Rape charge may have triggered domestic homicide

Posted in Related Deaths

4-22-2014 Indiana:

GRIFFITH | Police continue to look for what triggered a murder-suicide Monday outside St. Mary's School where a Gary man killed his estranged wife

He later turned the gun on himself when confronted by police outside his garage.

"We are still trying to find the specific cause of the event," Griffith Police Chief Greg Mance said. "At this time, everything still points toward a domestic situation that turned violent."

The violence took place 10 days before the killer, Remanard Castro, would face a judge and the possibility of a 20- to 50-year sentence on charges he had raped his victim, Nina Castro, in November.

Laura Berry, executive director of the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence in Indianapolis, suggested Tuesday the upcoming court hearing may have been the trigger.

She said if the rape took place last fall and the charges were only recently filed, Remanard may have deluded himself "into thinking he got away with it, and once he knew he had an initial hearing coming up, all of a sudden he is facing incarceration."

Coroner releases identities of bodies found in East Side apartment

Posted in Related Deaths

5-20-2013 Indiana:

EVANSVILLE — A man and woman whose bodies were found in their northern Vanderburgh County apartment Monday afternoon were identified Wednesday by the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office as Holly L. Usrey, 56, and Thomas H. Zinni, 65.

Usrey died from blunt force trauma to the head, according to the Coroner Annie Groves, and her death is listed as being a homicide. Zinni died from a self-inflicted wound, Groves said.

The couple were found Monday in their apartment by a maintenance employee of the Delaware Trace Apartments, however, their date of death is listed as May 20.

Groves said they coroner’s office has not been able to find next of kin for Usrey. Anyone with information is asked to call the coroner’s office at 812-435-5746. ..Source.. by Courier Press

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Man in murder-suicide case was subject of child molestation investigation

Evansville Police have released new information about the bodies found in a Vanderburgh County Apartment complex.

They say based on the causes of death for the two people found in the apartment on June 3rd, the case has been classified as a murder-suicide.

Investigators say that Thomas Zinni killed Holly Usrey and then killed himself.

The department has also released that at time of the deaths, Thomas Zinni was being investigated for child molesting.

Zinni had been interviewed by a sex crimes detective a week before the deaths.

Detectives were preparing a case file in an effort to get an arrest warrant based on information gathered during the investigation.

Both investigations will be closed due to the suspect in both cases being deceased. ..Source.. by Brad Conaway

IN- Elkhart police find bodies of two men inside car

Posted in Related Deaths

1-20-2009 Indiana:

Authorities say one of the victims could be missing Elkhart man.

ELKHART — A daylong search Thursday for a missing Elkhart man led police to a black car west of downtown, where the bodies of two men were found inside, police said.

The discovery was made about 2:30 p.m. in the 1300 block of Leonard Street, not long after homicide detectives searched the Elkhart County landfill after receiving tips from "multiple people" the missing man was there, police said.

Police had not identified the men as of Thursday night, but they believe one of the victims is 30-year-old Kevin K. Pendleton, who was reported missing earlier Thursday.

A cause of death has not been determined, but police said they believe the deaths are related to a shooting involving Pendleton that occurred about 1 a.m. Thursday in the 300 block of Chapman Avenue.

Pendleton was last seen leaving his apartment in the 300 block of Chapman at that time to talk to two unknown men in a black vehicle.

Pendleton's 28-year-old girlfriend told police that when Pendleton was in the car, she heard gunshots and saw bright flashes. The vehicle then left the area with Pendleton inside, she told police.

Officers were able to find additional witnesses who also verified they heard shots and observed flashes inside the car, police said.

The Elkhart Police Department Homicide Unit searched all day for the man, fearing he may have been killed and dumped somewhere, according to authorities. That led them to the landfill on County Road 7, where they came up empty.

Lt. Ed Windbigler, Elkhart police spokesman, said Thursday afternoon the car found on Leonard appears to match the description of the car Pendleton got into early that morning.

No arrests had been made as of Thursday night, although police said they are searching for a "person of interest" in the shooting/missing person case, 28-year-old Shawn C. Palmer of Elkhart.

Palmer — who police describe as armed and dangerous — has black hair, brown eyes, is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 170 pounds.

Also of note, police said, is that Palmer owns a 2002 black four-door Chevrolet Malibu, which might match the description of the car recovered on Leonard. That car was towed for processing, police said. The Malibu has an Indiana license plate number of LO6853.

Pendleton's girlfriend told police Pendleton knew both men that he got in the car with, but she only knew their street names.

Pendleton has a criminal record, according to court records, and was charged last month for failure to register as a sex offender. His next court date is Feb. 24. ..Source.. by TOM MOOR, Tribune Staff Writer

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UPDATE: Elkhart deaths ruled homicides

1-16-2009 Indiana:

ELKHART — The deaths of two men found in a car west of downtown Thursday afternoon have been ruled homicides, officials said.

Kevin K. Pendleton, 30, and John J. Williams, 26, both of Elkhart, were discovered about 2:30 p.m. in the 1300 block of Leonard Street.

Police said Friday that Pendleton died from a gunshot wound, but would not say how many times or where he had been shot. Williams also died from a gunshot wound, Elkhart County Deputy Coroner Jeff Landrum said.

Authorities, meanwhile, are still looking for 28-year-old Shawn C. Palmer of Elkhart, who they describe as a "person of interest" in the case. Palmer, police said, should be considered armed and dangerous.

Police say Palmer might have been in the car with Pendleton and Williams when they were killed. He is not a suspect at this time. ..Source..

Inmate charged with murder

6-30-2011 Indiana:

Joseph Brown confessed to killing Charles Miller, documents say

Bunker Hill — Joseph W. Brown drank a cup of coffee and packed his personal belongings after killing his cellmate on June 19 at the Miami County Correctional Facility, according to court documents.

Brown, 56, has been charged with murder and criminal confinement in the strangulation death of Charles Miller, 62, Center.

Brown is already serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole, Miami County Prosecutor Bruce Embrey said Wednesday.

Brown has been transferred from the Miami Correctional Facility to the Westville Correctional Facility. Embrey said Wednesday he has 60 days to decide if he will seek the death penalty.

“I will review the evidence before making a decision,” he said.

Man kills girlfriend, self

Folks may remember the recent British report which shows a link between, people involved with the criminal justice system and suicide. Well here is an example of such a case, and where there is also a "Other Death," the innocent girlfriend of the person accused of a sex offense.

2-14-2011 Indiana:

Local man was facing felony child molestation charges

CHESTERFIELD, Ind. — A local man who shot his girlfriend before killing himself at her Chesterfield home Sunday morning was facing charges for child molestation, police said Sunday.

At 6:39 a.m. Sunday, police responded to reports of a shooting at 419 Vassbinder Drive in Chesterfield.

Inside the home, police found the body of 36-year-old Aaron L. Wagers, who had been living at the location with his girlfriend, Megan Rider, 25.

Police also found Rider in critical condition at the home. She’d been shot, and was rushed to Saint John’s Hospital where she died at 7:30 a.m.

IN- Man who killed two, himself was ex-con

Posted in Related Deaths

10-23-2008 Indiana:

PORTAGE | The man who police say came to Portage early Tuesday morning and killed his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend, then got in a car crash that killed himself and his 2-year-old son had a prior criminal record.

Lawrence K. Hill, 40, was a registered sex offender whose most recent address was 301 E. 12th St., Apt. 7, Mendota, Ill.

Hill was required to register as a sex offender after being convicted of aggravated criminal sexual assault in Cook County, Ill. According to the Illinois Sex Offender Registry, the crime occurred 15 years ago.

Hill registered as a sex offender in Mendota on Sept. 5, and during the six and a half weeks between the time he registered and his death, he had no run-ins with police in Mendota.

Mendota police Lt. Lonnie Kent said the only contact police had with Hill was when Hill's home was vandalized. Kent described the area where Hill was living as a combination of apartments and mobile homes.

Portage police said they had not received any prior complaints involving Hill and his ex-girlfriend, Sonya Kerr, who lived at Park Place Apartments in Portage.

But at 12:50 a.m. Tuesday, police said Hill came to visit his ex-girlfriend after having some heated phone conversations with her.

Police said Hill climbed onto his ex-girlfriend's third-floor balcony, entered through her sliding glass door and began arguing with her about their 2-year-old son, who was in the apartment sleeping. Hill then tried to abduct his ex-girlfriend at knifepoint.

The woman's new boyfriend, Dennis R. Williams, 29, of Gary, who had been living with her at her Portage apartment, intervened but was stabbed to death by Hill, police said.

Hill fled in his Buick Regal and, without his ex-girlfriend's knowledge, grabbed their son, Keahn, from the apartment.

Police put out a bulletin asking police agencies to look for Hill and the child.

Beverly Shores police located Hill eastbound on U.S. 12, near Ind. 520, about 1:30 a.m.

Beverly Shores police, soon joined by units from several other departments, followed Hill onto Ind. 520 and then westbound on U.S. 20. Neither Hill nor the officers were going fast, police said.

Indiana State Police set up tire-deflating stop sticks at U.S. 12 and Mineral Springs Road in Porter. One of Hill's tires hit a stop stick. Hill continued eastbound, seeing a Porter County police car and seeing Officer Ryan Fenters getting ready to deploy more stop sticks at U.S. 12 and Beam Street in Porter. Hill accelerated and crashed head-on into the unoccupied police car, killing himself and his son, who was on his lap.

Toxicology tests are being conducted to determine if Hill had drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of his death, but Indiana State Police Sgt. Ann Wojas said there was no immediate indication that either were a factor. ..News Source.. by KEN KOSKY

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CASE UPDATE: Ex-Ottawa sex offender kills 2, self in Indiana

11-11-2008 Indiana:

A sex offender, formerly of Ottawa, recently killed two people and himself in Northwest Indiana.

Lawrence K. Hill stabbed to death his former girlfriend's male friend in late October at an apartment in Portage, then took the 2-year-old boy he and his 21-year-old former girlfriend had together and left in a car, police said. Police were trying to stop Hill's car when Hill, with the boy on his lap, accelerated and slammed his car into a stopped, unoccupied police car. The boy and Hill were killed.

The 40-year-old Hill lived in Ottawa until moving to Mendota in late August. That move led to Hill's arrest Aug. 26 by Ottawa police because, as a registered sex offender, he failed to tell police he moved and changed jobs. He was released from the La Salle County Jail in early September on $1,500 bond. Trial had been set for next Monday, with the public defender's office representing Hill. As a result of Hill's death, the bond money, minus $150 in administrative fees, was returned Thursday to the former girlfriend.

Hill was a registered sex offender because he was convicted of aggravated sexual assault against a 35-year-old victim in the mid-1990s in Cook County. Indiana State Police reported they believed Hill had been last living in Chicago. In recent years, he also lived in Mississippi. The former girlfriend told the Merrillville, Ind.-based Post-Tribune she moved to the Midwest from Mississippi following 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

Another former girlfriend, an Ottawa woman, obtained an emergency order of protection against Hill Aug. 26, saying Hill threatened her and her two children. However, at a Sept. 15 hearing about extending the order, Associate Judge James Brusatte — who issued the order — dismissed further proceedings because Hill showed but the woman did not. ..News Source.. by Dan Churney

IN- Griffith man charged in brutal killing of sisters

9-18-2009 Indiana:

Affidavit: Suspect admitted to raping one, stabbing, choking both

CROWN POINT | Lake County prosecutors on Wednesday filed multiple felony counts against 35-year-old David Flores in connection to last week's slaying of Jennifer Evans, of Griffith, and her sister, Kristen Kennedy, of Chicago.

The sisters were found dead by their father Friday night in the bathroom of Evans' smoke-filled home on Lindberg Avenue.

Flores, of Griffith, was charged with two counts of murder, murder in the perpetration of rape, two counts of murder in the perpetration of arson, rape and arson. He faces a maximum sentence of 130 years in prison if convicted, the prosecutor's office said.

He is being held without bond in the Lake County Jail.

A probable cause affidavit states Flores, on parole after serving time on a previous rape charge, told police he had attended a small gathering Sept. 10 in the garage of Evans' home.

Police said Flores admitted to drinking and falling asleep on the couch, later waking up and making sexual attempts against Kennedy, 25. When rejected, Flores raped Kennedy before stabbing her multiple times, according to statements he made to police.

After choking 28-year-old Jennifer Evans until she was unconscious, Flores moved both bodies to the bathroom, covering them with bed linens he ignited after disabling smoke detectors, according to the affidavit.

Autopsy results showed smoke was present in the victims' lungs, according to the affidavit.

Flores told police he obtained two knives from the 'kitchen, stabbed the victims repeatedly and choked both to ensure they were dead. He put the knives and other items he touched into plastic bags that he disposed of in an alley before leaving the home sometime Friday afternoon.

Detectives wanting to question Flores went to his mother's East Chicago apartment. Police said Flores attempted to flee before being apprehended in a stairwell. ..Source.. by Susan Brown