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Chelsea Crossland Charged With 5 YR Olds Murder

Chelsea Crossland is a woman from Portland Indiana who was just charged with the murder of her five year old son. According to police documents would physically abuse the five year old boy for days on end and refused to feed the little boy. Eventually Chelsea Crossland would go to far and beat the child to the point he would die from his injuries. The autopsy would show the boy was severely malnourished and dehydrated and died from blunt force injuries to his head and mouth. Another child in the home would describe the abuse to police and told them Chelsea Crossland discussed disposing the five year old’s body. Chelsea Crossland has been charged with neglect of dependent resulting in death and child molesting as well as murder.

Chelsea Crossland More News

A Portland woman was charged Wednesday with murder in the death of her 5-year-old son.

In an affidavit, authorities said 27-year-old Chelsea Lanett Crossland beat, spanked and choked her son, Christian, and at times punished the boy by not allowing him to eat “for days at a time.”

The child died in his family’s home, in the 600 block of South Western Avenue, on March 24.

An autopsy, conducted Friday in Fort Wayne, indicated he died as a result as a result of “complications from blunt force trauma to (his head and mouth).

When he died, investigators determined, Christian was “severely malnourished” and dehydrated.

He had “numerous bruises and contusions on his body, and had abrasions and injuries to his face,” the affidavit said. When Portland police were called to the Western Avenue home on the night of March 24, they found the boy was clad only in a diaper.

The house was described as “unkempt and filthy.”

Indiana State Police led the investigation into the child’s death.

Court documents filed by Jay County Prosecutor Wes Schemenaur’s office indicated another child had described the abuse the boy had suffered, and also reported Chelsea Crossland had discussed disposing of her son’s body.

The boy’s father also reportedly said Crossland had told him “she wished Christian was dead.”

Crossland — who was arrested Monday — was also formally charged on Wednesday with neglect of dependent resulting in death and child molesting, both Level 1 felonies carrying up to 40 years in prison.

The molesting charge alleges the Portland woman sexually abused a child other than Christian.

In Indiana, a murder conviction carries a maximum 65-year prison term.

Crossland is being held without bond in the Jay County jail.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/portland-mother-arrested-her-5-163805415.html

Kegan Kline Tied To The Delphi Murders

The Delphi murders caught the Nation by storm and many are wondering when police in Indiana are going to arrest someone for the double murders and many are wondering if Kegan Kline is responsible. Kegan Kline is a twenty seven year old who was arrested in 2020 for over twenty felonies that include child exploitation, possession of child pornography, obstruction of justice and synthetic identity deception. Seems Kegan Kline was posing on Instagram using a fake name (Anthony Shots) and fake photos. In recently released interviews with Kegan Kline, which the Indiana Police swear on their little pinky they did not release, the predator would admit to talking to one of the girls Liberty German, who was 14 years old, the night before she was murdered.

Liberty German and her thirteen year old friend Abigail Williams would be brutally murdered on Valentines Day in 2017. Kegan Kline would try to explain that a number of people had access to the Anthony Shots Instagram account including his father. Kegan Kline has admitted to being a sexual predator as he purposely set up the Anthony Shots Instagram account to solicit nude photos from underage girls has always looked guilty when it comes to the murders of Abigal Williams and Liberty German however is he actually guilty is the question

Kegan Kline More News

In August 2020, more than three years after Abigail Williams and Liberty German were found murdered in Delphi, Ind., Feb. 14, 2017, police questioned Kegan Kline about his conversations with one of the teenage girls the night before they were killed.

The interaction with Kline, believed by law enforcement to be associated with a fake social media profile “anthony_shots,” came while Liberty – called “Libby” – was at a sleepover the night before the teenagers disappeared, according to Miami County court documents obtained by FOX59.

Kegan Kline, 27, remains in jail, facing 30 counts of child solicitation, child exploitation and possession of child porn. A court appearance is scheduled for April 14.

While Indiana State Police asked the public for any information regarding interactions with “anthony_shots,” Kline has not been charged in any crimes related to the murdered teens from Delphi

In the transcript, obtained by FOX59 from the podcast The Murder Sheet, police tell Kline they know he communicated with Libby and her friends at a sleepover the night before they disappeared.

On Feb. 13, 2017, the Journal & Courier has reported, a man described as wearing blue jeans, a gray hoodie and blue coat forced the eighth-grade friends off the Monon High Bridge, east of Delphi.

A Shapchat video from Libby’s phone captured a man’s voice saying “Guys…down the hill.”

The teenagers’ bodies were found Feb. 14, 2017, about a quarter mile from the bridge where they had crossed the murderer’s path

n August 2020, Indiana State Police questioned Kline about conversations he’d had with underage girls, including in the interrogation the name of Libby.

“Umm,” reads the transcript reported by FOX59, “you had told investigators umm and I know you say you don’t remember a girl that you ever talked to but I know you remember Liberty German?”

Kline’ response was “inaudible,” the transcript reads.

“Right and you know you talked to her and you admitted to talking to her? And …” the officer said.

“I don’t think I ever did though,” Kline reportedly states. “I think I talked to one of her friends like I told them.”

“You, you admitted you talked to her ..” Kline is asked.

HIs response is, again, “inaudible.”

” …for a few hours at a sleepover and then you blocked her because she was annoying You remember?”

“You’re right, yeah,” Kline states.

Later in the transcript, police question Kline about plans to meet Libby on the Monon High Bridge

“See I don’t remember ever saying to meet up with me though,” Kline said.

However, the officer questioning Kline referred to a message the defendant allegedly wrote to someone after he learned the girls had been murdered. On the fake account, “anthony_shots” writes, “Yeah, we were supposed to meet but she never showed up.”

Kline responded to that line of questioning with, “That’s a damn lie.”

In the transcript, Kline is also questioned about why, after the teens were discovered murdered, that he’d searched on his phone media reports of the case. He says the searches are understandable since it’s one of the biggest murder cases in the state of Indiana.

In December 2021, detectives with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and Indiana State Police investigating the still unsolved murders reported they uncovered the online profile used to communicate with young girls.

In the August 2020 transcript, police tell Kline they believe individuals other than Kline had access to “anthony_shots.”

Kline told the police in the line of questioning he had given his password to that account to “a lot of people.” In another transcript given to FOX59 by The Murder Sheet, Kline tells Headline News on Dec. 9, 2021, that his father had access to the “anthony_shots” account.

In the HLN interview, FOX59 reported, Kline also said ISP reportedly told him “they knew it was my dad” that killed the teenagers

No one has been charged with their murders and police continue to seek clues.

If you have information on the Delphi murders, send your confidential tip to [email protected] or call 844-459-5786, 800-382-7537 or 765-564-2413.

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/lafayette/2022/03/25/delphi-murder-kegan-kline-interview-last-contact-liberty-german-tony-kline/7171377001/

Eric Wrinkles Indiana Execution

Eric Wrinkles was executed by the State of Indiana for a triple murder. According to court documents Eric Wrinkles was hospitalized for mental illness a couple of weeks before the triple murder by his mother. However the stay would be short as doctors at the mental health facility deemed him not to be a risk to himself or others. Once released Eric Wrinkles would go to the home of his estranged wife and would murder her Debra Jean Wrinkles, his brother-in-law Tony Fulkerson, and Fulkerson’s wife, Natalie Fulkerson. Eric Wrinkles would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Eric Wrinkles would be executed by lethal injection on December 11, 2009

Eric Wrinkles More News

Ten years ago, a 49-year-old Evansville man who murdered his estranged wife and two for her relatives in front of young children was put to death.

Since then, no other inmate has been executed by the state of Indiana.

That inmate was Matthew Eric Wrinkles, put to death with a lethal injection administered in Michigan City the morning of Dec. 11, 2009.

Wrinkles spent years fighting his sentence, and stayed in the news regularly between the 1994 murders and his execution in 2009. He claimed he was abused by the wife he killed, he tried to make peace with her family members on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and, eventually, he decided to die by refusing to seek clemency from then-Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Here’s what you need to know about the last death row inmate executed in Indiana.

Authorities said Eric Wrinkles was on methamphetamine when he cut the phone lines, broke into his brother-in-law’s Evansville home and killed his wife, Debra Jean Wrinkles, 31; her brother, Mark “Tony” Fulkerson, 28; and Fulkerson’s wife, Natalie “Chris” Fulkerson, 26.

The couple was in the middle of a divorce and custody battle over their two children. Debra Wrinkles and the kids had left home to stay with the Fulkersons as the situation between the couple worsened

Court documents said Wrinkles was wearing camouflage and face paint and when he kicked open the door of the home around 2 a.m. on July 21, 1994, armed with a gun and a knife.

Eric Wrinkles shot Mark Fulkerson in front of Fulkerson’s 3-year-old son, then shot Debra Wrinkles as their daughter pleaded for her mother’s life, police said. Finally, he shot Natalie Fulkerson in the face and fled the scene in a pickup truck

Wrinkles was later arrested at his cousin’s home, where a .357-caliber Magnum used in the killings was recovered.

The murders happened just days after Wrinkles’ mother tried to have him committed due to his erratic behavior. She was told her son didn’t meet the criteria.

He had been briefly hospitalized about two weeks before the murders but was released after a psychiatrist determined he was not “gravely disabled,” according to records from a 1999 court hearing.

Eric Wrinkles has said the killings were motivated by his methamphetamine addiction and fear that he would no longer see his children.

In the lead-up to his trial, Wrinkles claimed his wife had become abusive. He said he was afraid she planned to shoot or stab him. But police and Debra Wrinkles’ family said it was who Wrinkles had a history of abusing his wife.

“I feel like Caesar on the steps of the Senate. I’m made out to be this bad guy because of women’s rights and all this stuff,” Wrinkles told the Evansville Courier from the Vanderburgh County Jail. “When it comes down to it, I’ll give my own version of what exactly transpired. There were a whole lot of things leading up to this situation.”

Eric Wrinkles was convicted of the murders in May 1995 after a week-long jury trial. He was sentenced to death on June 14, 1995.

A direct appeal led to his conviction being unanimously affirmed in December 1997.

In August 1999, Wrinkles sought a new trial, claiming his original attorneys were too preoccupied with other cases to adequately represent him.

Wrinkles’ new defense team also claimed that trial attorneys failed to discuss Wrinkles’ methamphetamine addiction or research his troubled childhood for the penalty stage of his trial.

In November 2009, after years of rejected efforts to save his life, Wrinkles’ lawyers told reporters that he had made the decision to die and refused to fill out paperwork formally requesting clemency from Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Parole board officials had intended to visit him at the Indiana State Prison to make sure he understood the rights he was surrendering, but that visit was called off after Wrinkles’ attorneys notified the Parole Board that he was waiving his right to request clemency.

By that point, Eric Wrinkles had exhausted his appeals in state and federal courts

A week after the Indiana Supreme Court declined Wrinkles’ final review motion, he appeared as a guest on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” via remote feed from prison. During the talk show segment, he was confronted by members of his victims’ families.

The Fulkersons’ children; Debra and Tony’s mother, Mae McIntire; and Natalie’s mother, Mary Winnecke, were all on the show.

Wrinkles said he never intended to kill anyone and was on the way to a friend’s house out of town. He said he was wearing camouflage because he planned to go hunting and fishing, and only stopped by to the house to see his children.

“I didn’t think I would ever see them again,” he said. “It wasn’t to kill anybody.”

When asked if he deserves the death penalty, Wrinkles said he didn’t think his opinion mattered and that the time spent in prison could never make up for what he did.

“You can’t put a price on human life,” he said.

Winnecke said she didn’t raise her daughter’s children to hate Wrinkles. She said she didn’t believe the story Wrinkles told, but she still forgives him.

“I pray for you that you ask God for forgiveness, because that’s where it’s all at,” Winnecke said. “And I ask everybody to write the governor to stop the death penalty because we’re not here to judge. You deserve to be in jail, but we don’t want you to die.”

McIntire raised Wrinkles’ children after the murders. She said Wrinkles was abusive from the moment he married her daughter, and that she hated him for what he did.

“He has been tried by 12 jurors. He was sentenced to death row and that’s where he should go. He should die,” she said. “He killed three beautiful people and left four children orphaned.”

On the day of his execution, Wrinkles continued to speak about the change he had undergone, saying in his final statement that he was “not proud of the man I was, but I am no longer that man.”

He died from lethal injection at 12:39 a.m. on Dec. 11, 2009, at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. His final meal was prime rib, a loaded baked potato, pork chops, steak fries, and two salads with ranch dressing and rolls

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2019/12/11/matthew-eric-wrinkles-last-inmate-executed-indiana/2617253001/

Anthony Hutchens Charged In Grace Ross Murder

Anthony Hutchens the fifteen year old boy from Indiana is now facing adult time for the murder of six year old Grace Ross. According to police reports Anthony Hutchens allegedly molested and murdered the six year old girl at a wooded area behind the New Carlisle apartment complex where they both lived. Anthony Hutchens mother believed that her son was involved in the murder and would notify police. Anthony Hutchens would be charged with murder and child molestation.

Anthony Hutchens More News

Nearly a year after 6-year-old Grace Ross was found dead in a wooded area near a New Carlisle apartment complex, a judge ruled that Anthony Hutchens, the boy accused of molesting and killing her, will be tried as an adult.

The ruling by St. Joseph Probate Court Magistrate Graham Polando comes after recent hearings where doctors, probation officers and Hutchens’ mother testified to whether he should remain in juvenile, or probate, court.

In a written order, Polando concluded several factors suggested the teen’s case would best be handled in adult court. Those factors included:

Evidence of deliberating about the crime either before or after, suggested by how remote the location of where Ross’ body was found.
Taking steps to hide evidence such as his bloody clothes.
The time it would have taken to both molest the girl and kill her.
The likelihood, even if small, of committing similar offenses in the futer.
Evidence of prior efforts of the accused teen’s mother to provide help and treatment for the boy’s difficulties, and that the boy seems to Polando to have squandered those efforts.
The very serious nature of the crimes alleged.
The juvenile system’s inadequacy to provide both the punishment and rehabilitation needed for someone guilty of the crimes in this case.

“If the Respondent is guilty of the offenses alleged here, he deserves more severe punishment than this Court can impose. He requires lengthier rehabilitative services than this Court can impose,” Polando wrote. “This community requires more deterrence, both for the Respondent specifically and others, juveniles included, than this Court can impose. And the Respondent must be incapacitated for a longer period than this Court can impose.”

The Tribune did not name Hutchens in previous coverage of the case, but is doing so now that he has been waived to adult court.

Polando also ruled that Hutchens will be detained in an adult correction facility while awaiting trial, and that he will be held without the possibility of release on bail.

“If the question is simply ‘Should an ASD eighth-grader be in an adult jail?’ the answer is almost certainly ‘no,’ Polando wrote. “On the other hand, if the question is ‘Should a juvenile arrestee who there is probable cause to believe molested and murdered another child be around other children?’ the answer is similarly almost certainly ‘no.'”

Ultimately, the ability to protect other detained children, given the nature of the alleged offenses, convinced Polando that Hutchens was best held in an adult facility.

According to police and prosecutors, Hutchens molested and killed Ross, whose body was found in a wooded area behind the New Carlisle apartment complex where they both lived, on March 12, 2021.

The boy’s mother, believing her son may have been involved in the girl’s death, came forward to police after Ross’ body was found.

Hutchens, who was 14 at the time, gave shifting stories when police questioned him with his mother present, according to prosecutors.

At first, he said he lost track of the girl after she followed him into the woods. He then said there was another person in the woods, and that he had been knocked unconscious before awaking next to her body. He finally said a “shadowy man” had controlled him while he strangled Grace.

Since then, proceedings were delayed as doctors and psychologists interviewed Hutchens to assess his ability to stand trial. After the teenager was deemed competent, prosecutors asked for the case to be moved to adult court due to the severity of the crimes and reports that Hutchens has a violent “mindset.”

At a Feb. 23 hearing, Craig Redman, a juvenile probation supervisor, testified that Hutchens has made several disturbing comments, including references to killing and torturing people

“I have the mind of a psychopath,” Hutchens once said, according to Redman. “Give me any object, and I will find a way to kill someone with it.”

Under questioning by the boy’s attorney, Mark James, Redman acknowledged Hutchens has never committed any actual violence in the 11 months he has been detained.

During the same hearing, Hutchens’ mother said he is on the autism spectrum, has ADHD and a sensory disorder and is “very immature for his age.”

Indiana law states a probate, or juvenile, court shall waive jurisdiction to superior, or adult, court in felony cases, “unless it would be in the best interests of the child and the safety and welfare of the community for the child to remain within the juvenile justice system.”

State law also specifies that if a juvenile is 12 or older and is accused of murder, the case should be waived unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary.

The superior court system has more severe sentences at its disposal, as sentences, or dispositions in probate courts are often focused on rehabilitation rather than punishment. A murder conviction in adult court calls for a minimum sentence of 45 years, however superior court judges can use probate court sentencing guidelines if they wish.

Hearings and records in superior court are public, while some hearings and records in probate court are confidential by law. Verdicts in probate court trials are also decided by the presiding judge or magistrate, whereas trials in superior court are decided by juries.

https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/local/2022/03/11/grace-ross-death-trial-carlisle-apartment-teen-child-molestation-killing/9408950002/

Jacob Wootton Sentenced In Death Of Son

Jacob Wootton has been sentenced to 52 years in prison for the death of his two year old son Ryder Wooton. According to court documents ambulance attendants went to the Wooton household after receiving a 911 call for an unresponsive child. Ryder Wooton would be rushed to the hospital however would die three days later. Jacob Wooton told police that the child had fallen in the bathtub and was unresponsive so he smacked him a couple of times and bit him on the face to revive him. An autopsy on Ryder Wooton reveal the cause of death as homicide caused by a blunt force trauma to the head. Jacob Wooton would be arrested along with his then wife Alyson Stephen and both would be charged with murder. Jacob Wooton be convicted of one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, and one count of being a habitual offender. Alyson Stephen has yet to go to trial.

Jacob Wooton More News

An Elwood man has entered a guilty plea to neglect of a dependent resulting in death, but he still faces a murder charge in the case.

Jacob Wootton, 29, pleaded guilty Monday in Madison Circuit Court Division 1 to the Level 1 felony charge in the 2019 death of 23-month-old Ryder Stephen.

Defense attorney Mark Nicholson said there is no plea agreement with the state on any charges, and that Wootton wants to plead guilty to the neglect charge and two misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia.

Circuit Court 1 Judge Angela Warner Sims set sentencing on the guilty pleas for Feb. 18.

In a Nov. 30 email, Deputy Prosecutor Jesse Miller said Jacob Wootton could plead guilty to any of the charges, but there is no plea offer on the murder charge.

“My client can’t plead guilty to murder for something he didn’t do,” Nicholson said Monday.

He said he hoped that by pleading guilty to the neglect of a dependent, the state would dismiss the murder charge.

“There is no offer from the state,” Judge Sims reiterated.

She has not set a trial date for Jacob Wootton on the murder charge,

When Miller read the factual basis for the guilty plea on the neglect charge in court Monday, the cause of death was stated as multiple blunt force trauma.

Jacob Wootton denied the allegation of blunt force trauma, which is part of the murder charge.

Nicholson stated the child, Wootton’s stepson, died while in his client’s care. On Oct. 29, 2018, Wootton placed the boy in a bathtub. He left the bathroom, heard a noise and discovered the child had fallen.

Jacob Wooten testified that he was on drugs at the time and that if not for the drug use, he would not have left the child alone.

Miller said the coroner’s office determined the injuries Ryder suffered were not consistent with a fall.

When asked by Judge Sims, Wootton said Ryder suffered injuries before the fall.

Alyson Stephen, who was married to Wootton at the time, is charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death. No trial date has been set for her.

The couple has since divorced.

Ryder was found unresponsive while in Wootton’s care, according to an affidavit of probable cause by Detective Ben Gosnell.

Alyson Stephen told police she put Ryder in the infant bathtub while she got ready for work and left him with Jacob Wootton when she went to work. She said she was at work when Ryder was taken to the hospital.

Elwood police officer Jerry Branson said the toddler was not breathing and was cold to the touch when he arrived at the residence.

Branson performed CPR on Ryder, who was taken to Ascension St. Vincent Mercy Hospital before being transported to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Riley doctors pronounced the toddler dead three days later.

During Ryder’s autopsy, Dr. Chris Poulos, chief physical pathologist for the Marion County coroner, found multiple bruises on Ryder’s head and body, Detective Gosnell said in his affidavit.

https://www.heraldbulletin.com/news/local_news/elwood-man-pleads-guilty-to-neglect-of-a-dependent-resulting-in-death/article_8bb3b94e-61d7-11ec-b486-9f13bc092496.html

Jacob Wooton Other News

A Madison County judge has handed down a sentence in connection to the death of a toddler.

Jacob Wootton, 29, received a 52-year sentence after pleading guilty in December to charges of neglect of a dependent resulting in death and other various drug charges. An earlier murder charge against Wootton has been dismissed.

Jacob Wootton was 26 when his 2-year-old stepson died in his care in October of 2018.

Court documents show on October 26, 2018, Wootton told police he had forgot about the toddler in the tub. Wootton said he believed the boy had fell and hit his head while he was checking on two other kids in the house.

The child had multiple bruises on his body, and Wootton said at the time, he smacked the boy a few times and bit him on the face to try to get him to wake up. He also waited 20 minutes to call 911, according to prosecutors.

The toddler was pronounced dead at the hospital on Oct. 29. The coroner ruled the child died from blunt force trauma and also had a hemorrhage in an optic nerve.

During an interview with police, one of the boy’s siblings said, “Jake gives baths but also whoops us too.”

The boy’s mother, Alyson Stephen, was at work during the incident. She was also charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death. No trial date has been set for her yet.

Stephen and Wootton have since divorced.

https://cbs4indy.com/indiana-news/man-sentenced-to-52-years-in-death-of-madison-county-toddler/