Police search for motives in double homicide

Police uncovered more information this week relating to two bodies discovered at a Bloomington residence. \nThe 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 events surrounding their deaths stemmed from a dispute about 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 property and found the remains of Shaw and Brown in 55- and 35-gallon steel drums. Both men died from gunshot wounds to the head 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 John Deere “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 Robert “Buck” Stogsdill. Harden told Stogsdill about the murder. 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 that Brown had 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 Brown 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 Brown 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 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 Pelfree was the threat to his daughter. Motives in Shaw’s death are unclear, but Qualters said it’s possible that Pelfree wanted to keep Shaw quiet.\nPelfree contacted Luke Jackson, his daughter’s current boyfriend. Jackson assisted Pelfree and Harden with moving the drums to the cargo area of a red box truck on the property, according to the affidavit. \nWhen interviewed on Sept. 14, Jackson told authorities he assisted Pelfree in removing the drum from the box truck. He told officers he did not know whether there were bodies inside of it, but the drum did have a bad odor. Pelfree told Jackson the steel drums contained a deer carcass, according to the affidavit. Jackson told officers the barrels were heavy and that they could not be far away from Pelfree’s home. Jackson told officers to look around the red truck.\nOn Sept. 14, officers received a search warrant for Pelfree’s home, as well as his daughter’s. The .22 caliber rifle was recovered from the daughter’s home, located in the 800 block of Lemon Lane.\nOfficers found Pelfree inside his home. When he declined to answer any questions, officers took him into custody. \nWhile searching the property, officers located two barrels wrapped in plastic under a pile of debris. Officers disassembled the debris pile and removed the plastic covering of the smaller barrel. Officers found what appeared to be a human skull with black hair and numerous bones, according to the affidavit.\nAfter being transported to the Monroe County Jail, Pelfree was questioned. The jail officer asked Pelfree, “What do you do when you get angry?” Pelfree responded, “I kill people.”\nThe skeletal remains of Shaw and Brown were transported to Dr. Roland Kohr, a forensic pathologist at Terre Haute Regional Hospital, for identification purposes. The bodies were identified by descriptions provided by family members.\nMonroe County Coroner David Toumey said definitive identification will take four to six weeks, pending verification of the victims’ DNA by the Indiana State Police’s Laboratory Division.\nKennedy said Harden would not be receiving any special treatment for the tip-off.\n“He’s an inmate, and that’s it,” he said.