Murder Cases Lead Top Ten Local Stories Of 2010
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
The top stories of the year were voted on by the Times-Union news and sports staff.
#1
On April 20, Kosciusko County Sheriff's Dept. officers were called to a residence at 9219 E. Doswell Boulevard, Cromwell. Once there, police entered the Enchanted Hills home and officers found the body of a man inside.
Fifteen-year-old Colt Lundy, 12-year-old Paul Gingerich and 12-year-old Chase Williams allegedly were involved in the murder of Phillip A. Danner, 49. Danner was Lundy's stepfather.
The juveniles were detained in Peru, Ill., early April 21 after they tried to exchange a large amount of change for bills at a Walmart store.
Adult charges were not pursued against Williams. He was charged with assisting a criminal, a Class C felony if committed by an adult. He was sentenced to six years in a juvenile detention for his role in the murder.
Gingerich changed attorneys from Thomas W. Earhart to Fred C. Franco Jr., William J. Cohen and Elizabeth A. Bellin July 22. Gingerich eventually reached a plea deal, but his sentencing has been postponed to January.
Lundy submitted a plea agreement to plead guilty to the conspiracy to commit murder charge, with two other charges dropped. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, with five years of probation.
#2
An afternoon shooting at a home on Armstrong Road, Leesburg, Dec. 16 left two people dead and one injured.
Dead are Adam B. Jarrett, 30, of 4690 E. Armstrong Road, Leesburg, and Penny Savage, 44, of 802 S. Walnut St., North Webster. Savage was the mother of Jarrett's girlfriend, Erin E. Siefert, 24, also of 812 S. Walnut St., who was injured in the shooting.
Officers from the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Dept. and North Webster Police Dept. responded at 3:49 p.m. to a call of a shooting at Jarrett's residence.
What started as a verbal altercation between Jarrett and Siefert ended in an apparent murder-suicide at the Armstrong Road residence.
According to police, at one point during a heated argument, Jarrett called Savage and told her to come get her daughter out of his house. Savage was there long enough to get Siefert's and Jarrett's son out of the house into her car.
Jarrett exited the house and went to his garage to get a 20-gauge shotgun loaded with deer slug.
Jarrett shot the gun at Siefert and grazed her in the stomach. Jarrett shot Savage fatally in the back before turning the gun on himself.
#3
Eight-term Congressman Republican Mark Souder announced his resignation May 18 after it came to light that he had an affair with a female staffer who worked in his northern Indiana district officer.
Souder had just won 49 percent of the vote during the May 4 primary in the eight-county northeast Indiana district.
During a caucus June 12, District 13 State Sen. Marlin Stutzman was selected to be on the Republican ballot to fill the 3rd district congressional seat. Stutzman then won the election Nov. 2 for Souder's District 3 U.S. Representative seat.
During a caucus, LaGrange attorney Susan Glick was selected to fill Stutzman's District 13 seat Nov. 20.
#4
When the public found out about the possibility of CR 100E being closed for a runway expansion at the airport, they reacted by attending meetings, writing letters and banding together to air their grievances.
In early November, the Warsaw City Council approved the city advertising for the voluntary annexation of property east of the airport on the east side of CR 100E across from the end of the runway to prepare for the possible runway expansion.
The expansion would mean the possible permanent closure of CR 100E, between CRs 250N and 300N. The closure would not occur until mid-2012 to 2013, according to airport manager David Beall at that time.
After much public remonstration to CR 100E being closed, Ken Ross, of NGC Group, an Indianapolis engineering firm, introduced a plan to the Aviation Board Dec. 14 that would not involve the closing of CR 100E.
The suggested loop design around the proposed runway extension would add 0.6 of a mile to the existing road.
#5
Warsaw City Council heard a proposal Nov. 1 for a homeless shelter that was being considered for downtown Warsaw.
Eric Lane, Fellowship Mission director, presented the proposal to the council. Approximately 80 people, including local residents and downtown business owners, packed into city council chambers to learn more about the shelter.
A meeting scheduled for Nov. 3 for downtown merchants about the proposed homeless shelter was canceled after first being closed to the media.
A remonstrance petition was submitted to the Building and Planning Department with 37 names of downtown merchants and property owners opposed to the shelter.
Some members of the public, angry at the downtown merchants, threatened a boycott.
However, on Dec. 15, Fellowship Missions signed a six-month lease agreed with the city to rent a home from the city for a temporary homeless shelter for women and children. Fellowship Missions paid $1 in rental costs and utilities.
The home is at 337 N. Buffalo St., and is the former Heartline Pregnancy Center. On South Buffalo Street, Fellowship Missions operates a homeless shelter for men.[[In-content Ad]]#6
As part of the state's funding reduction for all schools, because of the shortfall in Indiana's revenue, area school corporations saw large hits to their 2010 budgets.
In 2009, the state took over schools' general funds, the largest fund for school corporations.
Warsaw Community School Corp. had to trim about $2.5 million; Triton faced a $264,000 cut; Manchester Community Schools had to deal with a $900,000 cut; Wawasee had to tighten its belt by $1.3 million; and Whitko had a $1.25 million cut.
Schools made cuts in several different ways, with some corporations not replacing teachers after they retired or resigned or not renewing some teachers' contracts.
Budgets for 2011 for Indiana schools may be even smaller, if some predictions hold.
#7
There was some March Madness going on at Warsaw Community High School in 2010.
On March 20, Nic Moore went 9 of 12 from the field and 5 of 5 from the free throw line en route to a game-high 26 points, as the Class 4A No. 6 Tigers beat Carroll 58-53 in the boys basketball semistate at Huntington North.
The Tigers advanced to the state championship game for the first time since 1984.
However, with a 95-74 drumming in the state championship March 27 by the North Central Panthers, the game wasn't what the Warsaw Tigers boys basketball team had expected.
WCHS senior Justin Clemens did win the 2009-10 4A Arthur L. Trester Award for Mental Attitude.
#8
Indiana Department of Education released the graduation rates for 2008-09 in January, and then the graduation rates for 2009-10 Dec. 20.
For 2009, Warsaw Community High School had a rate of 74.9 percent, while Wawasee had 83.4, Whitko had 84.9, Triton had 86.5, Tippecanoe Valley had 75.4 and Manchester had 89.1.
All of the local high schools improved their graduation rates for 2010, including Warsaw at 83.9, Wawasee at 83.4, Whitko at 90.6, Triton at 89.7, Valley at 80.4 and Manchester at 89.2.
Concerned with area graduation rates hovering around the 75 to 82 percent rate, a group of community and school officials last year formed a Dropout Prevention Committee.
Meeting twice a month since July 2009, the committee developed two objectives they hope will have an impact on local dropout rates.
At the high schools for the 2010-11 school year, the committee put graduation coaches in place. A mentoring program at the elementary and middle school levels encourages younger students to stay in school.
There are two graduation coaches each at Tippecanoe Valley and Wawasee and three at WCHS. Kids Hope and Big Brothers Big Sisters helps put mentors in place at the local elementary schools.
#9
Silent No More kept making headlines this year with its sponsorship of candidate debates and other events.
One of the several debates was March 6. Five U.S. Senate candidates spoke in Warsaw about why they were qualified to fill the seat that will be vacated by Evan Bayh today.
Dan Coats, the candidate Silent No More backed and who also attended the March 6 debate, won the May primary and November general election.
The organization also supported Marlin Stutzman for the Nov. 2 election to fill Republican Mark Souder's District 3 U.S. Representative seat after he resigned for having an extramarital affair.
The organization also traveled to Washington, D.C., to protest the healthcare bill and hear Glen Beck speak.
Silent No More also sponsored a three-day tent revival titled "Awakening America" Sept. 11-13.
#10
Biomet announced in August that the company will be creating 278 jobs.
On Aug. 12, the Kosciusko County Council approved a tax abatement for Biomet that would create the 278 jobs at its Warsaw facility and allow for a $26 million capital improvements project.
Attorney Jay Rigdon told the council that Biomet was looking between 2010 and 2012 to add the new jobs to the Warsaw facility. The expansion also would keep 82 jobs in the county.
Biomet did not provide a timeline as to when the projects or job expansion would begin.
The top stories of the year were voted on by the Times-Union news and sports staff.
#1
On April 20, Kosciusko County Sheriff's Dept. officers were called to a residence at 9219 E. Doswell Boulevard, Cromwell. Once there, police entered the Enchanted Hills home and officers found the body of a man inside.
Fifteen-year-old Colt Lundy, 12-year-old Paul Gingerich and 12-year-old Chase Williams allegedly were involved in the murder of Phillip A. Danner, 49. Danner was Lundy's stepfather.
The juveniles were detained in Peru, Ill., early April 21 after they tried to exchange a large amount of change for bills at a Walmart store.
Adult charges were not pursued against Williams. He was charged with assisting a criminal, a Class C felony if committed by an adult. He was sentenced to six years in a juvenile detention for his role in the murder.
Gingerich changed attorneys from Thomas W. Earhart to Fred C. Franco Jr., William J. Cohen and Elizabeth A. Bellin July 22. Gingerich eventually reached a plea deal, but his sentencing has been postponed to January.
Lundy submitted a plea agreement to plead guilty to the conspiracy to commit murder charge, with two other charges dropped. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, with five years of probation.
#2
An afternoon shooting at a home on Armstrong Road, Leesburg, Dec. 16 left two people dead and one injured.
Dead are Adam B. Jarrett, 30, of 4690 E. Armstrong Road, Leesburg, and Penny Savage, 44, of 802 S. Walnut St., North Webster. Savage was the mother of Jarrett's girlfriend, Erin E. Siefert, 24, also of 812 S. Walnut St., who was injured in the shooting.
Officers from the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Dept. and North Webster Police Dept. responded at 3:49 p.m. to a call of a shooting at Jarrett's residence.
What started as a verbal altercation between Jarrett and Siefert ended in an apparent murder-suicide at the Armstrong Road residence.
According to police, at one point during a heated argument, Jarrett called Savage and told her to come get her daughter out of his house. Savage was there long enough to get Siefert's and Jarrett's son out of the house into her car.
Jarrett exited the house and went to his garage to get a 20-gauge shotgun loaded with deer slug.
Jarrett shot the gun at Siefert and grazed her in the stomach. Jarrett shot Savage fatally in the back before turning the gun on himself.
#3
Eight-term Congressman Republican Mark Souder announced his resignation May 18 after it came to light that he had an affair with a female staffer who worked in his northern Indiana district officer.
Souder had just won 49 percent of the vote during the May 4 primary in the eight-county northeast Indiana district.
During a caucus June 12, District 13 State Sen. Marlin Stutzman was selected to be on the Republican ballot to fill the 3rd district congressional seat. Stutzman then won the election Nov. 2 for Souder's District 3 U.S. Representative seat.
During a caucus, LaGrange attorney Susan Glick was selected to fill Stutzman's District 13 seat Nov. 20.
#4
When the public found out about the possibility of CR 100E being closed for a runway expansion at the airport, they reacted by attending meetings, writing letters and banding together to air their grievances.
In early November, the Warsaw City Council approved the city advertising for the voluntary annexation of property east of the airport on the east side of CR 100E across from the end of the runway to prepare for the possible runway expansion.
The expansion would mean the possible permanent closure of CR 100E, between CRs 250N and 300N. The closure would not occur until mid-2012 to 2013, according to airport manager David Beall at that time.
After much public remonstration to CR 100E being closed, Ken Ross, of NGC Group, an Indianapolis engineering firm, introduced a plan to the Aviation Board Dec. 14 that would not involve the closing of CR 100E.
The suggested loop design around the proposed runway extension would add 0.6 of a mile to the existing road.
#5
Warsaw City Council heard a proposal Nov. 1 for a homeless shelter that was being considered for downtown Warsaw.
Eric Lane, Fellowship Mission director, presented the proposal to the council. Approximately 80 people, including local residents and downtown business owners, packed into city council chambers to learn more about the shelter.
A meeting scheduled for Nov. 3 for downtown merchants about the proposed homeless shelter was canceled after first being closed to the media.
A remonstrance petition was submitted to the Building and Planning Department with 37 names of downtown merchants and property owners opposed to the shelter.
Some members of the public, angry at the downtown merchants, threatened a boycott.
However, on Dec. 15, Fellowship Missions signed a six-month lease agreed with the city to rent a home from the city for a temporary homeless shelter for women and children. Fellowship Missions paid $1 in rental costs and utilities.
The home is at 337 N. Buffalo St., and is the former Heartline Pregnancy Center. On South Buffalo Street, Fellowship Missions operates a homeless shelter for men.[[In-content Ad]]#6
As part of the state's funding reduction for all schools, because of the shortfall in Indiana's revenue, area school corporations saw large hits to their 2010 budgets.
In 2009, the state took over schools' general funds, the largest fund for school corporations.
Warsaw Community School Corp. had to trim about $2.5 million; Triton faced a $264,000 cut; Manchester Community Schools had to deal with a $900,000 cut; Wawasee had to tighten its belt by $1.3 million; and Whitko had a $1.25 million cut.
Schools made cuts in several different ways, with some corporations not replacing teachers after they retired or resigned or not renewing some teachers' contracts.
Budgets for 2011 for Indiana schools may be even smaller, if some predictions hold.
#7
There was some March Madness going on at Warsaw Community High School in 2010.
On March 20, Nic Moore went 9 of 12 from the field and 5 of 5 from the free throw line en route to a game-high 26 points, as the Class 4A No. 6 Tigers beat Carroll 58-53 in the boys basketball semistate at Huntington North.
The Tigers advanced to the state championship game for the first time since 1984.
However, with a 95-74 drumming in the state championship March 27 by the North Central Panthers, the game wasn't what the Warsaw Tigers boys basketball team had expected.
WCHS senior Justin Clemens did win the 2009-10 4A Arthur L. Trester Award for Mental Attitude.
#8
Indiana Department of Education released the graduation rates for 2008-09 in January, and then the graduation rates for 2009-10 Dec. 20.
For 2009, Warsaw Community High School had a rate of 74.9 percent, while Wawasee had 83.4, Whitko had 84.9, Triton had 86.5, Tippecanoe Valley had 75.4 and Manchester had 89.1.
All of the local high schools improved their graduation rates for 2010, including Warsaw at 83.9, Wawasee at 83.4, Whitko at 90.6, Triton at 89.7, Valley at 80.4 and Manchester at 89.2.
Concerned with area graduation rates hovering around the 75 to 82 percent rate, a group of community and school officials last year formed a Dropout Prevention Committee.
Meeting twice a month since July 2009, the committee developed two objectives they hope will have an impact on local dropout rates.
At the high schools for the 2010-11 school year, the committee put graduation coaches in place. A mentoring program at the elementary and middle school levels encourages younger students to stay in school.
There are two graduation coaches each at Tippecanoe Valley and Wawasee and three at WCHS. Kids Hope and Big Brothers Big Sisters helps put mentors in place at the local elementary schools.
#9
Silent No More kept making headlines this year with its sponsorship of candidate debates and other events.
One of the several debates was March 6. Five U.S. Senate candidates spoke in Warsaw about why they were qualified to fill the seat that will be vacated by Evan Bayh today.
Dan Coats, the candidate Silent No More backed and who also attended the March 6 debate, won the May primary and November general election.
The organization also supported Marlin Stutzman for the Nov. 2 election to fill Republican Mark Souder's District 3 U.S. Representative seat after he resigned for having an extramarital affair.
The organization also traveled to Washington, D.C., to protest the healthcare bill and hear Glen Beck speak.
Silent No More also sponsored a three-day tent revival titled "Awakening America" Sept. 11-13.
#10
Biomet announced in August that the company will be creating 278 jobs.
On Aug. 12, the Kosciusko County Council approved a tax abatement for Biomet that would create the 278 jobs at its Warsaw facility and allow for a $26 million capital improvements project.
Attorney Jay Rigdon told the council that Biomet was looking between 2010 and 2012 to add the new jobs to the Warsaw facility. The expansion also would keep 82 jobs in the county.
Biomet did not provide a timeline as to when the projects or job expansion would begin.
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