Professor murdered, mourned

The murder surfaced 10 a.m. Dec. 28, when a colleague found IU assistant English professor Don Belton dead, face down on the kitchen floor in his home.

She had tried calling him the night before, but there was no answer.

Belton, 53, had multiple stab wounds in his back and abdomen and what appeared to be defensive wounds on his hands, Bloomington Police Department Lieutenant David Drake said.

Given the brutality of the murder and how nothing appeared to be stolen, BPD officers were led to believe the nature of the crime was “of anger or passion,” according to the probable cause affidavit, a sworn statement by Detective Marty Deckard.

Police found an itinerary on a table revealing Belton’s plan to catch a plane for Honolulu at 8 a.m. that morning. The colleague also verified his travel plans; she was collecting his newspaper.

Also discovered was Belton’s diary. In it, a recent entry expressed Belton’s happiness that a person named Michael entered his life. On a 4-by-6-inch notecard was the name Griffin, a phone number, an e-mail address and directions to the 5900 block of E. State Road 45, where a Michael James Griffin lived.

Though originally not a suspect, Griffin was the officers’ only lead. Meanwhile, Jessica Greiwe was telling officers at the Batesville, Ind., Police Department about her boyfriend, who told her he killed Belton, according to police. The Batesville Indiana Police Department informed BPD of the suspect.

At 10:45 p.m. Dec. 28 a search warrant was obtained for 5937 E. State Road 45. BPD and the Critical Incident Response Team arrived at Griffin’s address and arrested him.

Police found a 10-inch blade called a “peace keeper” knife inside a backpack. The knife was purchased before Griffin, 26, served in Iraq with the U.S. Marine Corps.

Griffin had already thrown away the bloody clothes he had on, and they now sit somewhere in a Bloomington landfill.

Police then interviewed with Griffin and he confessed to murdering Belton using the knife. Police officers finished their investigation at 5 a.m. on Dec. 29.

A description of the interview is provided in the affidavit. However, Griffin pleaded not guilty Dec. 30, and a pretrial conference is scheduled for March 1.

Griffin told police that he was sexually assaulted by Belton in Belton’s home on Christmas Day, and that Griffin went to Belton’s home Dec. 27 to have a conversation regarding the incident. Griffin said Belton did not show remorse of the alleged sexual assault, causing an argument to ensue.

“He felt that Mr. Belton was not in any way forgiving and that he did not show or express any type of feeling that what had taken place was a mistake,” Deckard said in his sworn statement.

Griffin and Belton’s argument sprung into a physical fight where Griffin unsheathed the “peace keeper.”


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Now distraught IU department of English chairman Jonathan Elmer juggles daily tasks of his job and being a spokesperson for Belton’s murder. Belton was a faculty member of the creative writing program and authored several books, articles and reviews.

Belton’s parents are both deceased and his emergency contact was not up to date, and thus, finding his next of kin took some digging – a search the department of English performed until it located Belton’s brother, Wayne B. Belton, in Philadelphia, Elmer said.

On Dec. 31, English faculty planned for a memorial at 5 p.m. Jan. 15 at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Bloomington. An immediate memorial took place the next day.

Four IU professors walked into the Pour House Cafe on Kirkwood Avenue, picked up
several donated pitchers of coffee and squeezed them into a red Mini Cooper en route to the courthouse for the memorial.

Helping was assistant professor Stephanie DeBoer of the department of communication and culture. DeBoer and Belton joined IU faculty around the same time in 2008; the two met at a faculty function.

“He was a friend. A caring, warm, clear person,” DeBoer said.

DeBoer was informed of Belton’s death via e-mail in Los Angeles, and she came back to Bloomington for the memorial.

A swell of people stood on the southeast portion of the square; for an hour they would bear below-freezing temperatures. Nonetheless, about 200 flocked to the New Year’s Day memorial.

English assistant professor D. Rae Greiner organized the vigil as an immediate, community-based response to the slaying.

With her friend and colleague gone, she now also deals with what she called “inadequate media coverage,” “negative comments” and “inappropriate feedback.”

“It has been incredibly taxing, emotionally draining and saddening,” Greiner said.

Part of what has upset Greiner, Elmer and GLBT student affairs coordinator Doug Bauder are what they called inappropriate views on Kelley School of Business professor Eric Rasmusen’s personal blog. The department of English has also been receiving hate e-mails, according to a letter from Elmer on the department’s Web site.

Another blog, justicefordonbelton.com, is countering by showcasing information surrounding the case and the thoughts of those who knew Belton.

Many other friends and associates also said the Belton they knew had yet to surface in media coverage, and that the void left on campus has been filled with negativity.

“We want to change public perception ... while they are still paying attention,” Greiner said.

As a few candles were initially lit as day faded, individual candles were distributed, and flames popped up in a mitosis pattern.

People shuffled around the border of the square to keep warm; a bird’s eye view would show an illuminated sidewalk.

IU graduate Justin Way was in South Bend, home from graduate school in Columbia, N.Y., when he received the news from a friend.

Way took Belton’s 2008 advanced fiction writing workshop, and he recalled how Belton’s class would not read the typical fiction.

“That’s a thing about him, he opened up your reading taste to be more eclectic,” Way said.

He added that Belton’s class was the antithesis of the competitive writing atmosphere. Way said his attitude toward writing changed because of Belton.

“It really is tragic,” Way said, reflecting on Belton’s near departure to Honolulu that morning. “I always remember him telling me how he wanted to go to Hawaii, write a couple of poems and come back.”