Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
A murder conviction handed down in Kosciusko County was upheld by the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Christoval Dimas, 28, of Ligonier, was sentenced March 28 in Kosciusko Circuit Court to 65 years in prison for the murder of Crystal Homister. Dimas also was sentenced to three years in prison for abuse of a corpse. The terms were ordered served consecutively, for a total of 68 years.
Homister's burned remains - a partial skeleton - were found in April 2000 in a wooded area off CR 1050N on the east side of Lake Wawasee. Homister was reported missing Jan. 7, 2000, by family members.
Dimas was indicted by a grand jury in September 2000 on charges of murder, assisting a criminal and abuse of a corpse. The charge of assisting a criminal was later dismissed.
Homister was the mother of three children, including a son fathered by Dimas' brother, Jesse Dimas, authorities said.
Testimony during the trial indicated Homister was killed after refusing to have sex with Dimas and another man. Among the prosecution witnesses were several inmates who testified about the details of the murder as told to them by Dimas.
The local court's conviction was affirmed by the appeals court Tuesday. Dimas has 30 days to seek another hearing or to file a petition for the case to be transferred to the Indiana Supreme Court.
According to a press release issued by the Indiana Attorney General's Office, Dimas appealed his convictions based on whether the trial court abused its discretion in admitting testimony of police officers regarding out-of court statements, in admitting the testimony of a sheriff's department employee and whether the admission of testimony regarding Dimas' negative character constituted fundamental error.
