Suspect Announced in Alice Oswald's Murder
"...THPD has issued an arrest warrant for Kenneth Pitts for charges of murder, burglary, altering the scene of a death, arson and obstruction of justice....
Terre Haute Police also issued an arrest warrant and a search warrant for Teresa M. Pitts for charges of assisting a criminal and obstruction of justice.
On Tuesday, Teresa Pitts was located in Clay County and arrested....
Alice Anita Oswald went missing back on November 9th, 2017. Days later, her home was set on fire.
Oswald's body was found inside her car back in January. The car was discovered in a frozen pond in southeastern Vigo County."
Suspect Announced in Alice Oswald's Murder
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Thank you for sharing, YESorNO. Very happy to hear this. Pitts sounds like a very dangerous man, and I hope that he is caught as soon as possible.
The article below is from two days ago; it is very lengthy but has lots of good information, including a prior connection between Anita and Pitts and his extensive criminal history:
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Suspect shot?
Since soon after Oswald was reported missing by her daughter on Nov. 10, 2017, court records show, police have been seeking Pitts for questioning.
One person told police Kenny Pitts tried to rob Oswald, who shot him in the face. Pitts then killed Oswald, the person said, and his sister Teresa ‘helped get rid of the body.’
Police located and talked to Teresa Pitts on Nov. 30, 2017, and at that time she denied knowing what happened to Oswald or her brother.
Court documents show another person, however, told police in January that Teresa Pitts asked for help to nurse Kenny Pitts, who had a gunshot wound to his face. The person who nursed Pitts said he claimed he had been shot by members of the Diablos motorcycle gang, with whom he had past conflicts.
Police again talked to Teresa Pitts in March, and she said at that time her brother had a wound to his face and she believed he had been shot by the Diablos. Police did not arrest her at that time.
Wanted man
Kenny Pitts has been wanted on an outstanding probation revocation warrant from Vigo Superior Court 6 Court since November 2017.
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Keen said police believe people may be assisting Pitts with transportation, money and shelter. Anyone providing assistance to Pitts also faces potential criminal charges, Keen said.
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Other arrests are possible as the Oswald investigation continues, he said.
Intense investigation
Keen said police have dedicated a lot of time to the investigation of the Oswald homicide.
Her house was damaged in an intentionally set fire on Nov. 13. Police interviewed neighbors and others about Oswald’s disappearance and the fire.
Investigators determined that Oswald was last seen on the afternoon of Nov. 9 when she went to a heating and cooling business on Maple Avenue to order work on one of her rental properties.
Oswald left the business about 4:38 p.m., intending to meet the service technician at a house on Second Avenue. She never arrived, the technician reported.
No one reported being in contact with Oswald after that, and her daughter reported her missing when she failed to show up for work the next day.
The arson at her house increases suspicion of foul play, and prompted a Silver Alert that provided information about Oswald as a missing person in need of medication for a heart condition.
Police located Oswald’s missing vehicle in the lake in January after Indiana conservation officers reported vehicle tracks leading into a lake near the intersection of Tabertown Road and Moyer Drive.
That lake is located about 6.4 miles from a rural, 3-acre property on Dearborn Street owned by Kenny Pitts. Police noted in their report it took only seven minutes to drive from the Pitts property to the lake, which is ‘barely visible from the road and would have to be someone familiar with the area to know the lake was there.’
Prior connection
Pitts has a prior connection with Oswald.
He was arrested in connection with the theft of $100,000 from her Second Avenue home on Jan. 20, 2017.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Vigo Superior Court 6 on Feb. 2, 2017, city police saw Pitts with Michael Harvey, 28, on the day Oswald’s house was burglarized.
Police were looking for Harvey on outstanding warrants at the time, and they had received information that Harvey and Pitts were together in a red Pontiac Firebird
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An officer saw Pitts and another person in that car near 14th Street and Lafayette Avenue on the afternoon of Jan. 20. When officers found the car parked nearby on Grand Avenue, they also found Pitts and talked to him
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At the time, Pitts had $3,000 in $100 bills in his pants pocket, police reported. Pitts said he had just sold a vehicle and that is how he acquired the money, the court record said. Pitts was released at that time.
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Earlier that day, police had received a report from Oswald about a burglary to her home on Second Avenue. She told police someone broke in through a back door of her house between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. and took $100,000 in cash. The money had been bundled in bank money bands.
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Pitts’ arrests
Pitts was booked into the Vigo County Jail on Jan. 27, 2017, on the theft charge connected to the Oswald burglary. He was released the same day on his own recognizance.
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But, Pitts was later arrested in September 2017 on charges of intimidation with a deadly weapon, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, pointing a firearm and criminal recklessness in an unrelated incident.
He was arrested Sept. 22, 2017, and released from jail Sept. 26 in connection with that incident, during which he smashed a car windshield with a splitting maul.
The arrest warrants issued for Pitts in November are connected to three pending criminal cases filed against him.” (All BBM)
Police: Kenny Pitts sought in Oswald homicide
Kudos to LE for the way they have handled the investigation and their tenacity. It sounds like they will have a very good case against the suspects.
Justice for Anita and her family.
