Boyfriend faces charges in 1 Centerville sister’s death

RICHMOND, Ind.–The boyfriend of a 19-year-old woman who was found dead six days before the death of her younger sister was arrested Tuesday on a preliminary charge of murder.\nWayne County Jail in Richmond was holding James McFarland, Jr., 23, on one count of murder.\nMcFarland was the boyfriend of Erin Stanley, 19, who died Sept. 1 at her parents’ home in Centerville, just west of Richmond in east-central Indiana. Her sister, Kelly Stanley, 18, was found dead in the home on Sept. 7.\nA Centerville police dispatcher said McFarland was charged in Erin Stanley’s death.\nMcFarland was the father of Erin’s infant daughter and lived with the Stanleys in Centerville. He was arrested about 4 p.m. Tuesday at a residence in nearby Cambridge City, police said.\nMcFarland denied any involvement in either woman’s death in an interview last week with the Palladium-Item of Richmond. He said he planned to marry Erin Stanley and was devastated by her death.\nA pathologist’s analysis of autopsy evidence showed that Erin Stanley was strangled, Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Shipman said Tuesday.\n“It is not new, but it is finalized in a report,” Shipman said. “Having the pathologist’s report is very critical to this investigation.”\nA phone rang unanswered after hours Tuesday at the prosecutor’s office. There was no private number under Shipman’s name listed for Wayne County, and he could not be reached for additional comment.\nOfficials had released little information about the deaths in the town about 60 miles east of Indianapolis. Erin’s death was ruled a homicide, and a search warrant affidavit suggested officers suspect that Kelly also may have been killed.\nCenterville Police Chief Larry Hart told the Palladium-Item that Kelly Stanley’s death was still under a separate investigation but declined further comment.