Bloomington man charged with murder

Bloomington resident John R. Moore III has been charged with the murder of a Lafayette man.

The Monroe County courts filed the charges Thursday, according to a probable cause affidavit. The charges come after Lafayette resident Steven Morris was found dead on the morning of Oct. 19 in the 4000 block of Hartstrait Road in Ellettsville.

Moore’s former wife Laurie Moore told police John Moore arrived at her house in Ellettsville at 8:50 a.m.

He walked in and went into the upstairs bedroom where Laurie Moore and Morris were at the time, according to the affidavit.

John Moore told his ex-wife to take their son out of the room. As he told her this, Laurie Moore told officers she noticed he had a black gun with a brown handle.

Laurie Moore got her son out of another upstairs bedroom. As she was getting her son, she said she heard noises that sounded like John Moore was beating Morris, according to the affidavit.

Before Laurie Moore got to the stairways to go downstairs with her son, she saw that in the bedroom John Moore had Morris sitting on the floor next to the bed, according to the affidavit. John Moore was holding Steven down in the neck area with his hand.

As Laurie Moore was calling 911 from her kitchen area, she heard four to five gunshots, according to the affidavit. While she was still on the phone with the dispatcher, she saw John Moore’s car drive down her driveway toward Hartstrait Road.

Indiana State Police officers obtained a search warrant for John Moore’s apartment. John Moore walked in on officers while they were searching his apartment, according to the affidavit.

John Moore was taken to the Monroe County Jail.

Prior to the incident, Laurie Moore had filed for a protective order in the Monroe Circuit Court against John Moore III on Sept. 15 because of an incident this past August when she said he had gone to Lafayette to stalk the workplace and apartment of Morris.

John Moore III told Laurie Moore he had gone there with a bag full of things that could cause physical harm to Morris, according to the affidavit.