Post by Pendleton on Jan 14, 2011 19:10:20 GMT -5
ANDERSON, Ind. — Two prisoners who were named as suspects days after a 2007 killing at the Pendleton Correctional Facility were charged with murder in the final week of former Prosecutor Thomas Broderick Jr.’s term.
Broderick on Dec. 27 filed murder charges against Clay M. Howard, 27, and Paul M. Rayle, 25. They were inmates at Pendleton and are accused in the beating and strangulation death of Kent D. McDonald, a 44-year-old child molester who was found in a pool of his own blood in his prison cell on April 6, 2007.
Prosecutor Rodney Cummings said Friday that he was aware of the charges, but he had not reviewed the case. He said Broderick sat on the charges that “probably should have been filed three years ago.”
Broderick denied he procrastinated in filing the charges, saying there was circumstantial evidence and many people at the reformatory had access to the victim. “It took time to make sure there was sufficient evidence to file it,” he said Friday.
Indiana State Police investigators received warrants days after McDonald’s murder to collect DNA and other evidence from Howard and Rayle, who were purported members of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist gang that authorities say had taken a vow to kill child molesters. All three men were white.
An autopsy concluded that McDonald died of head and neck blunt force injury and asphyxiation.
An affidavit of probable cause dated Dec. 21, 2010, and signed by Broderick’s chief of staff, Ed Leonard, says that Howard and Rayle were examined after McDonald was found slain. ISP investigator Robert May “reported that both had injuries to their knuckles and fingers that he stated were consistent with being in a fight.”
The affidavit says that several inmates told authorities that Howard and/or Rayle confessed to killing McDonald.
Pendleton Correctional Facility officials later confiscated a letter they say Howard wrote to his father in which he appears to brag about killing McDonald, according to the affidavit. The letter says, “I still go hunting. Just not your typical game though! ... I bagged and tagged a (deleted).” The affidavit says Howard also wrote, “The charges never stuck.”
“That was 2 birds w/one stone,” Howard is accused of writing. “Not only did he play with kids, he played with boys. ... How about th(a)t for earning some stripes.”
McDonald, from North Vernon, was sentenced in June 2005 to at least 40 years in prison on multiple counts of child molestation, according to Department of Correction records.
Howard, who is now at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, was serving a 32-year sentence on a charge of attempted murder and a 15-year sentence for burglary, according to DOC.
Rayle, who is now serving time in Fort Wayne, was sentenced in 2004 by an Allen County court to 10 years in prison on a charge of armed robbery.
Charges against Howard and Rayle have been filed in Madison County Superior Court 3 before Judge Thomas Newman. No court dates have been set.
Broderick on Dec. 27 filed murder charges against Clay M. Howard, 27, and Paul M. Rayle, 25. They were inmates at Pendleton and are accused in the beating and strangulation death of Kent D. McDonald, a 44-year-old child molester who was found in a pool of his own blood in his prison cell on April 6, 2007.
Prosecutor Rodney Cummings said Friday that he was aware of the charges, but he had not reviewed the case. He said Broderick sat on the charges that “probably should have been filed three years ago.”
Broderick denied he procrastinated in filing the charges, saying there was circumstantial evidence and many people at the reformatory had access to the victim. “It took time to make sure there was sufficient evidence to file it,” he said Friday.
Indiana State Police investigators received warrants days after McDonald’s murder to collect DNA and other evidence from Howard and Rayle, who were purported members of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist gang that authorities say had taken a vow to kill child molesters. All three men were white.
An autopsy concluded that McDonald died of head and neck blunt force injury and asphyxiation.
An affidavit of probable cause dated Dec. 21, 2010, and signed by Broderick’s chief of staff, Ed Leonard, says that Howard and Rayle were examined after McDonald was found slain. ISP investigator Robert May “reported that both had injuries to their knuckles and fingers that he stated were consistent with being in a fight.”
The affidavit says that several inmates told authorities that Howard and/or Rayle confessed to killing McDonald.
Pendleton Correctional Facility officials later confiscated a letter they say Howard wrote to his father in which he appears to brag about killing McDonald, according to the affidavit. The letter says, “I still go hunting. Just not your typical game though! ... I bagged and tagged a (deleted).” The affidavit says Howard also wrote, “The charges never stuck.”
“That was 2 birds w/one stone,” Howard is accused of writing. “Not only did he play with kids, he played with boys. ... How about th(a)t for earning some stripes.”
McDonald, from North Vernon, was sentenced in June 2005 to at least 40 years in prison on multiple counts of child molestation, according to Department of Correction records.
Howard, who is now at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, was serving a 32-year sentence on a charge of attempted murder and a 15-year sentence for burglary, according to DOC.
Rayle, who is now serving time in Fort Wayne, was sentenced in 2004 by an Allen County court to 10 years in prison on a charge of armed robbery.
Charges against Howard and Rayle have been filed in Madison County Superior Court 3 before Judge Thomas Newman. No court dates have been set.