Ten years ago, Robert Earl Hootman II was sentenced to 60 years in prison for the stabbing death of Barbara Lee Hulley.

Now, he claims he was wrongfully arrested and convicted and is suing the state and county for $300,000.

In a civil lawsuit filed in Kosciusko Superior Court I, Hootman claims that he was maliciously prosecuted and that "the state ... never possessed the power to charge (him) with the charge of murder ..." He is serving as his own attorney in this matter.

In May 1987, Hootman confessed to the Sept. 21, 1984, murder of Hulley and subsequently entered into a plea agreement. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison on April 20, 1988, and is currently imprisoned at the Indiana Reformatory at Pendleton.

Hootman filed a petition for post-conviction relief through his criminal case in June and the state, by Prosecutor David Kolbe, answered the petition in denial.

Kolbe said that the point of a post-conviction relief petition is generally to get out of prison.

"It is unclear why it would happen at this time," Kolbe said, adding that this type of petition is common.

A post-conviction relief petition is typically filed by a defendant after a direct appeal has failed or after the time for perfecting an appeal is passed. No appeals are currently pending in the criminal case.

"Quite frankly, I don't know where he's coming from on this," said Detective Sgt. Tom Kitch of the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department, one of the investigators in the 14-year-old case.

Kitch said that Hootman's confession came after a polygraph was administered and he advised he was "ready to talk." Kitch said that the confession was videotaped and is still in the sheriff's department's possession. "The confession was given freely," he said. "(Hootman) gave details during the taped interview that no one else was privy to."

Hootman told authorities that he was burglarizing Hulley's Syracuse residence when she returned home, surprising him. He attacked Hulley, stabbing her repeatedly and slashing her throat. She was found dead two days later by her son after failing to show up for a golf date.

Police exhausted all leads between 1984 and 1987 until Hootman began making statements about Hulley's murder while in the Kosciusko County Jail on a probation violation in a theft case. Tips were also received through CrimeStoppers.

Hootman, who was a neighbor to Hulley, was a 17-year-old Wawasee High School senior when he committed the murder, and was 20 years old when he was charged in connection with her death. He faced the charges as an adult.

Police said they did not at first believe it was a burglary since only Hulley's purse was taken. It was never recovered and was believed to contain less than $50 in cash. A knife found in another neighbor's yard is believed to have been the murder weapon.

When Hootman confessed, Kitch said, "He told us how he did it ... he went line by line and told us what weapon he used."

In his post-conviction relief petition, Hootman alleges he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel, that the plea agreement was a legal nullity and contrary to statute, that he did not knowingly and intelligently waive his Miranda Rights, and that the court failed to establish a factual basis for the conviction.

Hootman was originally charged with murder and felony murder, with the latter charge being dismissed through the plea agreement. He was represented in the criminal matter by attorney Steve Hearn of Warsaw, who served as a court-appointed attorney.

In the civil case, Hootman is seeking a trial by jury. [[In-content Ad]]