Beth Stayer

Beth Stayer

5-year-old Says He Saw Dad Fatally Beat Mom, Court Papers Say

June 20, 2009 by Robert Annis | Star staff

5-year-old witnessed attack by his father, according to court papers

A 5-year-old allegedly witnessed his father beat his mother so severely in her Whitestown home that she died the next day, according to court documents.

Prosecutors say Michael Stayer, 32, beat his ex-wife, Beth Stayer, 34, with a hammer and a tire iron June 11. He has been charged with murder and could face the death penalty.

Emergency medical workers found Beth Stayer nearly lifeless in her 2-year-old daughter’s room and immediately transferred the woman to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. She died the next day from her injuries.

Beth and Michael Stayer had been divorced less than two months.

The couple’s 5-year-old son witnessed the attack, according to the probable cause affidavit. The boy heard a commotion and screaming coming from his 2-year-old sister’s room and went upstairs, Jennifer Essex said in the affidavit. Essex is with the Indiana Department of Child Services.

Essex said the boy described a bloody scene, stating that “dad had hit mommy” and his father had used a hammer and “a killer,” which police believe was a tire iron found in Michael Stayer’s Jeep. Asked if his parents had been violent with one another before, the boy said he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

Dr. Marla Souder of Community Psychological Consultants, Indianapolis, is not involved in the case but said it’s beneficial for the boy’s mental health that he can communicate about it on his own terms.

He can be expected to have a hard time processing and sorting out what he witnessed, and he likely will go through multiple stages of grief as he mourns the loss of his mother and separation from his father, Souder said. That could develop into post-traumatic stress, she explained.

At 2, the Stayers’ daughter is unlikely to remember much about this incident, but she will live it through her brother’s experience, and that will have a lifelong effect, Souder said.

After police got to the scene, they said, Stayer’s brother, David Stayer, arrived and wanted to leave with the children and his brother’s vehicle, which potentially had evidence inside. Police are searching Michael Stayer’s cell phone records to see if he called or texted instructions to his brother.

Michael Stayer was arrested soon after the attack and is being held in the Boone County Jail without bond.

In addition to the murder charge, he faces felony counts of aggravated battery, battery resulting in serious bodily injury and domestic battery. He’s scheduled to go on trial Oct. 19 in Boone County. If convicted on all four counts, he could face up to 96 years in prison.

The two children are staying with a foster family.

A hearing is scheduled for Friday, where Boone Circuit Judge Steve David could decide if the children will remain with the foster family or be released to family members.

Amy Nose

Amy Nose

Police: Upland man kills wife, shoots self

Paul Bryon Nose II held police at bay in his mother-in-law's home for much of Thursday.

By NICK WERNER and DOUGLAS WALKER • • March 26, 2010

UPLAND -- Police say an Upland man fatally shot his wife in her mother's home Thursday morning, then held police at bay for hours before shooting himself.

When members of an Indiana State Police SWAT team stormed the house -- at 644 W. North St. -- about 5:30 p.m., they found Paul Bryon Nose II, 42, suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the head.

He died as preparations were being made to fly him by medical helicopter to a Fort Wayne hospital.

Authorities also found the body of Nose's 39-year-old wife, Amy, and believe she was killed by her husband shortly after 7 a.m., when callers to 911 reported hearing shots coming from the house.

Related

• Upland Standoff

Police were uncertain when Paul Nose shot himself, although his communication with authorities and text messages with family members ended about 1:30 p.m. He was found in a hallway, while his wife's body was found in a bathroom.

Upland police arrived at the house soon after receiving the reports of shots fired, but were "unsuccessful" in establishing "personal contact" with any occupants, according to an Indiana State Police press release.

Grant County sheriff's deputies and state police also came to the scene. Eventually officers "made verbal communication" with Paul Nose, the release said, but they were unable to persuade him to surrender.

State police are leading the investigation of the shootings. No shots were fired by officers as they entered the home, ISP Sgt. Rod Russell said.

Authorities said the domestic problems between the couple had been ongoing for several weeks, with Amy Nose spending some time in a women's shelter. She filed for divorce on Feb. 11; that case was still pending in Grant Superior Court at the time of her death.

On Wednesday night, Amy Nose filed a police report that alleged some act of intimidation by her husband.

"I don't know if that's what triggered this today," Grant County Sheriff Darrell Himelick said.

Amy Nose had been granted a protective order when she filed the divorce suit last month, but the pair had mutual contact recently and might have been trying to reconcile their differences, authorities said.

"You can only do so much," Himelick said.

Court records reflect the couple lived for several years in the 100 block of North Lake Street in Upland. Married for 20 years, they were the parents of two daughters.

Paul Nose was convicted of burglary in Grant County in 1990.

Angie Warnock

Man arrested in stabbing death of estranged wife

June 23, 2009 by Bruce Smith | Star staff

BROWNSBURG, Ind. — In the last minutes of Father’s Day, police believe, a Brownsburg man violently stabbed his estranged wife to death.

The couple’s two daughters, ages 8 and 12, slept with their mother as the attack began before midnight Sunday. The girls ran and escaped injury, police said.

“Daddy stabbed Mommy,” one of the girls said in a 911 call after her father left early Monday. They hid in a closet about 20 minutes, police said.

Joseph L. Warnock, 41, is charged with murder in the death of Angela A. Warnock, 38. He was arrested about 9 p.m. Monday north of Brownsburg and taken to Hendricks County Jail in Danville.

Detectives said Angela Warnock was stabbed many times. Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Charles Morefield described injuries to her arms as “defensive wounds, like she tried to resist.”

“This looked like a crime of passion,” he said.

A judge had ordered Joseph Warnock to stay away from the family home in the 10400 block of Splendor Way in the Eagle Crossing subdivision, about a half-mile west of 56th Street and Raceway Road on the Hendricks-Marion county line.

Shortly before midnight, Warnock parked in a church lot about a quarter-mile from the home, walked through farm fields and broke in the patio door, investigators believe. He stabbed his wife with a steak knife, a weapon he apparently took to the house, detectives said.

Police and their dogs tracked Warnock to the church lot but didn’t find him during a search around Eagle Creek Park and nearby areas on the Northwestside of Indianapolis.

Sheriff’s officials said a caller reported seeing a man matching Warnock’s description sitting next to a utility box in the 10500 block of East County Road 600 North — about a quarter-mile from the Warnock home.

An off-duty officer working night security at Eagle Crossing arrested Warnock without incident, sheriff’s officials said.

“Our officers recognized him immediately,” Morefield said. “He just put his hands in the air and gave up.”

Warnock was shirtless and wearing shorts and tennis shoes. He was dirty and had light scratches on his body — the kind that might come from running through twigs, Morefield said.

Joseph Warnock filed for divorce Friday, the same day a court hearing discussed extending a protective order for Angela Warnock and the girls.

In a court document, Angela Warnock had asked for the family home. She had planned to take the daughters to live with her family in Hawaii within a few days.

Joseph Warnock had asked the court to prevent her from taking the children from Indiana, according to another document.

Angela Warnock had filed for the protective order in May. Neighbors said Joseph Warnock jogged through the Eagle Crossing neighborhood in recent days, though the protective order required him to stay away.

Angela Warnock — “Angie” to friends — worked at a Brownsburg beauty salon. Friends said she was active in her girls’ education, and both parents enjoyed sports with their children. Joseph Warnock sells tanning beds, and he coached a daughter’s basketball team.

Both graduated from Ben Davis High School. Joseph Warnock ran cross country and graduated in 1986. Angela Warnock, a 1988 grad, participated in track and field.

April Wills

April Wills

Police: Girl Witnessed Mother's Death At Hands Of Ex-Husband

Police: Girl, Mother Abducted By Ex-Husband

POSTED: 7:47 am EDT July 22, 2008

Patricia Shirley wishes her daughter had never fallen so hard for such a dangerous man.

"All of us always told her to leave him alone," said Shirley, 73. "He's done threatened her I don't know how many times. . . . She's had black eyes, bruises all over."

The violence exploded one final time Tuesday morning, when police said Carl Wills went to the apartment of his ex-wife, April, and killed her boyfriend. He then dragged her and her 13-year-old daughter into his car, leading police on a rush-hour chase. Along the way, he fatally shot April as her daughter watched from the backseat. Once police forced him to a stop, he put the .44-caliber Magnum to his head and pulled the trigger.

The couple, who had no children together, first married in 2005 and divorced soon after. They remarried in 2007 and divorced a second time in March.

During the past year, April, 30, had turned to the courts for protective orders after Carl slashed her tire and punched her in the face, according to police reports. Carl, 44, was never convicted in those incidents, but he had a volatile criminal past. He was acquitted by a jury in a 1982 slaying, only to spend seven years in prison for killing a man in 1990.

Still, family members said they continued to see each other.

Only 12 hours before the shootings, April visited Carl at his home in the 2600 block of North Alabama Street, said his mother, Christina Wills, 67, who also lives there. April stayed for about an hour chatting with them, said Christina, the only person present during the visit who is still alive.

The next morning, April Wills' 13-year-old daughter awoke just after 7 to the sound of a gunshot.

That was the sound, police say, of Carl Wills entering the apartment in the 5000 block of Winterberry Drive and killing her mother's boyfriend, John L. Cunningham III, 30.

The girl went downstairs to find Carl beating her mother. April's three other children were staying with relatives.

Nearby residents watched as Carl tried to force April into his car.

"I don't think I've ever seen anybody beat a woman that violently," said April's neighbor, Faye Miles, who rushed down to the parking lot with phone in hand, dialing 911.Miles said she saw April jump out of the rolling car and run back inside the apartment, but Carl ran after her.

"He drug her out by her hair, and that's when I seen him put the gun to her head and say, 'Do you want to die right now?' "

When the panicked teen ran out of the house toward her mother, Miles said, Carl forced her into the car, too, and drove off, the door still open. Police spotted the 1985 Buick Skylark near 58th Street and Georgetown Road and began to pursue him, but Carl refused to stop.

As police chased him, he made a cell phone call to his 26-year-old daughter, Laquinta Meeks.

"He just kept saying, 'It's over,' " Meeks said. "He said, 'I got five police cars behind me. It's over.' "

Sometime during the chase, Carl shot and killed April, said Sgt. Matthew Mount, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department spokesman. Then, as police closed in on his car near 25th and Meridian streets at 7:28 a.m., he shot himself.

The 13-year-old climbed out of the back seat and was grabbed by officers. Now she and April's other three children are staying with their grandmother, Shirley.

April and Carl were only two weeks into their second marriage when a judge granted her a nonviolent contact protective order in August 2007. The order allowed the two to have contact but barred violence, an arrangement that underscored the two sides of their relationship. Even after their divorce in March, April kept in touch with her ex-husband -- all the way up until the night before he killed her.

Ann DeLaney, executive director of the Julian Center, a domestic violence shelter on the Near Northside, said it is common for victims of domestic violence to maintain contact with those who hurt them.

"They think if they just talk some sense into him, he'd let it go," DeLaney said. "They don't realize that the risk is death."

Cunningham and April Wills were the 14th and 15th homicide victims this month. Indianapolis has not seen killing on this pace since the summer of 2006, a near-record year for homicides.

Police suspect at least two other killings this month stemmed from domestic violence.

Dede Martin, a friend of Carl Wills, collapses in grief near 25th and Pennsylvania streets. Her friend Beverly Lamb tries to console her. - SAM RICHE / The Star

Carl Wills killed himself at the end of the police chase, officials say. - Provided by IMPD

See copy of protective order here.


Also see post for dear friend John L. Cunningham III.

John L. Cunningham III

(I don't have much on dear John and found little, if someone could please comment about him that would be great).

Appeals court calls non-violent protective orders defective

For years, advocates concerned with domestic violence have argued that court-issued "nonviolent contact orders" provide no meaningful protection to victims.

And now the courts also have taken a step in that direction.

A state appeals court has deemed one such order "defective," an opinion advocates hope will encourage judges to take stronger measures to protect potential victims of domestic abuse.

"It's obviously a yellow flag," said Marion Circuit Judge Louis Rosenberg. "We will all read it, and we will follow it."

When abuse victims or those who fear for their safety seek protection from a known person, judges typically have issued a common protective order that bars any contact. But sometimes they issue nonviolent orders that allow abusers to see their victims -- as long as they don't hurt them.

The practice made news last summer when an Indianapolis man under such an order shot and killed his ex-wife, April Wills, in front of her 13-year-old daughter.

The appellate opinion this month does not stop judges from allowing contact between victim and abuser, said Seth Lahn, who directs the Protective Order Project at Indiana University's Maurer School of Law. But it discourages that practice in cases where there is past abuse. * * *

Judges use nonviolent contact orders primarily in cases where some contact is deemed necessary for reasons such as counseling or parenting arrangements.

But domestic violence advocates say the orders provide an easy way out for judges who basically allow any contact as long as it's not violent when they should make the effort to set strict rules for such contact.

"The judge has to say, 'I'm granting a protective order. That means no showing up on her doorstep, no phone calls, no texts, no nothing. So while we're here and while we're in court, let's talk about parenting,' " said Kerry Hyatt Blomquist, legal director for the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence. "That takes time."

Lahn said the ruling means "the court should lean on the other side and say, 'We're going to prohibit all contact except for what is necessary to exchange the child for visitation.' "

Blomquist's group, which filed a friend of the court brief in the case, argues that the orders often are misunderstood and give victims a false sense of security.

"If the parties could have nonviolent contact," Blomquist said, "she wouldn't be asking the court for protection."

Blomquist said DeVone Moore, the Marion County woman whose nonviolent contact order the appeals court deemed defective, believed the measure barred visits from her husband, who had abused her.

Still, the Marion Superior Court judge who gave April Wills a nonviolent protective order against her ex-husband does not believe any kind of order would have kept her alive. He said he was in the process of making permanent an emergency protective order prohibiting contact when Wills interrupted him, saying she needed to see her ex-husband for parenting reasons.

"I get angry when people suggest that it was a defective order that led to (Wills' death)," said Marion Superior Court Judge David Certo. "He's a murderer."

In the two years before Certo handed down the nonviolent protective order in the fall of 2007, Carl Wills had slashed Wills' tire, kicked in her door and punched her in the face. She never pressed charges. On July 22, 2008, Carl Wills killed Wills' boyfriend, John L. Cunningham III, then dragged Wills and her 13-year-old daughter into his car. Minutes later, he killed April as the girl watched. As police approached, Carl Wills fatally shot himself.

Certo, who also handed down the nonviolent contact order in the Moore case, said he issues 30 to 50 protective orders per day and two or three nonviolent contact orders a month. He said he appreciates the appeals court's guidance but will continue to evaluate each case individually and hand down nonviolent contact orders when he thinks they're appropriate.

Link to briefs in the case here.

Also see post for dear friend April Wills.

Caitlin Wolpinek

Shooting death is not cut and dry

March 17, 2010

MICHIGAN CITY — After more than a full day of questioning, La Porte County authorities released from custody the boyfriend of Caitlin Wolpinek, 19, who was found dead of a gunshot wound Sunday in her Woodland Crossings apartment.

Despite the statements of several people who say her boyfriend told them he shot her, authorities on Tuesday were still trying to piece together what led to the shooting, and they had not gathered enough evidence to decide whether to seek charges in the case. Wolpinek’s relationship with her boyfriend was stormy, hindering the ability of police to pin blame for her fatal shooting, said John Boyd, La Porte County Police Chief of Detectives.

“This case has many layers,” Boyd said. “At no time did we ever say it was a homicide. This is a death investigation. We have to get a clearer picture of what transpired.”

But no one close to Wolpinek was notified of his release on Monday, so when he showed up on Brian and Samantha Pacius’ doorstep Tuesday morning in Chicago, they said they were shocked.

“He came here looking for my daughter,” said Brian Pacius. Jessica Pacius, 19, was one of Wolpinek’s best friends, he said. “I don’t know what he wanted. And after he told everyone he knows here that he shot Caitlin, I feel like my daughter could be in danger. She always told her to leave him.”

Police have not released her boyfriend’s name because he has not been charged, but the Paciuses identified him as Jeffery Maldonado, 22.

“They’ve been together for so long, and nothing could convince that girl to leave Jeffery. Nothing,” Samantha Pacius said.

Police about 9 a.m. Sunday were called to the couple’s apartment at 328 Woods Edge Drive in Woodland Crossing, which is just outside the city limits on U.S. 20 just east of Woodland Avenue. The 911 center received a call from a man who said he shot his girlfriend in the neck, according to police.

Caitlin led a troubled life because she didn’t have much family support, Samantha Pacius said. Her mother died of a drug overdose when she was 3 years old, she said. She then lost her father a few years ago. He was an alcoholic. Her closest relative, her brother, Tyler Wolpinek, lives in Fort Hood, Texas.

“She was a wild little girl, but there was a reason. There was no one there to help her,” Pacius said.

Wolpinek had a chance to live with her aunt in a nice home in Oak Lawn, Ill., and attend a private school, Pacius said, but she dropped out after she met Maldonado and started participating in his “wannabe gangbanger” lifestyle. At her wit’s end, Pacius said, her aunt made her leave the house, and that’s when Wolpinek moved in with them.

“It was only a few months, then she got an apartment with Jessica. When we heard Jeffery wanted to move her to Indiana, we offered to help with the apartment to keep her here but she just wouldn’t listen,” she said. “That was the ultimate act of control for him, taking her away from her family and friends.”

Maldonado had always been controlling and abusive toward Caitlin, Pacius said, but sometimes Wolpinek “gave it right back.”

“All accounts are they loved each other but it was a volatile relationship. It was volatile on both ends. That’s what’s making it difficult for us in this case,” Boyd said.

Wolpinek, a server at Applebee’s in Michigan City, died from a single gunshot to the neck, said La Porte County Coroner John Sullivan.

It wasn’t the first time police had been called to the residence. Officers responded in November to reports of gunfire in the home, but no charges resulted from that incident.

Maldonado has been cooperative with investigators, but there has been no confession to a crime, Boyd said.

“We can’t just leap to the assumption that because she’s dead, he’s responsible,” he said. “We know in speaking with family members that Caitlin would want us to conduct a thorough investigation.”

Investigators hope the results of a forensic examination scheduled Tuesday afternoon could shed further light. Undisclosed evidence is also being turned in for analysis to help clear up the uncertainty.

Sullivan said the autopsy can determine things like how close the victim was to the gun when it was fired and if there were signs of a physical struggle.

Boyd said he hopes some results arise from the autopsy right away but it might take several days before all of the findings of the forensic examination come in.

“We want to let the evidence speak for itself,” Boyd said.

But those who loved Caitlin want justice.

“She did not deserve to die battered and abused,” Brian Pacius said. “It doesn’t seem like anyone is doing anything about it.”

Debria Andrews

Woman Shot to Death by Husband

Debria Andrews, 46, shot to death by her estranged husband, Bruce Andrews, 50, who shot her twice with a 9 mm handgun as he chased her for about half a block down the street. They were in the process of divorce, and she had gone to his home on a Sunday morning to remove some personal items from the house. He then shot himself. Both deaths occurred on a public street. It happened in St. Paul, Indiana.

(I really struggled to find information on this horrible event....I will keep looking though. Any help is appreciated.)

Timothy Ellingsworth

Foreclosure May Have Led To Homicide-Suicide

Couple Found Dead In Home Monday

POSTED: 6:23 am EDT October 17, 2007

JASPER, Ind. -- A house foreclosure may have led to a homicide-suicide of a husband and wife in southern Indiana.Police said Timothy Ellingsworth, 58, and his wife Sandra, 44, were found dead in their home Monday night of gunshot wounds.Investigators said they think Sandra shot her husband and then turned the gun on herself.

Murder-suicide update, death times very different

Update, 2pm Wed: The Dubois County Coroner tells 14 News that the murder-suicide in Jasper this week actually took place over an extended period of time.

According to Coroner Tony Matthews, Timothy Ellingsworth's time of death is estimated at late Friday night on October 12th or during the early morning hours on October 13th.

Sandra Ellingsworth's time of death is estimated to have occurred during the afternoon hours of Saturday, October 13th.

Reporter: Stefanie Silvey
New Media Producer: Rachel Beavin

UPDATE, TUE 5:32 PM: We're learning more about a story we broke Monday on 14 News at 10.

The Monday night murder-suicide on Berne Strasse is the first murder by a female in Jasper's history.

Police say Sandy Ellingsworth, 44, shot her husband, Timothy before later killing herself.

The coroner says it appears Timothy Ellingsworth had been dead some time before his wife. Neighbors are still reeling from Monday night's events.

They aren't only shocked this happened in this their neighborhood, but even more shocked at who was apparently involved, friends of theirs for years.

Their pets, or the weather is usually the topic of conversation for Kenny and Rita Cooper and their neighbor Clara Hollen.

But all that changed when their quiet neighborhood suddenly was lined with cop cars.

Neighbors say the Ellingsworths, found dead in their home from an apparent murder-suicide, were loved by everyone.

But they say they did notice a change in the couple in recent weeks. Rita Cooper says, "They've been very quiet over there and they would go in the garage door and I guess they would go in the back door, because we hadn't really seen them lately."

They say the fact that Sandy left behind children from previous marriages makes them saddest of all.

Clara says, "If she would have just let somebody know in the neighborhood that she was having problems, anybody would have helped her."

But despite what happened, Clara says that's not how the Ellingsworths will be remembered on their street, "I won't remember her this way, I will remember her as this kind girl who was always there to help. That's the way I will remember her."

Preliminary autopsy results show each died of a single gunshot wound to the head. A complete autopsy could take weeks.

Police aren't discussing a motive at this point in the investigation. Records show there was no criminal or domestic violence history.

However, Stefanie Silvey researched court records which showed the couple appeared to be having some financial issues recently.

Update, 11:30am: We have more information on Monday evening's shooting in Jasper.

Police tell 14 News that the deaths are a murder-suicide. They say that 44-year-old Sandra Ellingsworth shot her husband, 58-year-old Timothy Ellingsworth and then shot herself.

New Media Producer: Amanda Lents

Police continue to investigate a death in Dubois County, Indiana.

Jasper Police say the call came in just before 6 pm Monday from a Jasper subdivision. While few details are being released, crews were on the scene until late Monday night.

14 News will continue to follow this story and bring you more information as we get it.

New Media Producer: Rachel Beavin

Jasper police tell 14 News they are working a death investigation on Berne Strasse.

As of now, we are unsure of the manner and cause of the death.

We will continue to provide you updates, on-air and online, as information become available.

Amel Tarver

Suspect arrested in deadly shooting

By Megan Hubartt

Published: January 4, 2008

A Fort Wayne man has been arrested in a shooting last week outside a home on the city’s near-north side that left one man dead.

Cory J. Gray, 28, of the 3400 block of West Jefferson Boulevard, is accused of shooting 31-year-old Amel D. Tarver after Tarver yelled at Gray to get off a woman he was attacking outside 1509 Cass St. about 4:15 a.m. Dec. 27, according to court documents filed Thursday.

Gray was arrested early Thursday.

The woman, Theresa Aranda, was living at the Cass Street home with her four children. She had been dating Tarver for about three months, court documents said.

Tarver, whom Aranda called Mel, lived at a home in the 1600 block of Cass Street but was staying at her house the morning he was shot, she said.

According to the court documents, Aranda told police her 12-year-old son woke her up early Dec. 27 and told her that Gray was outside the house trying to take the tires off her car.

Aranda told police she confronted Gray, and he attacked her, knocking her to the ground and choking her. There was redness on her neck, court documents said.

When Tarver came out of the house and yelled at Gray to get off her, Gray pulled out a gun and fired several shots toward the house where Tarver was standing, court documents said.

Gray then turned the gun toward Aranda, but she ran toward the house and Gray ran to his vehicle and left, the documents said.

When police arrived at the home they found Tarver lying on the kitchen floor, bleeding from his head, court documents said.

Tarver was taken to Parkview Hospital in critical condition where he died Saturday, Allen County Coroner Dr. E. Jon Brandenberger said.

An autopsy Sunday determined that he died of gunshot wounds.

His death was declared the 27th homicide in the county in 2007.

All but one occurred in Fort Wayne.

Gray is initially charged with aggravated battery, strangulation and unlawful possession of a firearm by a violent felon. He is being held in the Allen County Lockup without bail.

http://rightsformothers.com

Alan Duvall

Alan Duvall

Duvall Poisoned Husband to Death to Collect $100,000 Insurance Policy

By Pete Kotz
Thursday, August 12, 2010

In 2007, Alan Duvall was found dead in his Columbus, Indiana backyard, presumably from alcohol poisoning. His wife Tami had called 911 to report the incident, and police initially seemed to believe her story. But those beliefs would soon wither...

The couple had been having marital problems. Only a month before Alan's death, Tami had taken out a $100,000 life insurance policy on her husband. And police believe she was having an affair with the insurance agent who arranged it.

Moreover, Alan had been warning friends and neighbors of his own death. He told them that if he died, they should make sure it was investigated. Tami's ex-husband and her own daughter would also tell police that they thought she had whacked Alan.

The evidence would only get more damning. It would turn out that Alan didn't die of alcohol poisoning. He'd actually been fed morphine and muscle relaxer. His blood disclosed that it possessed both drugs at 80 time their recommended dosage. And to top it all off, those same drugs just happened to be missing from the nursing home where Tami worked.

It would take police three years to put their case together, but they've finally charged her with murdering Alan. They say she mixed the drugs into pudding she served him. She's now charged with murder, insurance fraud, and obstruction of justice.

UPDATE

April 21, 2011

Tami Duvall was accused of murdering her husband back in August of 2007 by poisoning his dessert with morphine and muscle relaxants. The jury in her trial began deliberating at about 9am yesterday morning, the 10th day of the trial, after hearing final instructions from the judge. Six hours later they had reached a decision.

According to The Republic, Duvall was found guilty on all counts; six counts of insurance fraud, three counts of obstruction of justice, and murder. All charges are felonies.

The 12-member jury, comprised of five men and seven women, believed the prosecutors, who alleged that Duvall poisoned a “dirt pudding” dessert that she served to her husband. Alan Duvall later died from a morphine overdose.

It is said that the reason for this murder was so she could collect on the $100,000 life insurance policy she bought for him a month before his death.

Brian E. Hartman

Randolph County Man Killed Dad, Helped Mom Kill Self

February 24, 2010

WINCHESTER, Ind. — An eastern Indiana man arrested in his parents' deaths told investigators they had "made a plan" for him to fatally shoot his father and help his ailing mother overdose on medication, according to a court document filed in the case.

Brian "Scott" Hartman, 33, was arrested Tuesday night on preliminary charges of murder and assisting a suicide, hours after police found the body of his father in the garage of the family's rural home, said Randolph County Prosecutor David Daly. Hartman told investigators that his father had been dead for nearly two weeks, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Hartman learned of the charges at the Randolph County Jail, where he has been held since his arrest Saturday on a burglary charge for allegedly breaking into a residence near his parent's home shortly before his mother's funeral.

According to the affidavit, Hartman told police he and his parents had "made a plan" in which he would fatally shoot his father while he was sleeping, then provide his mother with enough medication to take her own life.

Daly called the deaths "shocking" but said Wednesday that he could not comment on whether he believes that Hartman and his parents devised the plan.

"To me it doesn't matter whether I believe it or not," he said. "It doesn't matter. In Indiana you can't consent to a murder, and assisting a suicide is still assisting a suicide."

A Randolph County judge agreed Wednesday to give prosecutors until Monday to file formal charges against Hartman. Daly said he expects to formally charge Hartman on Friday in the deaths, at which time the court will appoint him an attorney.

According to the affidavit, Hartman told investigators he fatally shot his 53-year-old father, Brian E. Hartman, on Feb. 12 as his father was asleep at the family's rural home, about 50 miles northeast of Indianapolis. Brian Hartman told investigators that he then moved his father's body to the garage and placed it in a container, the affidavit says.

Hartman also told investigators that he provided his mother, 52-year-old Cheri Hartman, with more medication than she normally took and that she consumed those drugs and died hours after her husband, the affidavit states.

Relatives told The Star Press of Muncie that Cheri Hartman had been diagnosed three years ago with brain cancer.

An autopsy was not conducted because it was assumed the death was a result of her illness, and her remains were later cremated at the direction of her son, according to the affidavit.

Relatives told the newspaper that after the elder Hartman was last seen Feb. 12, Brian Hartman told them his father had abruptly left on a trip because he was distraught over his wife's failing health, and left him in charge of making arrangements.

They became increasingly concerned when the elder Hartman failed to attend his wife's funeral and had not called them.

"Everyone was told a different story," Lisa Cougill, sister of the elder Hartman, told The Star Press on Tuesday, shortly before her brother's body was found.

Donna Jacks

Man Arrested After Wife Found Dead In Home

Cause Of Woman's Death Undetermined

January 8, 2010

INDIANAPOLIS -- The husband of a woman found dead in their east side home Friday afternoon was arrested early Saturday after numerous weapons were found in the home, police said.

Indianapolis police said Richard Jacks, 56, called 911 at about 1 p.m. Friday and told dispatchers that he found his wife, Donna Jacks, 54, unresponsive at their home at 11314 Red Bush Drive, near North German Church Road and East 21st Street.

Medics called police to the scene after they determined Donna Jacks was dead.

"When the fire department arrived, they observed Mrs. Jacks in a state that led them to believe she had suffered some type of violent trauma," said Sgt. Paul Thompson.

Police found numerous weapons and military-style devices in the home, Thompson said, along with 31 cats.

Police said Jacks had enough live explosives in the home that if they all detonated, the explosion could have damages several nearby homes and injured numerous people.

Explosives experts removed 40mm projectiles from the home, munitions so dangerous that they are being held in a special place, police said. The weapons include military grade self-propelled grenades and numerous guns.

An autopsy was conducted Saturday, but results were not released. Thompson said the cause of Donna Jacks' death was still undetermined, but police said blood was found in the home.

Richard Jacks was arrested on 21 counts of possession of a destructive device. He was taken to Wishard Memorial Hospital after he became ill as investigators questioned him.

The Jacks had lived in Indianapolis for about 6 months. Neighbors told 6News they noticed a series of odd behaviors in that short period of time, such as Richard Jacks allegedly stealing water from his neighbors' outdoor water spigots.

"Really scary -- we pretty much stay as safe as we can, but you never know what your neighbors are going to have in their homes. You just absolutely have no idea," said neighbor Jennifer Northouse. "Very odd and disturbing."

Police said the only criminal history was Richard Jacks’ arrest for shoplifting last month.

Police will work with investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives starting Monday to try to trace where the 40 mm projectiles came from and how they were obtained.

Melissa Patrick

One Dead, Two Targeted in DeKalb Rampage

Auburn woman slain, Waterloo couple's home damaged by automobile.

By Aaron Organ
January 2, 2010

DeKalb County police are unraveling what appears to be a “love rectangle” that left an Auburn woman dead Friday after her boyfriend – a city man – went on an “intent-to-kill” rampage that targeted two others.

Police involvement began midday Friday, when DeKalb County and Waterloo police were called to a home on the south side of Waterloo just after noon. There, police found a Jeep Patriot crashed inside the home's foyer, a man inside the vehicle suffering from gunshot wounds to the leg and six children and a couple waiting for police outside.

The man in the vehicle – Ronnie R. Jones, 39, of Fort Wayne – immediately surrendered to police, and told officers he had just killed his girlfriend in her Auburn home and came to the Waterloo home of his estranged wife and her boyfriend with the intent to do the same to them, according to a release from the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department.

Auburn police then went to the home of Jones' girlfriend, 32-year-old Melissa Patrick, where officers found the woman dead of gunshot wounds.

Back in Waterloo, police attempting to decipher the incident discovered that Jones, after allegedly killing Patrick in Auburn, drove to the home of Sara Grimm and Jason Patrick – Melissa Patrick's estranged husband. Once there, Jones parked his vehicle, walked to the door of the home and rang the doorbell. When he received no answer, witnesses said Jones opened fire into the home's front door from a semiautomatic handgun, police said.

From inside, Patrick returned fire unto Jones with a 20-gauge shotgun, striking Jones in the leg at least once, police said.

Jones then retreated to his SUV, and as Patrick fired another round, witnesses told police he drove the vehicle through the home's front door.

As Patrick, Grimm and six children exited the home, Jones ran off to a neighboring property, where Waterloo police arrested him.

Patrick suffered a minor cut on the hand in the chaos; Grimm and the couple's children were uninjured.

Jones was taken to Parkview Hospital, where he was treated for the gunshot wound to his leg and released into police custody.

He is being held in the DeKalb County Jail on a preliminary charge of murder.

Police investigators learned Melissa and Jason Patrick were going through a divorce, as were Grimm and Jones, the release said.

Jason Patrick and Grimm each had protective orders filed against Jones out of DeKalb County, and Jones had similar documents filed against Grimm out of DeKalb and Allen Counties and against Jason Patrick out of DeKalb County.

Police do not have a motive.

“We don't know what fueled it or what the relationship between Jones or Patrick was,” said Sgt. Ron Galaviz of the Indiana State Police. “I don't have any gauge on what that was.”

The case remains an open investigation by the Indiana State Police, Waterloo Police, Auburn Police and DeKalb County Sheriff Departments along with the DeKalb County Prosecutor's and Coroner's Offices.

David M. Cassady

Autopsy Confirms Woman Killed Husband, Self

Health Care Workers Found Bodies

December 3, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS -- A 75-year-old Indianapolis woman shot and killed her husband before taking her own life Wednesday evening, police said.

Officers were called to a home at 7429 Lantern Rd. just before 8 p.m. after two health care workers found the door unlocked and the couple dead inside, said Sgt. Paul Thompson.

Police identified the man and woman as David M. Cassady, 74, and Ruth Cassady, 75.

An autopsy on Thursday confirmed that Ruth Cassady shot her husband in bed and then shot and killed herself, Thompson said.

"It's unusual to respond to this type of call in this neighborhood," he said.

Neighbors said that David Cassady was retired from the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, where he served as a curator, and currently worked at Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis.

The school's Web site listed a David Cassady as a curriculum adviser in the museum studies department for the 2004-2005 school year, but he was not listed in the current faculty.

Police said the health care workers were at the home to perform therapy on David Cassady's arm.

James Dantzler

James Dantzler

Man Faces Murder Charge In Toddler's Death

Man Says Wrestling Led To Boy's Injuries

POSTED: 2:21 pm EST December 11, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A man is expected to be charged with murder after his girlfriend's son died at an Indianapolis hospital.

Bloomington police said Christopher Bridgewater, 27, told officers that he struck James Dantzler, 3, several times while wrestling with the boy.

The boy was found unresponsive in his home Thursday and was taken by medical helicopter to Riley Hospital for Children, where he later died.

Dantzler's mother, Jessica Merryman, 30, was arrested on a charge of neglect of a dependent.

Police said Dantzler suffered numerous bruises to his neck, forehead, abdomen, chest and inside his ears.

A murder charge against Bridgewater is expected to be filed on Monday.

Also:

Jessica Merryman, 30, had been jailed in lieu of half a million dollars bond since the death of her son, James Dantzler. Merryman’s boyfriend, 27-year-old Christopher Bridgewaters, is being held in jail without bond on a charge of murder. Police allege he inflicted the injuries that resulted in the child’s death. He faces life in prison without parole.
[...]

On Dec. 15, Diekhoff denied Merryman’s request to be released so she could bury her son. Six days later, Monroe Circuit Judge Marc Kellams upheld the high bond amount and sent Merryman back to her cell.

Today, appearing with Chapman, a distraught Merryman asked Diekhoff once again to reduce her bail. This time, the judge agreed to do so. “What I’m willing to do, Mr. Chapman, is to reduce it to what an A felony bond would be since she has no previous record,” she said. Merryman’s bail is now in line with the board of judges’ bond schedule: $50,000 surety plus $1,000 cash.

Merryman’s family would have to come up with $6,000 — $5,000 for a bail bondsman plus the cash bond. She was still in jail this afternoon.
[...]

Police reported that James Dantzler had more than 50 bruises over his chest and abdomen, under his chin and on his forehead. An autopsy showed the child died from internal bleeding in his abdomen and brain.
[...]

She reportedly told police James was afraid of Bridgewaters and begged not to be left alone with him, but she left the toddler in his care anyway. She called an ambulance the afternoon of Dec. 10 when she came home and realized the boy was not breathing. He died the next day at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Additionally:

December 18, 2009

Allen Dantzler weeps for his three-year-old son James, a three-year old murdered in Bloomington. While his tears fall, Dantzler vows to attend every hearing to seek justice for his son.

"If he was too much for you, why you didn't call me and give him to me?" said Dantzler, referring to the mother of his son Jessica Merryman. Merryman now sits in jail.

"He could have been here, he would have been OK. He would have been at home and safe," he tells Fox 59 News. Merryman's boyfriend, Chris Bridgewaters, is charged with brutally beating James to death.

Reports say James had more than 50 bruises on his body with extensive internal bleeding in his head and abdomen. His mother, Jessica, is charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death. If convicted, she could face more than 20 years in jail, but for Allen Dantzler, that's not enough. He feels she should face stiffer charges.

"I think what he got, should be the same thing she should get," said Allen. "She let it happen."

In fact, Police say Merryman was at the house and called 911 when police responded and found James not breathing at her home. She said her boyfriend Bridgewaters was roughhousing with James.

Allen Dantzler had to make the painful decision to take his son off life support last Friday. Doctors told him his son's heart would eventually give out.

"I miss him. I miss him so much. He was a happy little guy real outgoing he loved people."

Merryman had reportedly asked to get out of jail to attend her son's funeral, but Allen Dantzler said she was lying because no service had been scheduled. This angered him along with the fact she's requesting a bond reduction (though she already only has to come up with $1000 for her current $500,000 surety).

Dantzler vows to attend every hearing for both charged in his son's death. "I'll be there," he said. "I'll be doing it for him. For James."


See Facebook page created for dear James here.