Accused killer has history of violence

John Gonzalez

Charged with the murder of a Greencastle woman last week, John Gonzalez already had a history of violent crimes in West Central Indiana.

The Terre Haute man was formally charged in Putnam Superior Court on Wednesday, not only with Melissa “Lisa” Attkisson’s murder, but with Level 6 felony auto theft and Level 6 felony theft of a firearm.

Gonzalez was located by Rock Island County, Ill., deputies on Monday, six days after Attkisson’s body was found.

The suspect was walking down the road near Attkisson’s stolen vehicle, which was wrecked in a field, and in possession of her identification, credit and debit cards.

Though not yet charged with murder at the time, Gonzalez was taken into custody on a warrant for probation violation out of Vigo County.

He was initially extradited to Vigo County for a hearing on a probation violation.

However, aware of the looming murder charge in Putnam County, the Vigo County judge canceled the Friday hearing and the suspect was turned over to Putnam County authorities.

He is now set to appear for an initial hearing before Superior Court Judge Denny Bridges at 2 p.m. on Monday.

If convicted on all three charges, Gonzalez could face as many as 70 years in prison — 65 years for murder and 2.5 each for the Level 6 felonies.

It would not be Gonzalez’s first term with the Indiana Department of Correction.

The 28-year-old has twice served time in Indiana prisons for felony convictions, spent time in the Vermillion County Jail for a felony that was pleaded down to a misdemeanor and still has a pending 2015 battery case in Vigo County.

The first of the two convictions resulted from a 2010 rape charge while Gonzalez was a student at Indiana State University.

According to a 2010 story in the Tribune-Star, Gonzalez was one of several students who helped a student to her dorm room after she had consumed alcohol. He later returned to her room and committed the crime.

DNA evidence linked Gonzalez to the crime, the paper noted.

A 2012 Tribune-Star story reported that Gonzalez had agreed to enter a guilty plea to Class D felony sexual battery and the Class B felony rape charge was dropped.

Gonzalez was sentenced to one year with the Indiana Department of Correction and two years of probation. He was also required to register as a sex offender.

Between time served in the Vigo County Jail and time credit for good behavior, Gonzalez was released from custody less than two months after his conviction.

In early 2012, with the rape case ongoing, Gonzalez was charged with Class D felony domestic battery in Vermillion County.

Through another plea agreement, the charge was reduced to a Class A misdemeanor and Gonzalez was sentenced to 315 days in the Vermillion County Jail with credit for time already served and the remainder to be spent on probation.

An internet court record search indicated that in November 2012, a notice of “unsatisfactory discharge from probation” was filed in the Vermillion County case.

Gonzalez’ next set of legal troubles came in 2015, when in a matter of nine days, he was charged with battery resulting in serious bodily injury in Vigo County and robbery in Fountain County.

In Fountain County, Gonzalez was charged with Level 5 felony robbery and Level 6 felony criminal confinement for a Sept. 2, 2015 incident at a Covington gas station.

Court records note that Gonzalez threatened the clerk with a knife before taking $260 from the cash register.

In December of that year, Gonzalez agreed to a guilty plea to the robbery charge with the criminal confinement charge dropped.

By agreement, he was sentenced to four years with the Indiana Department of Correction with credit for 108 days in jail.

Meanwhile, though, Gonzalez still had an ongoing case pending in Vigo Superior Court 6.

The alleged Vigo County crime, Level 5 felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury, actually took place on Aug. 25, 2015, nine days before the Covington robbery.

Gonzalez is accused of battering a man who considered him a friend, striking the victim multiple times in the head, fracturing his right orbital bone and a sinus cavity.

Both the victim and a woman who lived with him identified the suspect as Gonzalez.

While incarcerated at Putnamville Correctional Facility, Gonzalez made multiple court appearances in Terre Haute, even filing a May 20, 2016 request for a speedy trial.

However, the case was delayed multiple times, including a change of indigent counsel for Gonzalez as well as three separate motions by the prosecutor’s office to continue the case.

Jury trial dates had been set three times in the case — in February 2017, March 2019 and December 2109 — but each time, the court granted the state’s motion to continue due to congestion of the court calendar in Vigo County.

In the meantime, Gonzalez was released from Department of Correction custody on Sept. 3, 2019.

Upon release, Gonzalez stayed in contact with the court, even notifying authorities in November of a change of address — to Lisa Attkisson’s Greencastle address.

In a Jan. 8 hearing, his jury trial was again scheduled for June 22, 2020.

In the meantime, Gonzalez is now accused of a much more serious crime.

A family member found Attkission, 44, deceased in her home on Tuesday evening, Jan. 28. An autopsy the following day determined she had died of blunt force trauma.

Investigators noted that her vehicle and multiple items from her purse, including a handgun, were missing.

When police located Gonzalez near the wrecked vehicle, he was in possession of some of the items.

Investigators also determined that Gonzalez sold Attkisson’s cell phone at a Walmart store in Terre Haute. Investigators later recovered the phone as evidence.

Though court records do not indicate what became of Attkisson’s stolen handgun, a witness told police Gonzalez was in possession of a gun of similar description in Terre Haute on Jan. 29.