Comments on Advance Indiana™: Hall Hate Crime Killing Outrage: State Lets Off Killers On Manslaughter Charges

I don't think that there was any fear that a jury ...

2007-12-29T08:24:00.000-05:00

I don't think that there was any fear that a jury would have let these boys off with a lighter sentence. On the contrary, with all the evidence against them and witness Hodge's testimony, I think that they would have gotten a much stiffer sentence.
No, I think that these boys were given a SWEET deal in order to get this case over with and keep everyone off the stand and quiet.
It looks to me as if the boys were reporting in to Hodge, who states that they called him and sent pics of the beating. He then showed up the next morning at Gray's house to check things out. At that time Hodge was taken to the field where Hall was dumped and he was the one to find the body. Later, the boys called Hodge back to inform him that the body had been moved. It would appear that Hodge was the one who had a problem with Aaron Hall, and these boys were acting as his henchmen.
While everyone seems to believe that King, Gray, and Hendricks got off too easy, no one seems at all concerned that John Hodge also committed a crime for which he wasn't charged at all.
IC 36-2-14-17
Violent or suspicious death of person; failure to notify authorities of discovery of body or moving body from scene; offenses
Sec. 17.(a) A person who knowingly or intentionally fails to immediately notify the coroner or a law enforcement agency of the discovery of the body of a person who:
(1) has died from violence;
(2) has died in an apparently suspicious, unusual, or unnatural manner; or
(3) has died at less than three (3) years of age;
commits a Class B infraction. However, the failure to immediately notify under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor if the person fails to immediately notify with the intent to hinder a criminal investigation.
(b) A person who, with the intent to hinder a criminal investigation and without the permission of the coroner or a law enforcement officer, knowingly or intentionally alters the scene of death of a person who has died:
(1) from violence; or
(2) in an apparently suspicious, unusual, or unnatural manner;
commits a Class D felony.
http://www.ai.org/legislative/ic/code/title36...

This is no surprise, as one of the defendants is t...

2007-12-20T08:14:00.000-05:00

This is no surprise, as one of the defendants is the son of a former deputy coroner (who owned the house where Hall's body was found) In Jackson County Indiana, it seems the only way to get a life sentence for a violent crime is if you are innocent of the crime you are accused of.
This is less about a hate crime, and more about a meth crime. Let's review:

1997-Ronald Dale Bruner murdered at his home in Vallonia, IN next door to the sheriff. Crime was unsolved for some time. However, the man who discovered Bruner's body did remove evidence from the home and was not charged. Motive for the killing? Meth.
Then in 2005, Katie Collman of Crothersville was murdered. A man confessed who stated that she saw drug activity in a local apartment complex. The suspect named a man who very closely resembed a composite sketch released to the media. In addition, authorities had been called to THE SAME apartment twice in the month prior to her death on complaints of meth production. One one occasion, Mr. Terry Gray himself, father of Garrett Gray and also the spokesperson for he family of Katie Collman responded. No arrests were made.
Then the case took an unusual turn when authorities claimed that Anthony Stockelman of Seymour molested and killed Collman based upon DNA? evidence.
Now the story becomes Hickman gave false information. There was no meth activity. Stockelman merely had a chance encounter with Collman, suddenly decided to molest her, then had to kill her because he was afraid she would tell. He then drove her to the lake and smoked a cigarette while he watched her drown. Jackson County residents bought the scenario hook line and sinker. DNA? evidence had scared the masses who were suddenly unable to think for themselves and say hey wait a minute, this doesn't add up.
A few weeks prior to Hall's death, his brother in law, Dino Jackson was murdered and thrown into a creek near Crothersville. Not much is being said about his death, other than he raped someone. Everyone who knew Jackson and/or the female in question doubt this story.
Dino Jackson was the brother in law of Carrie Jackson, who was found in a field near Seymour in June 2006 under suspicious circumstances (drug overdose). Nor arrests have been made.

Sounds to me like Aaron Hall was a grade A sex off...

2007-12-18T14:22:00.000-05:00

Sounds to me like Aaron Hall was a grade A sex offender who deserved a lengthy sentence for sexual assault. That doesn't mean he deserved to be killed or that those who didn't should be punished, but this was not some poor victim of a random gay bashing, even putting the most gay-favorable spin on the story.

Fortunately, YOU didn't grow up in Indiana. This ...

2007-12-18T01:12:00.000-05:00

Fortunately, YOU didn't grow up in Indiana. This behavior has been accepted for years on end. I believe my mom to be the only one in Dekalb county to have a Jessie Jackson sign in our front yard in the eighties.....oh how life goes one here in the "great" lakes region.....

The prosecutor obviously believed a jury would sym...

2007-12-17T21:30:00.000-05:00

The prosecutor obviously believed a jury would sympathize with the killers because they thought Hall was gay. Otherwise, he had them dead to writes for a murder charged based upon their video-taped confession to police. I can't imagine this sort of plea agreement being reached in almost any criminal jurisdiction outside of Indiana.

These guys will be back on the street within 15 ye...

2007-12-17T21:24:00.000-05:00

These guys will be back on the street within 15 years, or about the same age as Aaron Hall was when they brutally beat him to death. Their lives will start anew where his life ended abruptly at their hands. Great justice system you have in Indiana.