Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
If Kosciusko County Deputy Prosecutor Chuck Waggoner gets his way, Steven Ray Bean of Warsaw will be sentenced to 100 years in prison.
Bean, 20, pleaded guilty Friday in Kosciusko Superior Court to attempted murder and burglary, both Class A felonies. He admitted breaking into the home of Vicky Elder and stabbing her 12 times on Dec. 11.
Set to plead guilty to the charges in March, Bean changed his mind at the last minute and instead asserted an insanity defense. Subsequent psychiatric evaluations proved that Bean was mentally competent to stand trial. The case was set for trial beginning Oct. 15 and was expected to last three days.
A deal was worked out with Bean for his first plan to plead guilty; however, none was offered this time. He faces 20 to 50 years on each count, and Waggoner said that he will argue for the maximum sentence and that the terms be served consecutively. The sentence will be handed down by Judge Robert Burner, who will have sole discretion in the case.
Bean was tight-lipped at the hearing, offering one-word answers to questions and clenching his lips together after each response. Little emotion was shown during the hearing by Bean or courtroom observers, which included Elder and Bean's mother.
On the night of the stabbing, Bean was stopped by police a few minutes after leaving Westhaven Estates, where the incident occurred, because he matched the description of the intruder Elder said was in her home.
He later confessed to stabbing Elder, whom he did not know, because he was "mad at the world." Nineteen years old at the time the crime took place, Bean was unemployed and frustrated that he wouldn't be able to purchase Christmas gifts for his child, who was 2 1/2 months old at the time.
Other evidence that would have been used at the trial in an attempt to prove Bean's guilt included DNA testing of blood on his clothing. Bean had dark stains - which later proved to be Elder's blood - on the black jeans he was wearing when he was stopped.
Sentencing for Bean is tentatively set for 3 p.m. Nov. 6.
