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Investigators in a rural Indian city lengthy believed a lacking secure would unlock the reality about what occurred to a retired farmer discovered shot to loss of life in his own residence.
When 85-year-old Lowell Badger was discovered useless on the bed room flooring of his Sullivan County residence in December 2012, police stated it was a housebreaking that had turned lethal.
A tv was stolen. Different electronics had been later discovered discarded alongside again roads. However one merchandise, a heavy metallic secure taken from the basement, by no means resurfaced.
Investigators believed the secure held the motive for the homicide – and for greater than a decade, they requested the identical query: what was contained in the secure that was value killing an aged man for?
Regardless of in depth searches of ponds, lakes, and close by rivers, the secure was by no means discovered. And for years, neither had been the individuals answerable for Badger’s homicide.
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The case went chilly for 13 years till new arrests, greater than a decade later, lastly started to disclose what occurred inside Badger’s residence that chilly December evening.
However one query lingers: what occurred to the secure?
A grim discovery
The retired farmer was discovered useless on December 8, 2012, inside his residence on West County Highway 350 North in Sullivan County, Indiana.
He had been shot throughout what investigators shortly decided was a housebreaking.
It’s believed the killing occurred between 9 p.m. on Friday, December 7, and 5 a.m. the next morning. Badger’s son, Alan, found his father’s physique early that day.
Police stated a black 46-inch Sony Bravia tv had been stolen. So had a light-to-medium darkish grey John D. Brush and Firm mannequin secure, measuring 23½ inches tall, 17 inches deep, and 17 inches vast.
A case goes chilly
Regardless of tons of of suggestions and a $30,000 reward provided for data resulting in an arrest, the case stalled.
Years later, a locked secure matching the outline was found inside an deserted farm silo a number of miles from Badger’s residence.
Its serial numbers had been partially broken, elevating fast hope. However when the property homeowners pressured it open, paperwork inside tied it to earlier landowners – to not Lowell Badger.
Investigators nonetheless consider it could maintain essential proof or affirm what the killers had been trying to find that evening.
However the true secure remained lacking.
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New focus, new leads
In 2023, Indiana State Police renewed their give attention to the case, assigning full-time detectives to reexamine proof and re-interview witnesses.
What adopted was a number of statements from greater than a dozen unnamed people that exposed new leads.
In response to court docket paperwork, throughout a celebration on the night of December 7, 2012, a witness heard William Ray Grimes, Richard Taft, and one other particular person allegedly saying that they had been going to interrupt right into a home on the lookout for cash.
Later that evening, witnesses stated the lads returned with a flat-screen tv within the mattress of a truck.
On the morning of December 8, an individual acquired a telephone name from Grimes asking for a experience to city for Taft.
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The witness discovered Taft hiding behind a constructing in tall grass. Taft stated he had been left behind and wanted to get out of the world shortly. When the automobile approached a regulation enforcement car, Taft informed the driving force to show away from the lights.
Days later, after seeing information protection of Badger’s homicide, the witness acknowledged the situation the place that they had picked Taft up. In response to a number of witnesses, Taft later described his function within the crime.
One individual informed police Taft admitted to collaborating within the “hitting” and robbing of an previous man, saying another person was too afraid to shoot, so he took the gun and shot Badger himself.
Taft allegedly stated the secure was thrown right into a creek behind a relative’s home.
One other witness recalled Taft crying and screaming throughout a automobile experience, speaking about an previous man he “didn’t need to damage just like the previous man had been damage.” On the time, the witness didn’t but find out about Badger’s homicide.
Through the years, Taft reportedly informed totally different variations of the story – typically claiming one other individual shot Badger, typically saying Grimes was the killer, and typically admitting his personal involvement. Investigators famous these inconsistencies in a possible trigger affidavit.
Two arrested after greater than a decade
In April 2024, a grand jury indicted William Ray Grimes on costs of homicide, housebreaking, and conspiracy to commit housebreaking. Already incarcerated on unrelated costs, Grimes was formally served with the warrant at an Indiana Division of Correction facility.
Three months later, a second arrest adopted.
Richard D. Taft, 39, was charged with homicide and two counts of housebreaking leading to bodily harm. He was arrested on the Michigan Metropolis Correctional Facility, the place he’s serving a sentence for a separate conviction. His projected launch date is 2031.
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A possible trigger affidavit cited interviews with 58 witnesses, a number of of whom described Taft as “emotional” and “crying” within the months after Badger’s loss of life.
Contained in the trial
A Sullivan County jury finally discovered Grimes responsible of homicide, housebreaking, and conspiracy to commit housebreaking, including a firearm enhancement to the fees.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors relied closely on witness testimony. Forensic consultants testified that Badger died from a .22 caliber gunshot wound to the temple, with bloodstain evaluation suggesting he might have been standing when he was shot.
Taft testified for the prosecution, admitting his involvement within the housebreaking and claiming he noticed Grimes shoot Badger at point-blank vary. He denied testifying in trade for a diminished sentence.
The protection challenged Taft’s credibility, highlighting his previous denials and legal historical past, and argued there was no bodily proof tying Grimes on to the scene.
In Could, the jury returned a responsible verdict. In June, Grimes was sentenced to 120 years in jail – 70 years for homicide and 50 years for conspiracy. The choose cited the “heinous nature” of the crime in imposing the utmost sentence. However Grimes maintained his innocence and stated he would attraction.
After the sentencing, Lowell Badger’s son, Alan, spoke publicly in regards to the lengthy highway to justice.
“We’re blessed to have a group that helps us, we have now been blessed to have a household that helps us, we have now been blessed to have a church that helps us,” he stated. “There are a variety of days the place you suppose you are taking a step ahead, and the following day you are taking two steps again. It’s been a protracted journey.”
Sufferer remembered because the ‘kindest man’
Lowell Badger was broadly recognized and deeply cherished in his group.
A retired farmer, he had raised three kids along with his spouse, Nellie, who died in 2008. He devoted a lot of his retirement to Kingsley Memorial United Methodist Church, the place he had been an energetic member since 1960.
He additionally served for many years with the Sullivan County Credit score Union, the Island Levee Conservancy District, and as District 7 Director of Farm Bureau.
A neighbor described him as “the kindest man I’ve ever met.”
