Gary Chavez is charged with murder, kidnapping and carjacking in Starke County. Investigators say he killed Kimberly Chavez of Portage on June 6th, drove his personal vehicle to Mark Bailey’s Discount Center on State Road 10 and kidnapped an employee. From there Chavez allegedly drove to English Lake where he’s accused of stealing another vehicle at gunpoint. Continue reading
A Knox man whose business burned under suspicious circumstances in March of 2014 is still looking for an attorney to represent him in his upcoming arson trial. James Campbell’s two defense attorneys withdrew from his case in early June, citing nonpayment for legal services. He’s accused of setting fire to Starke County Recycling at the corner of U.S. 35 and Toto Road. The jury in Campbell’s March arson trial was unable to reach a verdict after 12 hours of deliberations. Continue reading
Starke Circuit Judge Kim Hall yesterday accepted a plea from and sentenced a Knox man who pleaded guilty to criminal confinement and domestic battery in the presence of a child to four years in prison. Continue reading
Starke Circuit Judge Kim Hall has reset the sentencing hearing for an attempted murder defendant with a fuzzy memory to give his attorneys more time to draft a stipulation agreement. It will detail the facts as defendant Benton Christopher Howard, 42, remembers them as to what happened at a home in the Parkview Heights area of Knox last Nov. 30. Howard is accused of critically stabbing Brandon Davidson, damaging his heart and collapsing his lung. He is set to plead guilty to a lesser battery offense. Continue reading
A Mooresville man who was found guilty of child molesting during a May bench trial in Starke Circuit Court was sentenced yesterday. Continue reading
A Knox man who pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance will serve two years on probation for the offense. Officers at the Starke County Jail found two Xanax pills inside the sock of 54-year-old Jerry Sons while searching him during the booking process on Feb. 22, 2014. Continue reading
Starke Circuit Judge Kim Hall isn’t comfortable accepting a plea agreement from an attempted murder defendant who claims he acted in self defense just yet. He’s instructed the prosecutor and Benton Christopher Howard’s defense law attorneys to continue searching for applicable case law. Continue reading
A Wheatfield man who is 10 years in arrears on child support payments totaling more than $14,000 has a second chance to catch up. Continue reading
A Walkerton man who admitted strangling his ex-girlfriend during a feud over a security department and a Knox man who admitted driving in spite of a lifetime license suspension were both sentenced yesterday in Starke Circuit Court. Continue reading
A not guilty verdict was delivered following a one-day trial in Starke Circuit Court.
The defendant, Suly Hayman, 29, of Knox was accused of felony battery in an incident stemming from November 2013. The state called four witnesses while the defense called three witnesses, including the defendant. The trial took place on Wednesday.
Six jurors heard testimony in the case.
The murder trial for a Knox man accused of beating his estranged wife to death at their rural California Township home last June is still on schedule for late July. Gary Chavez was scheduled to stand trial last month, but the proceeding was canceled at the last minute due to what a jail physician deemed an urgent surgical procedure. Continue reading
A Knox man received a sentence of five years on home detention after pleading guilty to charges in two different cases in Starke Circuit Court.
Nathaniel Furlong admitted to a probation violation and was sentenced to four years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with no part of the sentence suspended. He was permitted to serve his sentence on home detention with electronic monitoring with Starke County Community Corrections.
A state appellate court weighs in on a conviction and sentence in Starke Circuit Court. A jury found Donald Frazier guilty of a felony offense of operating while intoxicated with a prior conviction and misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia. The charges stem from an Oct. 31, 2013 traffic stop and arrest in Hamlet. Continue reading
An October trial date has been set for the owner of a Knox business destroyed by fire last March, but that may change.
A jury last month in Starke County Recycling owner James Campbell’s arson trial deadlocked after 12 hours of deliberations. Chief Deputy Prosecutor Mary Ryan and Campbell’s attorneys agreed to set aside two weeks for a new trial starting Oct. 19. However Campbell’s attorney says he has not been paid yet and may withdraw as counsel if payment isn’t made within 30 days. If that happens a new trial date will be set. Campbell was ordered to appear at the next status conference on May 27.
A plea hearing has been set in Starke Circuit Court for a man accused of stabbing a Knox resident in the early morning hours of Sunday, Nov. 30.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Benton Christopher Howard and Brandon Davidson got into an argument at a home in Knox which escalated to a physical confrontation. Howard allegedly unsheathed a knife and stabbed Davidson in the chest. Davidson was taken to the hospital with a collapsed lung and damage to his heart.
Howard is charged with attempted murder as a Level 1 felony and aggravated battery as a Level 3 felony.
The owner of a Knox business destroyed by fire last March is due back in Starke Circuit Court next week for a status hearing. James Campbell owns Starke County Recycling, C&C Salvage and Campbell’s Tire Barn on U.S. 35 just south of Toto Road and is accused of setting the buildings on fire. Continue reading
A woman was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to a felony charge in Starke Circuit Court.
Katrina Schoeder pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to a charge of maintaining a common nuisance as a Level 6 felony. She was sentenced per the terms of that agreement to 18 months in the Indiana Department of Corrections with all of the sentence suspended to be served on probation.
A murder trial scheduled to start April 13 in Starke Circuit Court has been pushed back to at least July so the defendant can have surgery deemed medically necessary by a provider under contract with the county. Gary Chavez is accused of beating his estranged wife, Kimberly Chavez, to death at their rural California Township home last June. From there police say he drove to Mark Bailey’s Discount Center, kidnapped an employee and drove to English Lake where he’s accused of stealing a second vehicle. Chavez then led police on a high-speed chase into LaPorte and Porter Counties, according to court records. He’s accused of stealing a third vehicle in Kouts and continuing into Lake County. Police there say Chavez shot himself in the face when officers in Crown Point managed to stop his vehicle. He was airlifted to a Chicagoland area hospital and released to the custody of the Starke County Sheriff last August. Chavez remains in jail. Continue reading
A 25-year-old Knox man who is accused of trying to molest a preschooler in February of 2013 remains jailed on a $35,000 surety bond. Magistrate Jeanene Calabrese denied a request to lower Luther Nies’ bond or release him on his own recognizance during his initial appearance in Starke Circuit Court this morning. Continue reading
A Knox man accused of felony attempted child seduction and child solicitation is scheduled to appear in Starke Circuit Court today for an initial hearing.
Luther Nies, 25, was arrested on a warrant Wednesday morning on the charges that stem from alleged actions in Feb. 2013. According to court documents, Nies attempted to molest a five-year-old child. Knox City Police Department officers placed Nies into custody without incident and he remains in the Starke County Jail on a $35,000 surety bond.
