IN - Donald Gentry, fatally beaten in his home, Bloomington, 12 Sept 2016 *Arrest*

Indy Anna

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I don't have a subscription to the H-T, but this could be a clue to the motive?

Slain man seemed to have moved beyond troubled past


Three years and eight months into his most recent prison term for dealing methamphetamine, Donald Wayne Gentry sent a letter to the judge, asking to be released early. He had stayed out of trouble, with “no write-ups or conduct reports,” he said.

<snipped>

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/ne...cle_8b8c5d30-6098-5be9-8cf6-8cb3248bb4b9.html
 
To add to his family's grief ...

Homicide victim Donald Gentry&#8217;s pet pug Starbell died on Friday from injuries suffered when a Duke Energy truck ran over her as she lay on the sidewalk leading to the mobile home where she had lived with her owner, who was found dead just four days earlier.

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/ne...cle_17a378a5-a0b6-55e2-9972-a699a1619e52.html

Since I'm not a subscriber, I can't read the entire article but haven't been able to find any updates to the murder investigation anywhere.
 
More details.


a confidential informant told police that 63-year-old John Griffin, was at Gentry's mobile home the night of the murder to buy drugs and rob Gentry of cash he kept hidden in a sock drawer.

[...]

The informant told police Griffin came out of Gentry's mobile home with blood all over his face and carrying a bag of narcotic pills and the bloody brick.

Read more at ... http://www.wbiw.com/local/archive/2016/10/police-release-more-details-in-bloomington-murder.php
 
Detectives with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office took 32-year-old Christina Harmon into custody Friday.
[...]
During an interview with detectives, Harmon said she was with 63-year-old John Griffin the night of the murder. She said Griffin came out of Gentry’s residence with blood all over his face carrying a large brick and a bag of narcotic pills, which he threw in her lap inside the vehicle.
more at ... http://fox59.com/2017/03/11/second-suspect-arrested-for-murder-of-bloomington-man/


Gentry has a history of drug arrests in Monroe and Morgan counties, including recent convictions for meth-related charges. Police says Gentry was still involved in dealing drugs and believe Griffin went to the home to buy drugs, with the intention of robbing Gentry of meth and prescription drugs leading to the murder.

But detectives say Harmon planned the robbery - which resulted in Gentry's death.
more at ... http://www.wbiw.com/local/archive/2...d-in-connection-with-donald-gentry-murder.php
 
So....the informant was there at the time of Gentry's death? Or...he new prior to the killing what was going to happen?

Or are they naming Harmon as the informant?
 
So....the informant was there at the time of Gentry's death? Or...he new prior to the killing what was going to happen?

Or are they naming Harmon as the informant?
Good question. The details reported by the informant in the earlier article: http://www.wbiw.com/local/archive/2016/10/police-release-more-details-in-bloomington-murder.php
are the same details reported by Harmon according to the latest articles: http://fox59.com/2017/03/11/second-suspect-arrested-for-murder-of-bloomington-man/
http://www.wbiw.com/local/archive/2...d-in-connection-with-donald-gentry-murder.php

I wonder how LE came to interview Harmon. Did she just verify info the informant gave after she was ID'd as someone at the scene of the crime? Did she come forward and volunteer info to collect a reward? I didn't see a reward listed, but Harmon seems motivated by money (she set up robbery at Gentry's home).

Griffin may have been initially ID'd through CODIS since he is a sex offender. It would be interesting to know at what point Harmon stepped forward to offer info about the assault on Gentry to LE, implicating Griffin, and what motivated her to do so.
 
Testimony Continues In Bloomington Murder Trial

http://www.wbiw.com/local/archive/2017/08/testimony-continues-in-bloomington-murder-trial.php

Public defender Amy Payne says Griffin is on trial for a murder he didn't commit and for killing a man he didn't even know.

Griffin is accused of killing 66-year-old Donald Gentry, who was found beaten to death at his mobile home in the 4500 block of Old State Road 37 South the afternoon of Sept. 12, 2016.

Gentry suffered so many blows to his head and face that an exact number of injuries could not be determined during an autopsy. Police say Gentry was bludgeoned with a landscaping brick and claw hammer.
 
Crime scene investigators testify at Griffin murder trial; closing arguments expected Thursday

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/news/crime-scene-investigators-testify-at-griffin-murder-trial/article_d0ce7d52-8293-11e7-98d4-ffb4ed11bc24.html

A man moving out of his mobile home the day his neighbor Donald Gentry was found beaten to death testified he did not recognize his neighbor’s accused killer sitting in the courtroom Wednesday afternoon.

“Never seen him a day in my life,” Fred M. said of John Griffin, whose murder trial continued in Monroe County Circuit Court.

Indiana State Police forensic biologist Linda Mahlie examined some of the evidence collected in this case.

Notable findings from Mahlie’s investigation determined a DNA profile consistent with Gentry’s was discovered on a plastic bottle of glass cleaner found in the center console of Griffin’s van.

Griffin told detectives after his arrest he didn’t know Gentry or where the man lived.

Griffin’s DNA was not found on this bottle of glass cleaner, the forensic biologist testified. Blood was not discovered inside the van, on Griffin’s watch or on the shoes police took from his van.
 

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