Eric Wynn, of 516 W. Center St., is scheduled to appear Monday in Tippecanoe Superior Court #5 for an initial hearing in the matter. The class D felony charge carries a maximum prison term of three years upon conviction.

Wynn is the owner of Crime Scene Cleaners and was contracted by the family of a homicide victim to clean the home where the crime took place. The murder occurred on March 4 in Lafayette and Wynn was hired a few days later when the home was released to the family.

According to a press release from the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Department, information was received that Wynn might have illegally removed a large knife from the home. Authorities said the knife was taken from an apparent hiding place under a mattress in the residence.

TCSD Detective Sgt. J. Steve Kohne contacted Wynn about the knife and Wynn reportedly admitted finding and taking it. A request to return the knife was not met in a timely manner, according to the press release, and a search warrant was issued for and executed at Wynn's Warsaw home on March 21.

Officers from the TCSD and Warsaw Police Department conducted the search at Wynn's home, where other items located are believed to have been taken from various crime scenes in the four-state area in which Crime Scene Cleaners operates. Police agencies in those jurisdictions also have been notified.

Among items removed from Wynn's home are drug paraphernalia, jewelry and bullets and bullet fragments. He reportedly told police that he collects items that remind him of crime scenes that he cleans. Police said Wynn cooperated during the search of his home and explained where some of the items came from. Most of the items were collected within the past two to three years from crime scenes in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. [[In-content Ad]]