Police recieve new information on bodies found on Bloomington property

Police uncovered more information this week relating to two bodies discovered on a Bloomington residence. \nAfter the remains of the two unidentified bodies found in steel drums over the weekend were identified Monday as Everett L. Shaw and Douglas A. Brown, police believe the incident stemmed from a stolen all-terrain vehicle. \nJerry E. Pelfree, 51, was arrested Friday evening after the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and Bloomington Police Critical Incident Response Team raided his home property and found Shaw and Brown’s remains in 55- and 35-gallon steel drums. Both men died from gunshot wounds to the head this spring, March 27 Pelfree faces two preliminary counts of murder.\nMonroe County Sheriff Jim Kennedy said Brown and Shaw had arrest records.\nShaw, Brown, Pelfree and Troy Harden, who later became an informant, were involved in acquiring a stolen “gator,” an all-terrain vehicle, in late March of this year, according to the probable cause affidavit filed Monday. The four men stayed at Pelfree’s residence in the 6000 block of West Ison Road for a few days after acquiring the gator.\nHarden, who is currently an inmate at the Monroe County Jail, requested to get in touch with his uncle, Brown County Sheriff Buck Stogsdill. Harden told Stogsdill about the murder that occurred in late March. Stogsdill got in touch with the Bloomington Police Department and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department. \nHarden told authorities Sept. 14 that Brown had been involved in a relationship with Pelfree’s daughter, Michelle Ritter, and recently threatened to kill her over their break-up, according to the affidavit. Harden described Brown as “volatile and a legitimate danger.” \nA few days after they obtained the stolen gator, Shaw and Harden were working on repairing an automobile when Pelfree came out of his home with a .22 caliber rifle in his hand. Pelfree called Shaw and Harden over to him and when they approached, Pelfree shot Shaw multiple times in the head, according to the affidavit. \nLater in the day, Harden entered Pelfree’s mobile home and noticed Brown slumped on the couch. He was dead when Harden and Pelfree entered the trailer. Pelfree directed Harden to assist him in moving the bodies. Harden told officers that they attempted to put the bodies into steel drums but they would not fit. Pelfree used a sledge hammer to break the bodies down so they would fit into the steel drums, according to the affidavit.\nBPD Capt. Joe Qualters said a possible motive for Brown’s was the threat to Pelfree’s daughter. Motives in Shaw’s death are unclear, he said. It’s possible that Pelfree wanted to keep Shaw quiet, Qualters said.\n- For more see Wednesday's Indiana Daily Student.