GUILTY IN - Jeremy, 21, & Kyleigh Crane, 7, found murdered, Cumberland, 9 Dec 2011

Rest in peace Kaleigh and Jeremy. My thoughts and prayers are with the family.
 
Interview with Michael Bell, from Jail:
http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-cumb...-girl-and-her-uncle-20111219,0,4096790.column
(very poor match of video to audio. I can't find a better version. I recommend listening to it, not watching)


Family does not believe Bell's words.
http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-fami...cumberland-killings-20111219,0,2210427.column

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.
 
I can't understand a word he says. Well, a few words, anyway, but not enough to make a sentence.

Can someone tell me what he said in the first link? Actually, I did sort of pick up some of his words in the second interview, but all the sound was better in the second one.

I don't suppose any of this will go live.

Man, I feel so sorry for this family. They have suffered the worst betrayal that could have been dealt to them.
 
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."
 
Details of the murders, and the trail of evidence that led police to the two suspects here.
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/30037643/detail.html

Some of the info (paraphrased, not quoted):
The trail began when a woman found Jeremy's phone on the bus. She actually talked to Bell. She told him he'd dropped the phone and he said she could keep it. This led to police searching the bus video, which led them to Bell.
On Friday, Bell's family members brought him to the station to talk with police. At that time he denied being involved, said he was on the bus but rode alone (I guess that was before he knew they had him on video...)
Police searched his home later that day, and the people Bell was staying with said he got the handgun from a woman he was sleeping with. Police found the gun under her bed.
The people who Bell was staying will said he was walking up and down, agitated, watching the news and watching outside, the evening of the murders.
They also said Bell came in and asked if anyone wanted to buy a PS3 and XBox
The people who bought the PS# for $40 and some pot went to the police station Sunday because the equipment had blood on it, and they were worried.


As predicted, Jeremy Priel says that Bell went in a did the crime while he waited outside. But Bus surveillance video shows him wiping his prints off of the gun.

Amazingly, the woman who was in the news saying she'd had two guns stolen... Yeah, right. She was covering her own behind.

Lots more in the article.
 
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."

Bless your heart, colette. :blowkiss: Even with a headset on I couldn't understand him.

His story is not believable, not one little bit.
 
Bell's "confession" to police Monday evening.
http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/marion_county/docs-reveal-crane-murder-confession

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 Bell’s 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 didn’t know how Kyleigh Crane was shot because he ran out of the house.
 
FYI for those who don't know. Indiana has the death penalty. I bet these guys are really sweating it. Of course, if they can't determine who fired the gun it won't apply. Each one is going to point at the other.
 
Bless your heart, colette. :blowkiss: Even with a headset on I couldn't understand him.

His story is not believable, not one little bit.

ITA. Considering the rape charges that Mike Bell weaseled out of in high school, I'm inclined to believe he is a sociopath. He charms people, uses them to get what he wants, and doesn't give a second thought to hurting those who have become so convinced of his goodness. JMO
 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...f-girl-uncle/2011/12/22/gIQAV1UmBP_story.html
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.
 
This only gets worse:

http://kotaku.com/5870418/the-love-of-tattoos-and-video-games-that-led-to-a-brutal-double-homicide
snipped
Prosecutors 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.
snipped
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.
 
http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/loca...llings-call-indygo-surveillance-into-question
snipped
According to court documents, two men matching Bell’s and Priel’s 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."

I don't think that would diminish the evidence against them, though, since a surveillance camera on another bus captured the two men exiting the first bus.
 
I hope and pray that the prosecutor is doing more than just considering to go for the death penalty. I hope he decides to!!

Neither one of these slobs can cut a plea deal .. they both lied about it, so what is it worth if one of them tries to blame the other one in exchange for a lighter sentence? Not a plugged nickel.

Maybe it's too late for that anyway, since LE has an identification on the possession of the games.

I do so feel for the families of the victims. It shouldn't have happened. What a shame shame shame shame, dammit! :furious:
 
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

http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-arrest-made-in-cumberland-double-homicide-case-20111218,0,2929502.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.

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.
 
Indy Anna, you made my day! I hope that's just the first in a long line of beatings. Perp deserves it.

(Hope no one is going to say that 2 wrongs don't make a right.)

I wish the evil that has been done could be undone, but that, of course, is impossible. Just wish it had never happened.
 
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.

Sadly, I do believe the motive is just as the prosecutor said. Motive to steal.

I believe wholeheartedly that Bell is a psychopath with no conscience. While psychopaths are extremely manipulative they can be very charming, cunning and are masterful at gaining the trust of others. They 'appear' to be kind and decent but there is always an ulterior motive behind everything they do. Just like Bell was crafty enough to convince this entire family he was not guilty of rape. They believed him 100% and he used them in order to put himself in a better light in the courtroom.

Bell picked Jeremy's home because he knew he had the electronics he wanted. No need to break into someone else's home and take a chance of either being confronted by a gun or not getting what he wanted so he could sell.

Jeremy and his family had become expendable. He no longer needed Jeremy or his family. He had been aquitted of the rape charge and he no longer worked with Jeremy and had moved out months ago.

Imo, killing Jeremy and Ky meant nothing to him. In his twisted mind he was there to take and leave no one behind that could identify him.

I hope that the death penalty is applied to this case and carried out.

Not only was it a brutal senseless crime but it was a crime against the heart of the family who had supported this man when he needed them most. Their heart was filled with goodness and pure love and his heart was filled with pure evil. They never knew what lurked behind the 'mask' until it was too late.

IMO
 
From July 2013:

http://fox59.com/2013/07/26/man-sentenced-to-110-years-in-murders-of-cumberland-girl-her-uncle/

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...

From August 2013:

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/...ers-sentenced-to-100-years-in-prison/2635995/

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.
 

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