbors, acquaintances, and even his own mother believed there was something was strange – and possibly even dangerous – about the boy.

Time passed. Lynn grew up, but he didn’t move on. At nineteen, his life remained roughly the same as it had been as an adolescent. Although he managed to marry, he continued living with his mother. He briefly held a job but quit within six months. He still fetishized porn, guns, and Poe. Even his best friend was the same. Lynn and Orval Lee Baker had been buddies ever since elementary school. They remained close right up until the moment Lynn shot him, making sure to get it all on tape.

According to the audio diary he kept at the time, Lynn became fixated on assassination following the deaths of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, Jr. In a rambling, unfocused entry the day before the murder, he recited bible verses then discussed his “urge to kill.”

I will now describe a little of my plan. I will bring Lee Baker up here and have him look at these books I’ve got up here – pornographic books, magazines – then while he is looking (at them) I will shoot him once in the chest area and once in the head.

Later, he continued:

Report, it is 10 minutes after two. Lee doesn’t have to be at work until 4:30. I called up and he is supposed to come down in a few minutes. I will record the entire incident today, and there will be music in the bacground to hopefully cover up some of the noise, the two shots, so I will leave off now until I resume with the recording of the assassination.

Because he planned to kill himself after the murder, Lynn recorded a goodbye message for his wife. Then ELO’s song “Evil Woman” abruptly began playing into the tape. There was a roar of a rifle and the sound of a shell casing hitting the ground. A few seconds later, another shot.

Reluctant to relinquish what he no doubt saw as his moment in the spotlight, Lynn recorded another message for his wife. “This is it,” he vowed. “I’m sorry, but I have to do this Linda. Goodbye, Linda.”

However, that wasn’t “it” for Roger Lynn. Upon closer review, the would-be wordsmith decided not to kill himself but to call the police and confess instead. When officers arrived at the crime scene, he turned over his weapon and surrendered without incident. Scratched into the rifle’s stock was a single word: Nevermore.

Despite an insanity plea, a jury found Lynn guilty of first degree murder 0n September 29, 1976. He died in prison while serving a life sentence.

Purdue Student Murdered in Dorm

Varun Manish Chhed was allegedly killed by his roommate, Gji Min Sha.

Varun Manish Chheda, a senior at Purdue University, was killed in his dorm just after midnight yesterday morning. His roommate has been accused of his murder.

Gji Min “Jimmy” Sha, 22, called police at 12:44 a.m. Wednesday morning to report Chheda’s death. Minutes later, members of the Purdue University Police Department arrived at the first-floor dorm room the students shared in McCutcheon Hall, where they found Chheda’s bloody body. A subsequent autopsy by Tippecanoe County Coroner Carrie Costello determined the 20-year-old died of “multiple sharp-force traumatic injuries.”

Sha, an international student from Korea, was taken into custody on a preliminary charge of murder. No motive for the homicide has been released.

Chheda was just ten days away from his 21st birthday when he died.

Suspect Arrested in Shooting of Dutch Soldiers

The crime scene outside the downtown Hampton Inn.

An Indianapolis man has been arrested for the shooting of three Dutch soldiers.

According to a news release from the Indianapolis Metro Police Department, Shamar Duncan, 22, is the man suspected of killing one Royal Netherlands Army soldier and wounding two others last weekend.

At approximately three-thirty Saturday morning, officers were called to the scene of a shooting outside the downtown Hampton Inn, two blocks south of Monument Circle. The gunshot victims were rushed to a local hospital where one of them, Simmie Poetsema, 26, later died. The other two soldiers were treated for non-life threatening wounds. Although the shooting occurred at the hotel where the victims were staying, detectives believe the men were deliberately targeted because of an earlier altercation at a separate location.

Members of the Royal Netherlands Army’s Commando Corps were in town for a combat exercise at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, a 1,000-acre military complex outside of Indianapolis. The Indiana National Guard reportedly stated the facility is used for training by the Department of Defense “as well as other allies.”

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact IMPD Homicide Detective Michael Wright at 317-327-3475 or email Michael.Wright@indy.gov .

Neighbor from Hell Sentenced for Shooting Man in Head

Billy Wilson Sr., 78, will almost certainly remain in prison for the rest of his life.

An Hagerstown man has been sentenced for gunning down his neighbor.

Billy Wilson Sr., 78, was found guilty last May of killing his neighbor, KC Simpson, 32, during an argument stemming from a property line dispute.

According to court documents, the two men had an extremely contentious history prior to the November 2020 argument. Witnesses stated Wilson had shot Simpson’s dog, Zeus, and killed his chickens in the past. He had also threatened Simpson family members when they rode their dirt bikes.

The incident that claimed KC Simpson’s life began when he discovered a stranger on his property in the 4700 block of North Brick Church Road. He stepped outside to speak to the man and was instead confronted by Billy Wilson Sr., his neighbor to the south. Wilson explained that the man was a surveyor he’d hired to locate the precise placement of the line separating their properties. Simpson then offered to pay half of the survey’s cost because he wanted to put up a fence, but Wilson insisted Simpson was responsible for the entire bill.

The two men argued. Wilson yelled, “I’m done with you guys, you guys are too much over there” and “I’m not messing with you, you better get to running” before he pulled out a gun and shot Simpson three times. Simpson fell to the ground, and Wilson walked over to him and fired three more shots, each of them to Simpson’s head.

Wilson surrendered to police without incident after the shooting. KC Simpson was airlifted to an Indianapolis hospital, where he later died.

Wilson was found guilty of Simpson’s murder in May. Last week, Judge Charles Todd Jr. sentenced him to 48 years, citing the 78-year-old’s lack of remorse as an aggravating circumstance. With the 1½ years Wilson served prior to trial and sentencing, plus maximum good time credit, he would be age 113 before his release.

Wilson has announced plans to appeal his conviction.

Woman Runs Over Boyfriend Three Times, Gets Arrested for Murder

Andre Smith was a victim of domestic violence.

An Indianapolis woman has been charged with murder after killing her boyfriend because she found him with another woman.

A little after midnight Friday, IMPD officers responded to a call concerning a dispute in the parking lot of Tilly’s Pub in the 3900 block of East 82nd Street. When they arrived, they found Andre Smith, 26, pinned beneath a car. He later died at the scene.

According to court documents, Gaylyn J. Morris, 26, used an Apple AirTag to follow Smith because she suspected him of cheating. She tracked him to the pub, where she found him in the company of another woman. Morris then grabbed an empty wine bottle and swung it at the unidentified woman, but Smith stepped between them and grabbed the bottle.

The three of them were then asked to leave.

While Smith’s companion stayed inside to wait for a food order, Smith and Morris stepped outside. The probable cause affidavit states Morris got into her Impala and “pulled forward and clipped the victim (Smith), and he went down, at which time… (Morris) then backed over him and then pulled forward and hit him for the third time.” With Smith still trapped under the vehicle, she got out of her car and again attempted to attack the other woman before being detained by police.

Morris is currently being held on a preliminary charge without bond. IMPD is asking anyone who witnessed the crime to call homicide detectives at 317-327-3475.

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.

After Surviving Cancer, She Wanted a Happier Life. Her Husband Wanted Her Dead.

New details were recently released in the case against Andrew Wilhoite, the Lebanon resident accused of murdering his wife.

Cancer survivor Elizabeth Nicole “Nikki” Wilhoite, 41, first came to the attention of police on Friday, March 25th after she didn’t show up for work that morning. A concerned coworker at Indiana Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery contacted them, explaining that Nikki “was having issues with her husband” and had recently filed for divorce.

When Boone County Sheriff’s Deputy Craig Fouts went to the Wilhoite home to do a welfare check, he encountered the couple’s children. The kids told Deputy Fouts they had been unable to reach their mother and did not know where she was. Nikki’s stepdaughter suggested she might be at her sister’s because “Elizabeth leaves when she gets upset.”

As Fouts was preparing to leave, Nikki’s husband of 12 years pulled into the driveway on his tractor. Andrew Wilhoite told the deputy he last saw his wife the night before, around 11 pm. According to the probable cause affidavit later filed by the Boone County Prosecutor, “Andrew stated that they had a pretty good fight last night, and she was drunk.” He pointed out scratches on his neck, indicating they were evidence of Nikki’s aggression.

In this version of the story, Andrew said Nikki physically attacked him after learning about his affair. He claimed she went to sleep on the couch after their argument ended and, supposedly, was still asleep when he left that morning to work around the farm. He denied knowing why his wife wasn’t at work or where she might be. He did, however, volunteer the information that she had withdrawn $3000 from her retirement account the previous week and filed for divorce. Perhaps not coincidentally, Nikki’s petition for legal separation coincided with her last chemotherapy session.

If Andrew was trying to suggest that Nikki had simply left, a subsequent search of the property quickly cast doubt on that idea. Investigators found bloodstains on a mattress, set of sheets, and pillow. Blood was also found in the master bath. But the real damage to Andrew Wilhoite’s story occurred when Nikki’s cell phone, purse, and vehicle were discovered in the garage.

After collecting the evidence, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office declared Nikki an endangered missing person then recused itself from the case. Andrew Wilhoite’s mother is Marcia Wilhoite, a member of the Boone County Council. As councilwoman, she influences the budgets of other county officials, including the sheriff and prosecutor. Rather than risk a possible conflict of interest, Boone County Sheriff Mike Nielsen asked the Indiana State Police to assume lead on the case.

In the interview by state police, Andrew initially repeated his story, telling investigators Nikki typically consumed a large container of rum “every two days after work,” and it caused her to act belligerently. He insisted she “came at him,” during an argument about the affair she’d recently discovered. Investigators confronted him with pictures of the blood evidence from their bedroom, and Andrew said the blood was his. His confidence quickly wilted under continued questioning, though. He asked to speak to a lawyer.

After conferring with an attorney, Wilhoite told police he wished to make a statement and show them where to find Nikki’s body.

Andrew maintained that the couple had argued most of the night when Nikki (who, it should be noted, was physically weakened from both cancer and chemotherapy) attacked her much-larger husband and told him to leave. He responded by bodily throwing her out the front door. She allegedly turned to charge at him, and he struck her in the face with a gallon-sized concrete flowerpot, knocking her unconscious. He said he “didn’t know what to do” at that point, so he picked her up off the ground and threw her in his truck. Then he drove to Ross Ditch and dumped her over the bridge on Boone County 400 East, just south of County Road 350 North. According to the affidavit,“Andrew was asked if Elizabeth was still breathing, and Andrew stated he didn’t know because he didn’t check.”

Nikki’s body was found partially submerged in about 3 feet of water a few miles from her home. An autopsy later found she died of blunt force trauma.

The Boone County Prosecutor has filed murder charges against Andrew Wilhoite. He faces 45-60 years in prison if convicted.

If you or someone you love is the victim of domestic violence, please reach out for help at by calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233).