Police: Break-ins not related to homicide case

Thursday, September 8, 2011

With residents' nerves already on edge in the aftermath of the unsolved slaying of an elderly woman living alone, authorities are now investigating a pair of brazen home break-ins on Greencastle's East Side.

Police Chief Tom Sutherlin was quick to point out that although the most recent crimes are obviously serious, authorities do not believe they are connected to the Aug. 30 assault of Essie Mae McVey, 85, in her Autumn Glen Village Condos residence.

"We do not believe they are related to the homicide," Sutherlin assured the Banner Graphic Wednesday evening.

Sometime between 11 p.m. Tuesday and 5 a.m. Wednesday two homes in the 900 block of East Washington Street (across from Greencastle High School) were entered by an intruder or intruders.

The alarming part of the incident is that in both cases the owners were home at the time of the break-ins, either asleep in bed or occupied elsewhere in the house, Chief Sutherlin said.

Taken from one residence were a laptop computer and a digital camera.

"Both of those items have been recovered," Sutherlin said.

The stolen items, however, have yet to be returned to the owners as police hope to obtain fingerprints or other evidence from them upon further investigation.

Taken from the second neighboring home on East Washington Street were a wallet and purse.

"We recovered those items outside in the yard," Sutherlin said. "The only thing that appeared to be missing there was cash."

Police did not immediately disclose how the homes were entered.

With veteran GPD Det. Randy Seipel currently focusing his attention on the McVey case, City Police Sgt. Chris Jones is investigating the theft cases.

"As far as he (Jones) knows," Sutherlin said, "those are the only things missing at this time."

The chief urges community residents to keep their doors locked, especially at night or when away from home.

"If you hear something in your home and think someone is in your house, don't hesitate to pick up the phone and call 911," he said, adding that the last thing a homeowner should do is try to confront an intruder.

While he knows some city residents are still apprehensive after the McVey death occurred and some of the details of the incomprehensible crime were made public, Sutherlin reiterated that authorities do not believe the thefts are related to the homicide.

Meanwhile, the GPD chief offered official word on the cause of death for the elderly widow who was found on the floor of her home by a home health care nurse mid-morning on Aug. 30.

She died at Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis, on Sept. 1.

"The final results of the autopsy did prove that she died from one gunshot wound (to the head)," Sutherlin said.

Authorities have no new leads and no suspects in the case at this time.

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  • I hear that Crown Street is getting to be a bad area for break-ins as well... There's a Residents there were the Girl keeps bringing people in from Terre Haute that are young teen boys that like to steal, The police have been at her house at least 20 times in the last 3 months recovering things that were reported stolen. But it seems that they never take her in or charge her with anything even though the items stolen are on her property. SAD cause she's the reason WHY there here... she should go to jail as well. Greencastle is becoming a mess. Hopefully this town gets better real soon :-)

    -- Posted by Jumpingfish on Thu, Sep 8, 2011, at 1:09 PM
  • Even if the police don't think that the robberies are not connected to other crimes, we still need to be informed. We shouldn't have to read it on Facebook!

    -- Posted by chicken on Thu, Sep 8, 2011, at 2:04 PM
  • Don't believe everything you hear...ESPECIALLY on Facebook, the online equivelant of the National Enquirer.

    -- Posted by ProblemTransmission on Thu, Sep 8, 2011, at 2:10 PM
  • Problem Transmission...

    Actually the people that are on facebook made everyone aware of the above break-ins before the police or the banner graphic did. I would trust items that are put on facebook before I would anything put on the banner graphic website.

    -- Posted by girlmd on Thu, Sep 8, 2011, at 2:21 PM
  • I agree girlmd. FB is a very good way of getting info. I know everytime I hear of something I post it (but I post everything. Lol) Alot of ppl get their info from me bc I think ppl should know. This is GC so some things may not be true or may be blown out of proportion, but I wud rather here it w mixed up details than not hear it at all

    -- Posted by logical_mom on Thu, Sep 8, 2011, at 2:29 PM
  • yep spreading rumors and half truths is a great way to share information! Keep it up people!

    -- Posted by hardtobelieve on Thu, Sep 8, 2011, at 3:46 PM
  • Gripe, gripe, gripe. No one is ever happy. Either the Banner did a story on some worthless article and no one wanted to read it or they put in an article informing us of the break ins and people complain that it's not fast enough. They want their news yesterday.

    Just be glad you have the story now. And please remember to lock your doors and set your alarms.

    -- Posted by WTFRUthinkin on Thu, Sep 8, 2011, at 4:40 PM
  • I really think the police need to be looking at some of the people living at Castlebury...it seems to be a central location to most of the crime. The condos at Autumn Glen aren't very far from there on foot. Long John Silver's has been hit twice and the houses are in the general vicinity of Castlebury apartments. I have been told that there is a new crew of people living there from Indianapolis and they are handling a lot of drug dealings as well. Maybe that is where the crimes are stemming from. Just a thought!?

    -- Posted by MamasBoyz4 on Thu, Sep 8, 2011, at 5:06 PM
  • Meth houses everywhere, murders and homes being broken into. The people that are elected or hired to protect this town are not doing their job.

    -- Posted by sunnyday2011 on Thu, Sep 8, 2011, at 5:53 PM
  • @ kellicamp40

    LOL i know exactly where your talking about. ive seen other state agencies there too.

    -- Posted by greencastleguy on Thu, Sep 8, 2011, at 6:19 PM
  • People breaking into homes at night with the residents still inside? You can't help but look at possible connections to other crimes. Once a person commits a violent crime or has blood on their hands, they tend to up the ante on future crimes. It just makes it easier for the criminal to do it again because of doing it in the past. With what's happened in the past month, homeowners will begin to shoot first and ask questions later.

    -- Posted by purple_heat on Thu, Sep 8, 2011, at 8:52 PM
  • @kellicamp40

    Looks like you need to find something to do besides stalk your neighbor! You probably don't know the whole situation just think you do.

    -- Posted by Iamforgiven on Thu, Sep 8, 2011, at 9:07 PM
  • Just for everyone's information...I put it on facebook and it rapidly spread the word and alerted everyone. And for further clarification IT WAS ALL TRUE as it was MY PARENTS HOME and their neighbors that were burglarized.

    -- Posted by smartmom on Thu, Sep 8, 2011, at 9:25 PM
  • Sorry folks, it's 2011 & we don't live in Mayberry.

    Meth houses,violence & homes being broken into in rural Indiana is nothing new.Believe it or not,Greencastle & Putnam County are not immune. As jobs have been lost & businesses close, property values begin to drop. This leads to a different socio-economic population drifting into our community.

    It is what it is.Put on your big boy pants, quit pointing fingers.

    Don't live in fear.Know your neighbors,be aware of your surroundings & make it habit to lock your homes & vehicles.

    -- Posted by ProblemTransmission on Thu, Sep 8, 2011, at 9:40 PM
  • I believe law enforcement is doing all they can to help control break in's and robberies. Greencastle is no different from any other town; it just has taken longer for it to start. Lock your doors, your cars, and be alert in parking lots and secluded parking areas. Good job GPD, you definitely have your hands full. Keep up the good work.

    -- Posted by Michele1953 on Fri, Sep 9, 2011, at 6:41 AM
  • My house was broken into and the cop that came out wasn't even going to take fingerprints. I had to ask! The reply was "oh, yeah, maybe I should". Ya think? Not amazed that that was 2 years ago and they still don't have the results from the fingerprints.

    -- Posted by longtimecitizen on Fri, Sep 9, 2011, at 9:39 AM
  • Yep, let's activate CSI Greencastle. WTH?? Really? People think that because someone suspicious walks past their house, that there should be a crime scene and experts taking hair and other DNA samples. C'mon people. I completely understand the worry, but Lock your doors, keep your defense ready and let the police do their jobs. (I keep a lead slinger readily available) Our City Police do a fine job of patrolling and preventing crimes. Do you ever think of how, police presence alone in your neighborhood may make a criminal think twice? I'm sure it does. Therefor, we are only hearing about the actual break-ins or thefts, etc. Then again, people start griping about officers just driving around. What about the thieves that have seen increased patrol or police presence and thought twice. If the officer wasnt there they very well could have, yet we will never know the number of "could have beens" we only know what did happen. Chief Sutherlin runs a professional and no non-sense police department and all officers are doing a fantastic job. Keep up the good work GPD.

    -- Posted by BrutallyHonest on Fri, Sep 9, 2011, at 11:09 AM
  • I wonder if there is a connection between the Sanders man being arrested at Brazil's high school with stuff from Greencastle High School he had stolen before that? Doesn't logic point that the punk(s) could just as easily break into a home?

    -- Posted by WhoaNellie on Sat, Sep 10, 2011, at 1:05 PM
  • I have sensor lights outside and all windows locked-my enviroment is secure-anyone gets in my house they won't live to .to brag about it. I live alone and have talked to my neighbors and we all watch out for each other. Anyone that would visit me know to call first-also every.one should have deadbolts-there are many things people can do to secure their home.

    -- Posted by peace2019 on Wed, Sep 14, 2011, at 6:11 AM
  • Funny how kellicamp40 changed their name to jumpingfish, still dead giveaway ;)

    -- Posted by Iamforgiven on Thu, Sep 15, 2011, at 1:27 PM
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