GUILTY IN - David Krawczenia, 48, found dismembered, Gary, 1 Nov 2014

A Portage man's business associate was charged Monday with killing him to avoid repaying a debt, court records show.

Thomas Smith, 63, of Hobart, admitted to a friend that he shot David Krawczenia in the back Nov. 1 after Krawczenia showed up at his garage in Gary to collect the debt, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Smith told the friend he shot Krawczenia as Krawczenia cleaned out the trunk of a vehicle, shoved Krawczenia into the vehicle's trunk, closed it and had the vehicle towed from his garage in the 2600 block of Colorado Street, court records state.

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Krawczenia was reported missing on November 2nd.

Police received a tip last Friday that Krawczenia’s car was spotted in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Griffith. Police found a body in the trunk of that car that they believe is Krawczenia. His head and hands were cut off and not with the body. Those body parts have not yet been found.

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Thomas Smith, 63, turned himself into Lake County Sheriff's Department Detective Sgt. Edward Jenkins at the Sheriff's Department, Deputy Chief Dan Murchek said.

Smith was charged Monday with murder in connection with the death of David Krawczenia, of Portage.

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A Hobart man charged in the grisly homicide of his business partner is scheduled to stand trial March 2. The date was decided Thursday after Thomas Smith, 63, requested a speedy trial...

Smith did mechanical work for Krawczenia's business, All About Auto. Krawczenia's girlfriend, Theresa Jacobs, testified during a hearing this week that Smith was supposed to pay a $16,000 debt to her boyfriend just before he went missing...

Krawczenia's cell phone records indicate his phone was last operated near cell phone towers near Smith's shop in the 2600 block of Colorado Street in Gary, according to the affidavit.

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A conversation between two friends drinking beer led to the unraveling of what happened to a Portage man whose dismembered body was found in the trunk of a car. The testimony about the conversation was part of the third hearing to have bail set in the state's case against Thomas Smith, 63, of Hobart...

On Thursday, David Price testified he was drinking beer with Kevin Akers, who worked at Smith's mechanics shop, when Akers began giving him details about a recent conversation he had with Smith...

Price said he didn't initially believe Akers so he called a friend to check if Krawczenia's car was at the apartment complex. Price's friend would become the anonymous tipster who gave the Gary Police Department information about the car.

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Thomas Raymond Smith, 63, who was freed on his own recognizance from the Lake County Jail in February because prosecutors needed more time to gather evidence and turn over discovery to Smith's defense attorneys, now is set for trial starting Sept. 8 before Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Ross Boswell.

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A jury trial scheduled to begin April 11 for a Hobart man charged with murder in a dismemberment killing in 2014 was postponed until October, which prompted exasperated sighs from the victim's family.

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A criminal court judge granted a 65-year-old man charged with murder up to $19,000 in public funds to use in his defense as his attorneys prepared for a Feb. 21 trial date.

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Judge Diane Boswell declared the mistrial after state's witness Theresa Lee Jacobs, Krawczenia's girlfriend, testified under cross-examination that Special Prosecutor Stanley Levco had not shown her a state exhibit before she took the stand.

The attorneys approached the bench and, after a short recess, Boswell declared the mistrial.

Defense attorney Ralph Staples Jr. said afterward that Jacobs' statement was demonstrably false — the prosecutor said at the bench he had, in fact, shown Jacobs the exhibit at lunch. However, the defense could not rebut Jacobs' claim unless it called Levco to the stand to testify against the state's own witness, which would not be allowed.

Since Jacobs' credibility was an important factor for the jury to weigh, Staples said his client could not get a fair trial.

A new court date has been scheduled for April 3.

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Defense attorney Paul Stracci argued at Friday's motion hearing that the murder charge should be dismissed because prosecutors intentionally caused the mistrial by calling an uncontrollable witness to the stand, a claim prosecutor Micah Cox denied.

Boswell said there was no evidence presented that the prosecutors engaged in intentional conduct to cause a mistrial and denied the motion.

Smith's next court hearing is scheduled for April 25. A new trial date has not yet been scheduled.

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Thomas R. Smith is scheduled to appear at trial Feb. 19 in Lake Criminal Court.

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A jury trial began Tuesday for Thomas R. Smith, who is charged in the grisly murder of his 48-year-old business partner three years ago at their automotive business in Gary.

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Kevin Akers, a former mechanic for Smith, testified Tuesday he and his boss met Nov. 2, 2014, at Red Rooster Restaurant in Hobart. He said Smith admitted to shooting Krawczenia at the restaurant.

“He was agitated,” Akers testified. “I asked him what was wrong. He said it's done. I asked what was done, and he said David.”

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Jurors saw photos Wednesday of the armless and headless corpse, which was hidden in the trunk of his Chrysler Sebring. The body was shirtless but still wore blue jeans, a brown belt and brown boots. A small amount of blood stained the trunk's carpets, and more blood trickled into a spare wheel compartment under the carpet.

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Cox laid out in closing arguments the state's case, which centered on Aker's testimony, but was buttressed by circumstantial evidence, including a missing surveillance system at All About Auto and Smith's purchase of a gun only a few days before Krawczenia's disappearance.

Cox admitted mistakes were made in the investigation — the coroner who performed Smith's autopsy in 2014 suffered dementia, which lead to several errors, and the victim's vehicle was sprayed with water, and possibly washed, by sheriff's garage employees before it was examined by evidence technicians.

But Cox said the evidence showed Smith murdered Krawczenia and then schemed to avoid arrest, moving the body from location to location before leaving it dismembered outside the apartment complex.

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When Lori Seberger drives around in her car, she said, she still has to wonder if her brother’s body parts are still out there somewhere.

“This is my everyday reality,” Seberger said.

Thomas Smith, 66, of Hobart, was sentenced Wednesday in Lake Superior Court to 60 years in prison after a jury found him guilty in March of the murder of David Krawczenia, 48, of Portage.

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Judge Diane Boswell said she still wonders, though, about “the why” in the case.

“There has to be more than just the money,” Boswell said, to lead to the “gruesomeness of this murder.”

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