The Crane family watched the interview and couldn't hold back their disgust. "My thoughts on that (interview), probably can't really say to you guys," said Josh Crane, Jeremy's brother and Kyleigh's father. He said he doesn't believe a single word. "The way he looked. Asked him a question, takes 30 seconds, staring at a table, to answer it."
Whatever is true or not, Jeremy's mom Cathy can't make sense of it. "He wanted to borrow the PlayStation 3, he would've given it to him," said Kathy Crane. "You don't send someone to rob your family. No matter what he says. No matter what happened. Jeremy was his brother, Kyleigh was his niece. They trusted him.
Another article from local media, explaining the chain of events and evidence that led to Bell and Priel.
http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/marion_county/friends-video-help-unravel-murder-case
First link....
"We did a lot of things together, we used to spend the night wrestling on the same teams. Basically he was like another little brother to me. I was never in that house. I was never in that house or by the house. Even though I was out there. I didn't hear any shots fired, so I didn't think nothing happened. UM,.. it it, right by the yellow house, there is a big yellow house that is right there. I was over in that area and I was just walking around. Well I thought he (Priel) would be able to just get in and out. I didn't think nothing like that would have happened. And we got on a bus and he said I had to do what I had to do. I mean I got a sick feeling but I didn't know what he ment by it until I watched the news. I seen the news and my go my God. Knowing that he's dead, I won't be able forgive myself because that's something I, I ,I didn't think for would happen. I don't know to take that."
While in jail at 7 p.m. Monday, Bell requested to speak to police to offer a confession, court documents say. Bell began to tell police one story, but later changed it. Finally, he told police the plan was for Bell to knock on the door and ask Jeremy Crane if he could use the bathroom. Then, Priel was supposed to come in and rob everyone.
Bell described being in the bathroom when he said Jeremy Crane yelled for him to get out of the bathroom. When he did, Bell said Priel put a gun in his face and told him to get on the floor, according to the probable cause affidavit. Bell said Priel made everyone get on the ground, and then Priel shot Jeremy Crane. Due to his proximity, Bell said blood splattered on him.
Police explain in court documents that Bells knowledge of the crime scene was so detailed that he had to have been there. Bell said after Jeremy Crane was shot, Bell got up to gather the video game systems. He said Priel shot him again. Bell said he didnt know how Kyleigh Crane was shot because he ran out of the house.
Bless your heart, colette. :blowkiss: Even with a headset on I couldn't understand him.
His story is not believable, not one little bit.
Deputy prosecutor Denise Robinson said after Thursday’s hearing that “robbery pure and simple” appears to be the motive in the killings. She did not elaborate on what allegedly motivated Bell and Priel to commit the robbery that ended in two killings.
“Sometimes it comes down to that really — it comes down to a Playstation and an Xbox sometimes,” Robinson told reporters.
If convicted of all charges, Bell and Priel could each face between 45 years and 156 years in prison, she said.
snippedProsecutors say that Michael Bell Jr, 22, offered to give tattoo artist Jeremy Priel, 25, a Playstation 3 in exchange for tattoo work. Bell told police that he and Priel went to the home of Crane, a former co-worker, and asked to use the bathroom. As planned, Priel pulled a gun on Crane and his niece ordering them and Bell to the ground, according to his statement.
Priel says it was Bell who killed the two, later giving him the consoles, which he then sold for cash and drugs. Both men were arrested on Sunday after the person who bought the consoles become suspicious of the deal when they spotted blood on the PS3. The prosecutor says he is considering the death penalty in the case.
According to court documents, two men matching Bells and Priels descriptions are seen exiting a bus on Route 8 and getting onto a bus on Route 87. A probable cause affidavit said one of them is observed carrying what appears to be a very large bundled item(s) wrapped in a dark colored blanket. The other man is observed wearing a yellow shirt and grey jacket and appears to have a firearm in his left inside pocket.
Prosecutors said all this is clearly shown on several IndyGo cameras.
But all of those cameras are from the bus on Route 87. Detectives said the pair were on the Route 8 bus first. But according to court documents, the surveillance system on that bus was "down that day."
Something happen a month ago. Bell was living in the Crane home until 1 month ago. At the same time he stopped working in the cafetria where Jeremy worked.
Bell and his family never came to give condolences to the Crane family after the murders. The Crane family stood behind Bell when he was charged with rape, went to court every day.
http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-cumb...bed-as-close-friends-20111218,0,7071770.story
Cumberland Police Chief Mike Crooke said detectives were interviewing Crane's coworkers at MCL Cafeteria at Washington Square Mall for any possible role Crane's job as a manager may have played in his death.
Michael Bell, 22, was jumped by six men who tried to corner him in his cell shortly after he arrived at the jail Dec. 18, authorities said.
http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-arrest-made-in-cumberland-double-homicide-case-20111218,0,2929502.story
I agree Colette. IMO whatever happened a month ago may provide the true motive but it will never justify killing his friend and little Kyleigh.
So sad, so tragic, and so senseless.
A man who pleaded guilty to murdering a 7-year-old Cumberland girl and her 21-year-old uncle was sentenced Friday to serve 110 years in prison consecutively.
In late June, Jeremy Priel pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in the slayings of Kyleigh and Jeremy Crane...
An Indianapolis man was sentenced today to 100 years in prison for his role in the December 2011 murders of 7-year-old Kyleigh Crane and her uncle Jeremy Crane in Cumberland...
Bell pleaded guilty in April to two counts of murder, each count carrying a 50-year consecutive sentence.