IndyStar.com: Crime & Courts
Indiana's leading news source for all the top stories, local news, sports and weather.
CSI Indy? Not in Hamilton Avenue slayings case
It’s unusual — but not unheard of — for a grisly murder case to yield no physical evidence linking a suspect to the crime Investigators confronted a crime scene bloody beyond belief: seven bodies wounded a combined 31 times by...
Victim sues five women over party beating
MUNCIE — The victim of a beating and stomping at the hands — and feet — of a group of young women has filed a lawsuit against her assailants, claiming that they “intentionally and brutally attacked, assaulted and...
Continuance granted in triple murder trial
The capital trial of a man accused of killing his mother and two grandparents has been delayed until June or later. Marion Superior Court Judge Kurt Eisgruber on Thursday granted a defense motion for a continuance of Kenneth Lee Allen’s Jan. 4...
Indy man critical after Downtown shooting
An Indianapolis man is in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head today after an early-morning argument at a Downtown Indianapolis nightclub. Indianapolis metropolitan police say Mohammed Steele, 27, apparently was involved in an earlier...
City man, 36, is gunned down on the Eastside
A 36-year-old Indianapolis man was found shot to death Saturday afternoon on the Eastside. Darnell Overstreet was found shot in the head in an alley in the 700 block of North Sherman Drive and was pronounced dead, police said. Indianapolis...
Deadbeat parents face license suspensions
The court system is the most incompentent system...
Slain family's neighbors were unsure what was happening
Prosecutors presented more witnesses with a limited view of the Hamilton Avenue slayings Friday and began detailed testimony about the seven victims’ fatal injuries. As Desmond Turner’s murder trial ended its first week, the new testimony...
Police use helicopter, dogs to search for man
Police used a helicopter and dogs Friday night to search for a man wanted for questioning in a homicide. But the man — who police believe may be armed — remained at large when the search was called off after about an hour and a half. An...
69-year-old woman robbed in church
A gunman wearing two hoods roughed up a 69-year-old woman and robbed a Near Eastside church today, ordering 10 people to the floor before he scampered away with $340 and a cell phone. The thief entered the Light of the World Hispanic Church in the...
Robber pistol-whips woman at ATM
A bandit pistol-whipped a 63-year-old woman at an Eastside ATM and fled with $100. The robbery happened at 7:05 a.m. this morning outside Chase bank, 1216 Arlington Ave. The woman had driven to the bank and left her car to use the ATM, according to...
Swim team officials to improve safeguards
Lawrence North High School and the Lawrence Swim Team will bolster safeguards against misconduct by their coaching staffs to prevent a repeat of molestation allegations that have stunned the squads. Lawrence North swim coach Mike Penrose said claims...
Court affirms MySpace page as evidence
The Indiana Supreme Court has upheld a court decision that allowed a MySpace posting to be admitted as evidence in the trial of a man convicted of murdering a 2-year-old girl. The unanimous ruling Thursday also upheld the life sentence of 36-year-old...
15-year-old gets 55 years for robbing and killing man
A Marion County judge sentenced a 15-year-old boy to 55 years in prison Thursday for the murder of an Indianapolis man last year on the Northeastside. Nevin Brooks was just 14 on March 17, 2008, when he shot and killed David S. Hardwick, 27, at...
Witness puts Turner at killing scene
Man says suspect in deaths of 7 people forced his way into house with assault rifle A key witness Thursday in the Hamilton Avenue slayings trial was the first to place Desmond Turner at the scene, but a defense lawyer seized on that witness’s...
Swim coach charged with touching girl
Prosecutors this morning charged a Lawrence Township swim coach with seven counts of felony sexual misconduct with a minor. Christopher Wheat, 36, Indianapolis, is accused of deviate sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old girl, according to the Marion...
N. Ind. medical practice pleads guilty to fraud
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — An eye surgery practice that federal officials continued to prosecute after the death of the doctor and his wife is pleading guilty to making false statements to obtain payments for health care. Gabriele Eye Institute PC...
Prosecutor wants Letterman warrants sealed
NORWALK, Conn. — A Connecticut prosecutor requested Wednesday that search warrants continue to be kept under wraps in the case of a newsman accused of trying to blackmail David Letterman. CBS News producer Robert J. “Joe” Halderman...
Panel clears Indy Marine of Iraq slaying
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A Marine reservist convicted in the death of an Iraqi soldier has had his conviction overturned. The three-judge panel of a military appeals court ruled last week that 22-year-old Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes’...
Ruling lets sex offender sleep at home
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A recent Indiana Supreme Court ruling means a convicted child molester in Lafayette can quit sleeping at a motel. Robert Rawles wasn’t able to sleep at home for two years because a 2006 law prohibited sex offenders from...
Perry Meridian teen arrested in weapon incident
A 16-year-old Perry Meridian High School student was arrested Wednesday afternoon after reportedly waving a weapon at students gathered outside the Far-Southside school. The incident happened about 2:40 p.m. and was reported by a witness to...
Papa John's wins false accusation case
Two men who sued Papa John’s USA Inc. when they were detained by police after an employee falsely accused one of them of pulling a gun have no case because the statement to police was privileged information under state law, the Indiana Supreme...
Brown Co. wife incompetent to face murder charge
NASHVILLE, Ind. — A Southern Indiana woman has been deemed incompetent to stand trial on charges she set fire to her estranged husband’s home, then shot him as he slept. Authorities say 40-year-old Dottie M. Andrews has been transferred...
Avon man faces DUI after crash with IMPD car
A motorist who crashed into a police officer’s squad car Downtown and fled the scene was arrested for drunken driving after being tracked down in Avon. Michael A. Patterson 52, of Avon is facing preliminary charges of operating while...
Prosecutor says Iraq vet is dangerous
. WINCHESTER — Bail for an Iraq War veteran accused of opening fire on Randolph County sheriff’s deputies Friday night was set at $500,000. Andrew S. Ward, 26, declined to address the court before Randolph Circuit Court Judge Jay Toney...
Hamilton Ave. resident says alleged killer talked of robbery plans
If Desmond Turner planned a robbery that led to the slaughter of seven people on Hamilton Avenue, as prosecutors say, a neighbor down the street might have had a chance to stop him. That hindsight wasn’t lost on Robert Aaron Swartz during...
Officer kills 1 of 4 pit bulls that tried to attack man
At 69, Roosevelt Tramill said, he doesn’t move as swiftly as he once did — unless he has to. On Monday, he had to. “I was at my daughter’s doing some yard work and emptying the trash,” he said. “I’m in the...
Officer injured as squad car hits building
An Indianapolis metropolitan police officer suffered minor head injuries after a suspected drunken driver ran his squad car off the road and into a Downtown church building Tuesday. Zachary Taylor, 30, a canine officer, was treated at Wishard...
Former Marine faces charges in shooting
Winchester — An Eastern Indiana Iraq War veteran accused of shooting at sheriff’s deputies is being held on $500,000 bond. Andrew Ward, rural Lynn, made his first appearance in a Randolph County court Tuesday. The 26-year-old ex-Marine...
Mom pleads guilty in toddler's death
JASPER, Ind. — The mother of a 2-year-old southern Indiana boy who was allowed to remain in her care after he tested positive for methamphetamine has pleaded guilty in his beating death. Twenty-three-year-old Vadney Michelle Blake of Cannelburg...
Day 1: Grim facts emerge in Hamilton Ave. killings
Prosecutor Brizzi presents details on 1st day of trial for defendant in ’06 deaths Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi declared Desmond Turner a killer and took account of the carnage spread among seven victims inside a house on Hamilton...
