Michelle Brown

Woman brain dead after Monday night shooting

by STAN MADDUX

Times Correspondent | Posted: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 12:00 am

MICHIGAN CITY

A Michigan City woman is dead from a gunshot and the father of two of her children -- currently hospitalized -- is charged with murder.

Michelle Brown, 29, was declared brain dead just before 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at St. Anthony Memorial Health Center, according to Michigan City Police Detective Bureau Commander Lt. Sue Harrison.

Randolph Sanders II, 31, was charged about 2 p.m. when a judge in LaPorte Superior Court 1 found sufficient evidence to bring him to trial.

Sanders was still in the intensive care unit Tuesday afternoon at the same hospital.

Harrison said she did not know his official condition or prognosis.

According to police, officers responded to Normandy Village Apartments on the city's south side Monday just after 5 p.m.

Harrison said Sanders and Brown were inside a vehicle in the parking lot when he shot her once in the head then turned the gun on himself.

Harrison said an argument led up to the shooting but what led to the fight was not fully clear.

According to police, inside another vehicle nearby were three children including two boys, ages 6 and 2, the sons of Sanders and Brown.

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.”

Tonya Earley

Ex-boyfriend shot woman in front of their kids, then killed himself

November 10, 2009

Police said a woman was fatally shot by her ex-boyfriend Tuesday at a Michigan City area school bus stop while their children looked on.

About 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, police were called to LaPorte County Road 1000 North and County Road 425 West, just east of Michigan City, where officers found 30-year-old Tonya Earley dead from a single gunshot, police said. The shot was fired either as the bus was pulling up or just seconds prior to the bus arriving.

LaPorte County Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer said Earley's body was found lying in the street beside her car and the children were still in the vehicle when she was shot.

"That's something they're going to remember the rest of their lives. It's a very unfortunate situation," Mollenhauer said.

About 10 minutes later, police found her ex-boyfriend -- 41-year-old David Streeting -- dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in a vehicle about a half-mile north from where Earley was shot, police said.

Investigators also learned that an acquaintance of Earley was with her at the time of the shooting and he fled when she was shot. Police said he suffered an injury while leaving the scene of the shooting. Police did not release his name, the type of injury he suffered, his condition or how he knew Earley.

Earley and Streeting, both of LaPorte County, were the biological parents of the children, ages 8 and 10, police said.

Michele Pokuta, who lives on County Road 1000 North, was driving to her job in New Buffalo, Mich., and saw the body at the crime scene. She said police had not arrived yet and Earley was lying on her back with one arm draped over her chest.

The school bus was stopped and the driver was on his cell phone.

"I was pretty shaken up. At first, I couldn't think straight," Pokuta said.

Because the shooter already had fled the scene when officers arrived, authorities placed Springfield Elementary School -- two miles away -- under a lockdown, police said.

Mollenhauer said Earley lived at Green Acres Trailer Park and drove a short distance to her parents' home, where the couple's children were residing. She picked them up and took them to the bus stop to see them off to school.

Because the couple used to live together, Mollenhauer said Streeting likely knew exactly when to show up at the bus stop.

"When she pulled up, he pulled up," Mollenhauer said.

According to court records, a hearing was held for the couple Sept. 9 and an order was issued governing child visitation and child support.

Mollenhauer said preliminary information from the investigation indicates there was a protective order against Streeting.

Michigan City school officials did not return calls regarding the lockdown or students who might have been of the school bus.

Christine Lindsey

Victims' names released in LaPorte County double homicide

September 19, 2009

Two people are dead after a shooting in LaPorte County and police have arrested a possible suspect involved in the shooting.

42-year-old Clayton Scott Lindsey of rural New Carlisle was taken into custody without incident Saturday night after being contacted by police through his cell phone. He's facing two preliminary charges of murder. The prosecuting attorney's office says it will file formal charges sometime this week.

The Laporte County Sheriff's office says the homicide victims are 39-year-old Christine Lindsey of Kingsford Heights, Indiana and 38-year-old Chad Zolman of Defiance, Ohio. Police have not confirmed Zolman's relationship with Christine at this time other than saying they are believed to be acquaintances.

Christine and Clayton Lindsey were married but separated.

Family members say Lindsey killed his estranged wife, who they call Tina Heinis, and her male friend. Family members also say Heinis was in the process of getting divorced from Lindsey – and that Heinis tried previously to get a restraining order against Lindsey but a judge denied her attempt. Family members say Lindsey had a history of harassing and threatening Heinis and her family.

The couple has two kids; but family members say they were not at the home of Heinis at the time of the shooting.

Neighbor Robert Sampson recently moved to the Kingsford Heights neighborhood in LaPorte County from South Bend. He and his wife brought their five kids to get away from crime.

"We wanted something safe, for the kids to grow up and play," said Sampson. After Saturday’s double homicide, though, he and his wife are having second thoughts.

"My wife's real paranoid, like she wants to move like immediately," he said. “It's mind blowing, it's just something we would never expect to happen around here.”

Police responded to the 3800 block of Nordway road in Kingsford Heights Saturday at approximately 3:36 p.m. to investigate a report of shots fired in a home. Shortly thereafter, deputies found the two victims inside fatally shot.

Autopsies were performed Monday morning.

Lindsey is currently being held in the LaPorte County Jail with no bond on preliminary charges of Murder, class "A" felonies. Formal charges are expected to be filed this week.

Update:

LaPORTE | A Mill Creek-area man agreed to a 75-year prison sentence for the shotgun slayings of his estranged wife and her male companion.

Clayton Lindsey, 44, pleaded guilty Friday in LaPorte Circuit Court to two counts of murder.

He was scheduled to stand trial starting May 23 but in exchange for the plea he will not face a potential maximum 65-year sentence on each count.

The plea also calls for 25 years probation upon his release from incarceration.

Lindsey admitted to the September 2009 killings of Christine Lindsey, 39, and Chad Zolman, 38.

The Ohio man and Christine Lindsey were in her Kingsford Heights residence when Clayton Lindsey crashed into his estranged wife's parked vehicle and stormed inside killing both victims with shotgun blasts, according to LaPorte County Sheriff's Department.

Judge Tom Alevizos took the guilty plea under advisement and scheduled sentencing for July 18.


See post for dear friend Chad Zolman here.

Chad Michael Zolman

Chad Michael Zolman

Lindsey sentenced to 75 years for murder

July 19, 2011

LA PORTE — Katherine Heinis tried remaining strong but toward the end couldn't fight back tears when calling her former son-in-law a coward and how his brutal slaying of her daughter caused her in many ways also to die.

Clayton Lindsey was given a 75-year prison sentence Monday for two counts of murder and Class B felony battery.  He must also serve 10 years probation upon his release.

At 44, Judge Tom Alevizos told Lindsey he'll like spend the rest of his life behind bars.  With good time credit, the earliest Lindsey can expect to be released is at age 81.

Prior to sentencing, Lindsey apologized for fatally shooting his estranged wife, Christine Lindsey and Chad Zolman in September of 2009.

The Mill Creek area man drove into his estranged wife's vehicle, broke into her home and then gunned down Mrs. Lindsey and Zolman with a shotgun inside a Kingsford Heights residence that she moved into after she had filed for divorce.

Lindsey over tears told his former mother-in-law ‘'I loved her'' when she asked why he killed them.

Heinis told Lindsey pursuing boyfriends wasn't why she left him as he had claimed.  It was his physical abuse.

‘'I know what was going on inside that home,'' Heinis said.  She said Christine on several prior occasions left but eventually returned under the belief that Lindsey would come after her and even their children if she left him for good.

‘'She knew she would never escape him,'' Heinis said.

Heinis also told Lindsey in the courtroom ‘'you treated her like a possession. She was a person. You thought of no one but yourself,'' said Heinis.

‘'Just remember your children and what you did to them,'' said Heinis.

Zolman, 38, from Ohio was highly regarded by those who knew him including children he coached in football and other sports.

His 4-year old niece regularly places peanut butter cookies on his grave, said his mother, Deborah Zolman.  ‘'He's missed by many more than I could have imagined,'' she said.

Defense attorney David Jones told the court the plea agreement was reached after several months of negotiating with prosecutors.  He felt one factor working in his client's favor was admitting guilt and sparing the families of the victims from having to endure a trial.  ‘'That's the best he can do. He can't take back what happened,'' Jones said.

La Porte County Deputy Prosecutor Chris Fronk said no amount of time can ever equal the pain suffered by the victims but felt terms of the plea achieved a high level of justice in the case.

Obituary:

Chad Michael Zolman, 38, Defiance, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, September 19, 2009, at 3:37 p.m. in LaPorte, Indiana.

He was born in Napoleon, Ohio, on September 3, 1971, the son of Joseph and Deborah (Bowers) Zolman. He married Lisa Marie White on May 9, 1993, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Chad is survived by his wife, Lisa; son, Chad Duane; and daughter, Kayleigh Marie, both at home. Also surviving are his parents; three brothers, Scott, Las Vegas, Nevada, Ryan, Defiance, and Shawn (Nicole), of Defiance; nephew Troy Zolman, Idaho; nieces, Scylea and Amelia Zolman and Melody Sapp of Defiance and Dru Zolman, Idaho; godparents, Don and Phyllis Hohenbrink; and friends too numerous to list.

He was preceded in death by his grandfather, Paul Zolman; grandmother, Amelia (Zolman) Kreimbrink; stepgrandfather, August Kreimbrink; grandparents, Benjamin and Alice (Wentworth) Bowers.

A 1991 graduate of Liberty Center High School and Four County Vocational School, Chad enlisted in the U.S. Navy and proudly served in the Gulf War. He was a one-time member of the Defiance VFW Post 3360 and the Defiance Eagles Aerie 372. He assisted as a Tinora Jr. High School wrestling coach and coached the 5-6th grade Tinora Little Girls' Softball Team. He was an avid bowler, accomplishing two 300 games, and golfed on the St. Michael's golf league. Chad was also a member of the St. Michael's Catholic Church parish.

As a loving, warm-hearted husband, father, son, brother, uncle and friend, he will be sadly and eternally missed by all. May God's angels always be at his side.

Public visitation will be held from 2-4 and 5-8 p.m. Wednesday at Mast-Mock-Hoffman-Hanenkrath-Clevenger-Schaffer Funeral Home in Defiance. Reciting of the rosary will begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Funeral Mass will be held by Father Dave Tscherne at St. Michael's Catholic Church, 5480 Moser Road, Defiance, at 11 a.m. Thursday, with military rites and burial at Riverside Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the entire family requests donations be made to the two surviving children for future educational purposes.


See post for dear friend Christine Lindsey here.

Angela Metheny

Angela Metheny

Police Say Man Killed Former Wife, Self in LaPorte County

Body in Michigan City parking lot leads to woman's body at home

April 11, 2007|By STAN MADDUX Tribune Correspondent

MICHIGAN CITY - Police say a man broke into the home he used to live in and fatally shot his ex-wife. He then drove to a church parking lot and killed himself.

That's the picture being drawn Wednesday by LaPorte County Police investigating a second double shooting in less than 24 hours.

Keith Metheny, 47, and Angela Metheny, 37, were divorced and he no longer lived in the couple's marital home at Hunter's Run, a subdivision along U.S. 20 north of LaPorte.

About 9 a.m. Tuesday, Michigan City officers were called to St. John's United Church of Christ near the U.S. 421 and U.S. 20 intersection.  Metheny was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head in a Jeep in the church parking lot, police said.

About five hours later, officers from Michigan City went to the couple's former marital home, where Angela Metheny still resided, to notify her about his death, said LaPorte County Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer.  They discovered a rear door on the walk-out basement had been forced open. Inside the residence police found Angela Metheny's body, also the victim of a fatal gunshot wound.

"All indications at this time are it appears connected," said Mollenhauer, who emphasized the investigation is continuing.

According to neighbors, Angela Metheny was employed in nursing care.  Keith Metheny was a welder at Jet Fabricators Inc. in Michigan City since 1994.

"He never missed work. He was very dependable. He was the last guy I would expect to do this," said Darrell Cleek, vice president in charge of production at the steel fabricating plant.

Also:

ROLLING PRAIRIE - Investigators continue to piece together the details of what happened sometime before 9:25 a.m. Tuesday when Keith Metheny, 47, was found dead of an apparent suicide in his Jeep parked at St. John's United Church of Christ, 101 St. John Road.

Later on Tuesday, Metheny's former wife, Angela, 37, was found dead when police went to her home in the Hunter's Run subdivision near U.S. 20 and Fail Road, west of Rolling Prairie, to notify her of the death.

Police said she had been shot in the head, but haven't said anything further in the case, which appears to be a murder-suicide.

The brother of Keith Metheny, Dennis Metheny, the Coolspring Township trustee and host of a cable talk show as well as co-host of a radio call-in show, declined to comment until autopsies were completed in South Bend today.

According to Superior Court records, Keith Metheny filed for divorce on March 7, 2003, after the couple separated on Feb. 20. The divorce was finalized March 1, 2006. The couple was married July 21, 1990, in Michigan City, and had no children.

The divorce decree awarded the house on Sportsman Lane and a 2002 Ford Taurus to Angela Metheny, and a 2003 Jeep Wrangler to Keith Metheny. The couple agreed to the division of other property.

Angela Metheny did not request to have her name restored to her maiden name of Avila. Her mother, Jeanette Avila, and a sister would not comment Wednesday, saying they were still in mourning.

The St. John's church office manager, who preferred not to be named, said Wednesday that she called Michigan City police at about 9 a.m. Tuesday, at the time the church's preschool started. A mother had dropped off her child and came to the church office to report that a Jeep was parked in the back of the lot with a man who was “either asleep or dead.”

The mother was concerned for the safety of children.

A short time later, a Comcast Cable employee whose child attends the preschool called 911 to report that he saw a man with a wound to the head inside the Jeep.

Michigan City police officer David Fleck arrived at the scene at 9:25 a.m. to begin an investigation that eventually led to the discovery of Angela Metheny at her home at 808 E. Sportsman Lane, in the Hunter's Run subdivision.

Neighbors across the street and immediately west of the Metheny home on Sportsman Lane also would not comment, saying they were close to both parties.