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Andrew
CONLEY
Classification: Homicide
Characteristics:
Juvenile (17) - Told
authorities he was inspired by the television series "Dexter"
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder: November 28, 2009
Date of arrest:
Next day (turned himself)
Date of birth: May 14, 1992
Victim profile:
Conner Conley, 10 (his brother)
Method of murder:
Strangulation
Location: Rising
Sun, Ohio County, Indiana,
USA
Status:
Pleaded guilty. Sentenced to life in prison without parole on
October 15, 2010
(Rising Sun, Ind.) – The so called “Dexter Killer,”
Andrew Conley, was the subject of a nationally televised show Tuesday
night on the E! Network.
But, as Conley said during the “When Teens Kill”
episode, the connection made between Showtime series “Dexter” and the
murder he committed against his 10-year-old brother Conner was
overblown by the media. At the time of his arrest, Conley had told
detectives that he could relate to the main character in the series
about a serial killer.
“’Dexter’ was just a TV show I watched. The only
thing I felt like Dexter was that I felt alone. I felt like nobody
wanted me, even though I had friends and I had family. I just felt
like I wasn’t any good to anyone,” Conley said in his first on-camera
interview since his arrest.
Conley was 17-years-old when he strangled his
little brother to death in their Ohio County home on November 29,
2009. He spoke about hiding his brother’s body near the Rising Sun
City Park.
“I didn’t bury him. I just said goodbye. I put a
few sticks over him, not too many. That was my own burial for him. I
told him he will get justice,” Conley told the interviewer.
Conley later went to the Rising Sun Police
Department to inform police of what he had done. The show gave a peek
into the encounter between Conley and his mother, Bridget, who was
inconsolable once arriving at the police station.
“When my mom showed up the police had to hold her
back trying to get at me. She said both her kids were dead. She was
crying and I was crying. She kept yelling ‘Why?’ and I didn’t have an
answer,” Andrew said, later adding that his parents had never come to
visit him in jail, but he didn’t blame them.
The show revealed that Andrew and Conner’s parents
– they were working at a local casino at the time of the murder – have
since divorced.
Andrew’s grandmother, Diana Monk, has kept in touch
with him. She said she could not abandon Andrew.
“The first time I saw him in juvenile, he was
crying and I was crying. He said ‘My parents don’t want me anymore
Grandma. Do you?’” said Monk weeping.
Indiana State Police Det. Tom Baxter led the
investigation into the murder. He remarked how calm Andrew was in
revealing the details of the fratricide during a walk through at the
murder scene.
“This whole demonstration, interaction at the house
was just a matter of fact as any old conversation,” Baxter said.
Dearborn-Ohio County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard
told the television program that the crime was a shock because Andrew
had not been causing problems and had not been in and out of juvenile
court.
“He was respectful, polite, the teachers liked him.
He got good grades,” the prosecutor said.
Conley, now 20, is currently serving a life
sentence without parole with the Indiana Department of Corrections. He
pleaded guilty to the murder in Ohio Circuit Court in 2010, against
the advice of his defense attorney.
A court psychologist who evaluated Andrew, Dr. Ed
Connor, revealed that Conley desired the death penalty.
“I’ll never forget the day I sat there with him and
he looked at me and he said, ‘Do you think you could get me the death
penalty?’” Connor said.
Conley told the interviewer that he is going to
Hell and he deserves to be.
Supreme Court Upholds Conley's Life Sentence
EagleCountryOnline.com
August 1, 2012
(Rising Sun, Ind.) – An Ohio County teenager’s
sentence of life in prison without parole has been upheld by the
Indiana Supreme Court.
Andrew Conley was 17 when he murdered his
ten-year-old brother, Conner, in their Ohio County home in November
2009. Conley equated his urge to kill to that of a starving person
craving a hamburger. He told investigators he felt like the serial
killer portrayed in the Showtime television series “Dexter.”
He was 18 when he pleaded guilty and was sentenced
by Ohio Circuit Court Judge James D. Humphrey to life without parole
in October 2010.
Conley, now age 20, immediately appealed the
sentence. His attorney Leanna Weissmann argued the Humphrey did not
properly consider Conley’s mental illness in handing down the
sentence.
On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court ruled 3-2 to
uphold the court’s punishment. “The heinous facts of this crime are
difficult to comprehend,” the majority ruling read.
Life punishment is appropriate because Conley’s
little brother suffered during the drawn out murder, justices said.
“The judge was within his discretion in weighing
the mitigating factors in the manner in which he did. Ultimately, we
find no abuse of discretion in Judge Humphrey’s analysis of those
factors and ultimate sentence of life without parole,” Justice Steven
H. David wrote on behalf of the majority.
Had the justices reduced his sentence to 55 years
as sought, Conley could have been out of prison when he reaches his
40s.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that courts
could not make life in prison without parole sentences mandatory. The
justices did leave open the possibility that individual judges could
issue the sentence to juveniles in individual murder cases.
Andrew told investigators he and his kid brother
were wrestling in the living room of their Hartford Pike Road home
when he strangled the boy to death with his hands. Andrew placed a bag
over Conner’s head.
The teen then dumped Conner’s body in a wooded area
near the Rising Sun City Park. He visited his girlfriend who later
remarked to detectives that Andrew was “the happiest I’ve ever seen
him.”
He went to the Rising Sun Police Department hours
later to tell officers what he had done.
Indiana teen sentenced to life without parole
for killing younger brother
By Mark Curnutte - Cincinnati.com
October 15, 2010
RISING SUN, Ind. - A judge sentenced teen killer
Andrew Conley to spend the rest of his life in prison without parole
for strangling his 10-year-old brother.
Judge James Humphrey of Ohio County Circuit Court
dismissed nearly every mitigating factor defense attorneys used to try
to temper the sentence so Conley could one day get out of prison.
Humphrey, reading from a prepared statement for
about 20 minutes, said Conley knew what he was doing when his killed
his little brother in November. He said Conley gave numerous
inconsistent statements to police and mental health experts after he
was arrest and – most damaging – he lacked remorse for the killing.
Conley sat without moving – as he did through out
most of the five days of his sentencing hearing – at the defense table
when the decision was read. He sat with his hands folded in his lap
and his head down.
“He’s been incarcerated for almost a year, said
defense lawyer Gary Sorge of Conley’s courtroom demeanor. “He knew
under the best circumstances he would be locked up for years and
years.
“He is very downcast, teary eyed,” Sorge said. “He
is trying to keep a stiff upper lip.”
Humphrey said the one aggravating circumstances of
the victim’s age far outweighed any mitigating circumstances that
might have reduced his sentence.
Defense lawyer Gary Sorge said Conley would appeal
the sentence within the required 30 days.
Conley admitted last month in court he strangled
his brother, Conner, on the night of Nov. 28 while their parents were
at work.
Conley then dumped his brother’s body, wrapped in a
garbage bag, near a trail in a wooded area behind Conner’s school in
Rising Sun. He had stopped at his girlfriend’s house for a few hours –
with Conner’s body in the trunk of his car – to give her a friendship
ring.
Prosecutor Aaron Negangard said he’s happy with the
sentence.
“It is just and fair,” said Negangard. “He
committed four violent acts on his brother.”
Regardless of the judge’s decision, society is not
through in its dealings with Conley, said an Indiana University law
professor who specializes in juvenile law and the death penalty.
“He is clearly mentally ill, and without treatment
he’s going to be as much of a danger in prison as he would be
outside,” said Jody Madeira, who teaches at Indiana’s Maurer School of
Law in Bloomington. “The prosecution is looking for the maximum
sentence, which might not be in society’s best interest.”
Defense and prosecution painted a conflicting
portrait of Conley, who pleaded guilty to murder Sept. 13, on what was
to have been the first day of his trial.
An exhaustive five-day sentencing hearing followed
that plea.
Prosecutors portrayed Conley as a cold-blooded
killer – calculating, aware of how wrong his actions was and capable
of killing again. The state is pushing for a life-without-parole
sentence, citing case law in Indiana and decisions by the Indiana
Supreme Court that the lives of young crime victims must be protected
by longer sentences.
“The court must find that any mitigating
circumstances are outweighed by the aggravating circumstance,”
Negangard said, attempting to counter the defense’s request Conley
receive a minimum 45-year sentence which could eventually allow parole
for good behavior and time served. “Given the defendant’s diminutive
size, it was unlikely for him to fulfill his homicidal fantasies on
anyone other than his 10-year-old brother.”
Negangard, of Dearborn-Ohio counties, also noted
Conley was within six months of his 18th birthday, which would have
made him eligible for the death penalty.
Defense lawyers Gary Sorge and John Watson, cited
other Indiana court decisions, detailed four mitigating factors to
bolster their claim Conley deserves the lightest sentence possible.
They pointed to his age, 17, at the time of crime; his lack of any
significant criminal history; remorse; and “other circumstances
appropriate for consideration” – including his cooperation with police
and the waiving of his right to remain silent.
They said in court that a stepfather raped Conley
at age 7 or 8. The same man physically abused Conley’s mother and
walked around the house in front of Conley with a gun in his mouth,
threatening to kill himself if Conley’s mother, Bridget, left him,
lawyers said.
“Based on all of the mitigators presented, Mr.
Conley should be sentenced to 45 years in prison, the statutory
minimum for murder,” Sorge and Watson said. “Mr. Conley’s age is a
significant mitigator under the life-without-parole analysis.”
On the night of Nov. 28, with their parents working
overnight shifts at area riverboat casinos, the brothers wrestled.
Conley put his brother in a forearm choke hold from behind, causing
him to lose consciousness. He dragged his brother into the kitchen –
where Conner’s blood would clean easier from the tile floor than from
carpet – knelt over him and strangled him for a good 20 minutes, he
told investigators.
He then placed a white plastic shopping back over
Conner’s head and fastened it with black electrician’s tape. He then
dragged his brother feet first down a flight of steps.
Before hoisting his brother’s lifeless body into
the trunk of his 1995 Honda Accord, Conley retrieved a black garbage
bag and put it over Conner.
Conley told police he was a fan of the television
drama “Dexter,” about a forensic lab worker turned serial killer who
hunts criminals who slip through the legal system.
Conley also told police he had fantasized about
killing someone since he was in eighth grade.
Judge Hands Down Life Sentence For Conley
EagleCountryOnline.com
October 15, 2010
(Rising Sun, Ind.) – In a blue shirt and white tie
that he may have never reason to wear again, Andrew Conley sat quiet
and unemotional as he found out the rest of his life will be spent in
a prison cell.
Ohio County Circuit Court Judge James H. Humphrey
announced the sentence of life without parole for the Rising Sun
18-year-old Friday afternoon. He faced a minimum of 45 years.
Only a few of Conley’s friends had showed up to
support him, but not his parents who knew they lost both sons when
10-year-old Conner Conley was strangled to death by the older brother
he looked up to. The event took place in their home on Hartford Pike
Road on Nov. 27, 2009.
Slumping over in his chair staring into his lap in
the courtroom, Conley showed no reaction as Humphrey read through
factors he considered when deciding the harshest sentence.
“It was the right decision,” said Dearborn-Ohio
County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard. “A 10-year-old child lost his life
for no other reason that Andrew Conley wanted to know what it was like
to kill somebody. For that, he deserved life and that’s what he got.”
Defense attorney Gary Sorge said Conely showed
emotion away from the light of the television cameras and newspaper
reporters after learning his fate.
“He was basically just very subdued, tearful,” said
Sorge.
Mitigating factors the judge weighed included
Conley’s lack of a criminal history, his cooperation with
investigators, and his own age – he was 17 at the time of the murder.
However, aggravating factors far outweighed the
mitigators.
Andrew’s remorsefulness was most at question
between the prosecution and the defense. Judge Humphrey sided with the
prosecution.
“True remorse would have been expressed during the
hours the murder took place,” Humphrey said, adding that the murder –
from the strangling to dumping the body in a wooded area near the
Rising Sun City Park – took place over three to four hours.
Sorge disagreed with the judge’s assessment.
“I think he is remorseful. I think it’s just his
personality,” said Sorge. “Some people are outgoing, some people are
self-contained and he’s that type of individual. If you were alone
with him the times that I’d been you’d see a different person.”
The murder included four violent acts, the judge
said. Conley twice strangled Conner for a total of 20 minutes, placed
a bag over his head, and slammed the boy’s head into the pavement in
the family’s garage to ensure that he was dead.
Other aggravating factors named by the judge
included reports from three psychiatrists that Andrew Conley may have
suffered some symptoms of personality disorder, but he understood the
wrongness of his actions and could still make the decision to not kill
his brother.
Negangard insisted throughout the sentencing
hearing that Andrew could kill again if ever released from prison.
Andrew told detectives that he twice entered his
father’s bedroom armed with a knife intending to slit his throat the
night the murder had taken place, but was unable to follow through.
Another aggravator in the judge’s eyes.
“I was convinced that if he were to ever be
released that he would kill somebody else. The judge by making the
decision today has assured that will not happen,” Negangard said
following the announcement.
Humphrey did not consider as a mitigator the fact
that Conley reported the murder to Rising Sun police himself. Conley
only went to police after his father asked him to go pick up Conner
from their grandmother’s house where they believed he was staying,
said Humphrey.
Conley’s written statement he read during a
sentencing hearing in September was considered in Humphrey’s decision.
The judge did speculate at a motive for the
killing.
Andrew wanted to go out with friends that November
night, but had to babysit Conner because the boys’ parents were both
working late shifts at a local casino. He drove Conner to their
grandmother’s house near Rising Sun but she wasn’t home.
When the brothers returned home Andrew received a
text message from his girlfriend asking him to come over. They began
wrestling soon after that text. The wrestling led to something
snapping inside Andrew as the strangulation began.
Conley never cited a motive himself, stating during
the investigation and his courtroom statement that he did not know why
he killed his brother.
Andrew Conley will have 30 days to appeal the
sentence. Sorge said that is likely.
Conley Sentencing Hearings End; Teen Apologizes
EagleCountryOnline.com
September 22, 2010
(Rising Sun, Ind.) - The Rising Sun teenager who
murdered his little brother will learn his sentence next month.
The five day sentencing hearing for Andrew Conley,
18, wrapped up on Tuesday with the Ohio Circuit Court Judge James H.
Humphrey announcing Oct. 15 as the date of sentencing. The teen could
receive anywhere from 45 years to life in prison.
Humphrey will weigh the aggravating and mitigating
factors against one another in deciding a sentence.
Dearborn-Ohio County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard has
said he believes Conley would kill again if released from prison.
Conley himself testified during the final day of
hearings by reading from a one page, hand-written note.
"I would like to apologize to Mom and Dad for all
this. I would like to apologize to the community of Ohio County for
all this happening. I still have no idea why this happened but I
really wish I did. I go to sleep every night and wake up every morning
and wish I could change what happened,” Conley said.
He continued saying he is a monster and deserves to
rot in jail.
Conley vowed to earn a college degree in history or
astrology while serving his prison sentence. He said he would happily
run Beth Hurley’s restaurant – the Courtyard Restaurant on Front
Street in Rising Sun - once he’s out.
Conley’s testimony was not subject to
cross-examination by prosecutors.
The story out of the sleepy Ohio County rivertown
continues to generate national attention. On Tuesday, the story was
linked on the Drudge Report.
Conley pleaded guilty Sept. 13 to murdering his
10-year-old brother Conner Conley on Nov. 28, 2009. The boys’ parents
were at work that evening when Conley strangled his brother for 20
minutes. Andrew, then 17, told investigators he placed a bag over
Conner’s head and placed the body in the trunk of his car.
Prior to dumping the body in a wooded area near the
Rising Sun City Park, Conley spent three hours with his girlfriend at
her residence.
Conley, who dropped out of Rising Sun High School
just weeks before the murder occurred, said he had thoughts of killing
people since he was in the eighth grade. He told detectives he felt
like the main character from the Showtime television series “Dexter.”
Video Confession Draws Tears From Conley
EagleCountryOnline.com
September 17, 2010
(Rising Sun, Ind.) – The third day of testimony in
the sentencing of Andrew Conley will begin at the Ohio County
Courthouse Friday morning.
Conley, 18 of Rising Sun, pleaded guilty on Monday
to murdering his 10-year-old brother Conner last Nov. 28.
On Thursday, the prosecution showed Andrew’s
videotaped confession with detectives just hours after he went to the
Rising Sun Police Department to report the murder on Nov. 29.
Show on the video was Conley in an interview room
with Indiana State Police detectives Tom Baxter and Glenn Potts.
"I reached into that drawer. I pulled out the bag.
I pulled it over his head. I got the tape, the black electrical tape,"
Conley said, describing his motions after he had choked Conner with
his hands for about 20 minutes.
Later, detectives took Conley to his family’s home
on Hartford Pike Road in Ohio County where the murder occurred. He
demonstrated the choking for the investigators using a teddy bear.
Watching the video drew the first publically
visible emotional response from Andrew since his arrest. He broke into
tears and asked Judge James Humphrey to stop the video. Court would be
recessed twice due to Conley’s emotional display, however, Humphrey
would not grant the teen’s request to go back to jail as the court
proceedings continued.
Prosecutors could finish their arguments Friday.
Conley’s defense will still have to present its side of the case
starting either today or next week.
Once the sentencing hearing is complete, Judge
Humphrey will assess the evidence - likely taking at least a week -
and deliver a sentence. Conley faces a minimum of 45 years in prison
to a maximum of life without parole.
Andrew Conley Sentencing Underway
EagleCountryOnline.com
September 15, 2010
(Rising Sun, Ind.) - Sentencing arguments began
Wednesday morning for Andrew Conley, the Rising Sun teenager who
pleaded guilty earlier this week to murdering his kid brother last
November.
Prosecutors are hoping to convince Judge James
Humphrey to sentence Conley, now 18-years-old, to life in prison
without parole. Conley’s counsel is asking for a lighter sentence
between the mandatory 45 to 65 years for a murder conviction in
Indiana.
First day testimony in Ohio County Circuit Court
included investigators speaking of the brief conversation Andrew
Conley had with his parents at the Rising Sun Police Department after
Conley voluntarily went to police on Nov. 29, 2009 to report he had
killed his 10-year-old brother, Conner, the previous day.
Ohio County Sheriff’s Deputy Adam Ziegler, who went
to find the boy’s body where it had been dumped by Andrew near the
Rising Sun City Park, said he returned to the department to tell the
parents a body had been found.
Soon afterwards, Ziegler said, Conley’s parents
were allowed to see Andrew in the room he was being interviewed in.
“Bridget Conley walked in and looked at Andrew and
stated ‘You killed my son,” said Ziegler. “Andrew stated ‘I know.’”
Other testimony included photos of the wooded area
where the victim’s body was found.
Rising Sun Police Patrolman Wayne Siekman was the
first officer to hear Conley’s confession. Seikman testified that
Conley was emotional at first – showing tears in his eyes and
whimpering – before becoming calm and unemotional as he described how
he had killed Conner and dumped the body.
Andrew Conley wore a blue shirt and white for the
hearing, showing little emotion while often staring at the table he
was seated at in the courtroom.
Prosecutors say they plan to spend the rest of the
week presenting evidence supporting their request for a life sentence.
Judge James H. Humphrey will take the arguments of
both sides and render a verdict to be announced at a later date.
Andrew Conley, Indiana teen who allegedly
murdered brother, inspired by television show 'Dexter'
By Aliyah Shahid - NYDailyNews.com
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
He blamed it on "Dexter."
A southern Indiana teen, who allegedly strangled
his 10-year-old brother to death, said he was inspired by the
television serial killer character Dexter.
Andrew Conley pleaded guilty on Monday to killing
his younger sibling, Conner, last November.
Police said after the gruesome murder, Conley -- 17
years old at the time -- packed his brother's body into the trunk of
his car and drove to his girlfriend's house to watch a movie.
The teen told police that he identified with
Dexter, played by Michael C. Hall, in the Showtime television series
about a police blood-spatter analyst who is also a serial killer.
Hall won a Golden Globe for the character, but the
show has been criticized for being too violent by the Parents
Television Council.
"I felt like I had to," said Conley, who lives in
the small town of Rising Sun.
According to ABC, he compared the urge to kill with
a hungry person craving a hamburger, and said he fantasized about
killing people since he was in the eighth grade.
Police said on the morning of Conner's murder
Conley told authorities that he also contemplated killing his sleeping
father.
According to The Associated Press, prosecutors plan
on seeking a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Conley cannot face the death penalty because he was
under 18 when the crime was committed. Defense attorneys are supposed
to argue that Conley was insane at the time of the murder.
This isn't the first murder tied to "Dexter." In
2008, a 29-year-old Canadian filmmaker, Mark Twitchell, was charged
with murdering a man based on a storyline from the show.
Andrew Conley Says He Was Inspired by 'Dexter'
to Strangle Brother
By Emily Friedman - ABCNews.go.com
December 4, 2009
An Indiana teen who has allegedly admitted
strangling his little brother likened the murder to satisfying a
craving for a hamburger and told authorities he was inspired by the
television series "Dexter."
Anthony Conley, 17, is charged with murdering his
10-year-old brother Conner on Saturday night, allegedly strangling the
boy and then stuffing his head in a plastic bag so that blood wouldn't
"get everywhere," according to Dearborn-Ohio County Prosecutor Aaron
Negangard.
"It's disturbing that a 17-year-old would want to
kill under any circumstances, let alone his own brother," said
Negangard. He described Conley as "emotionless" when he was
interviewed by police.
According to Negangard, Conley turned himself into
authorities the day after he allegedly murdered his brother. But the
night before, Conley said he stopped at his girlfriend's home to give
her a "sweetheart ring." The couple also watched the movie "The Green
Mile," which focuses on the lives of prison guards on death row.
"His girlfriend described him as the happiest he
had been in a long while," said Negangard.
Conley's lawyer, Gary Sorge, was not available for
comment. Conley, who was scheduled to appear in court today, is being
held without bail at Switzerland County Jail in Vevay.
Nobody answered calls made to the Conley's Rising
Sun, Ind., home.
Teens Alleges He Was Inspired by TV Serial
Killer Dexter Morgan
Negangard said that when Conley was asked to
explain his behavior by investigators the teen said he identified with
Dexter Morgan, the main character in Showtime's "Dexter," which
chronicles the life of an undercover Miami blood spatter expert who
doubles as a serial killer.
"Conley said that he just 'felt like him,'" said
Negangard.
Reached for comment, a Showtime spokesperson had no
comment.
This is the second murder that was allegedly
inspired by "Dexter." Last year, a 29-year-old Canadian man Mark
Twitchell mimicked a story line from the drama when he allegedly
killed 39-year-old Johnny Altinger. Twitchell was dubbed a "fervid
fan" of the show in local reports.
Melissa Rosenberg, the show's executive producer,
told Canwest News Service at the time that this was a "worst fears"
situation, and one that the show's creators "worried about from the
beginning."
In interviews with investigators, Conley also
allegedly likened his desire to kill to a craving a person gets when
they want a particular food.
"He analogized the murder to when someone wants a
hamburger," said Negangard. "He said that when someone wants a
hamburger they've just got to have it."
Conley allegedly admitted to strangling his brother
on Saturday night when their parents were both at work. Stuffing his
brother's dead body in the back of his car, he then drove to his
girlfriend's house where he spent the night.
Sometime the next day, authorities said Conley
dumped his brother's body in a park just a few hundred yards from
where the 10-year-old attended elementary school.
The next morning Conley was asked by his parents –
both of whom Negangard said work night shifts – where his little
brother was. Conley told his parents that his little brother was at
his grandmother's home, which is apparently not unusual.
But when asked to pick up his brother a few hours
later, Conley drove to the police station and turned himself in.
"The defendant walked into the police station and
indicated that he had killed his brother," Negangard said. Later,
Conley told authorities that he had been having trouble sleeping, the
prosecutor said.
Conley was apparently recently pulled out of
school, but a reason was not given, according to authorities.
Conley Case Comes in Wake Of Several Other Teen
Crimes
Because of state law, Conley is not eligible for
the death penalty but could be sentenced to 65 years in prison.
Prosecutors have said they will campaign for Conley
to get life without parole if he's convicted.
Conley's alleged murder of his brother comes in the
wake of several other gruesome teen crimes.
Fifteen-year-old Alyssa Bustamante was charged in
October for strangling her 9-year-old neighbor after allegedly digging
a grave for the girl in their Missouri neighborhood.
And five Florida teenagers, one just 13 years old,
were charged with throwing rubbing alcohol on 15-year-old Michael
Brewer and lighting him on fire over a videogame debt. Brewer was
burned over 65 percent of his body, but survived.
In October, six teens allegedly gang raped a
15-year-old girl outside her Richmond, Calif., high school homecoming
dance.
Andrew Conley, 17, charged with murder in the
death of his brother, Conner Conley, 10, in Rising Sun., Ind.
By Mark Curnutte - Cincinnati.com
December 3, 2009
RISING SUN, Ind. – A 17-year-old accused of killing
his 10-year-old brother told prosecutors he had fantasized since the
eighth grade about beating someone to death and modeled himself after
a television serial killer, Ohio County prosecutors said.
Andrew Conley told investigators he spent 20
minutes choking his brother, Conner, after they wrestled and had also
planned to kill his father.
Prosecutor Aaron Negangard bluntly assessed the
teen: “He’s a cold-blooded murderer,” he said.
Negangard, prosecutor for Dearborn and Ohio
counties, said Thursday that charges against Andrew Conley were
upgraded to murder and that he will be tried as an adult. He is not
eligible for the death penalty because of his age but could be
sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Details of the case chilled even veteran law
enforcement officials in southeast Indiana.
“He spoke with no emotion, no remorse, in
describing the death of his brother,” Negangard said of Andrew Conley.
“This was a deliberate murder.”
With both of their parents at work Saturday night,
the boys were alone in their rural Ohio County home. Andrew Conley put
his younger brother in a headlock, causing Conner to lose
consciousness. He told police that Conner’s last words were, “Andrew,
stop.”
Then Andrew dragged his brother, barely breathing,
into the kitchen, retrieved a pair of gloves from the living room and
returned to choke him with both hands – for about 20 minutes – until
the boy bled from the mouth and nose.
Andrew took a plastic bag from a kitchen drawer,
put it over Conner’s head and secured it with black electrical tape at
the neck. He dragged his brother’s body by the feet down the basement
steps and outside to his car. Before Andrew put his brother’s body in
the trunk, he struck Conner’s head against the ground several times,
he told police.
In early interviews with police, according to court
documents, Andrew said he then drove to Rising Sun City Park, near the
elementary school where Conner was in the fifth grade, and dumped the
body in a wooded area, slightly concealing it with vegetation. The
body was found Sunday night.
In an interview Tuesday with police, Andrew Conley
told police he made one stop before dumping Conner’s body. After
changing his clothes, because Conner’s blood was on his gray sweat
shirt, Andrew said he drove to the home of his girlfriend, staying a
few hours, and unexpectedly gave her what police described as a
“sweetheart ring.” The girl told police that, during their visit,
Andrew seemed happier than she had seen him in awhile.
Andrew left his girlfriend’s house at around 11
p.m. Saturday and drove to the park.
The boys’ parents, Shawn and Bridget Conley, work
at night, Andrew told police. His father came home around 3 a.m.
Sunday, and his mother three hours later. He told them later that
Conner was at his grandmother’s house in Rising Sun, a common
arrangement.
Andrew told police that he planned to kill his
father, too. Twice in the mid-morning hours of Sunday, Andrew said he
walked into his father’s bedroom with a knife but found him asleep. On
Thursday, police said Shawn Conley woke up once and found Andrew
standing over him with a knife but that Andrew left the room. Shawn
Conley was startled, police said, but said Andrew’s behavior that
morning was consistent with his conduct in recent weeks.
The family had withdrawn Andrew two weeks earlier
from Rising Sun High School because he had cut his arms.
Later Sunday, Andrew told police that he drove into
Rising Sun and met with two friends and told them that he had killed
Conner.
The court filing does not list an exact timeline
but does read that “Andrew Conley walked into the Rising Sun Police
Department and reported that he had killed his little brother.”
Andrew spent four nights in the Dearborn County
Juvenile Detention Center in Lawrenceburg but was transferred Thursday
night to the Switzerland County Jail in Vevay.
Andrew’s parents gave police permission to
interview him.
During one conversation with police, he was asked
why he killed Conner.
“Like I had to … like when people have something
like they are hungry and there is a hamburger sitting there and they
knew they had to have it and I was sitting there and it just
happened.”
During the same interview, Andrew told police he
watched the Showtime television show “Dexter,” about a serial killer.
“I just feel like him,” Andrew said of the
character.
The autopsy was performed on Conner’s body Tuesday
at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. Dr. Dean
Hawley, a forensic pathologist, determined that the cause of death of
“manual strangulation” and the manner of death was “homicide.”
The boys’ uncle told The Enquirer on Monday
afternoon that Andrew was in custody for killing his brother. The
family declined comment when approached at the uncle’s Rising Sun home
Thursday afternoon – just minutes after Negangard offered this
assurance to a shaken community.
“We will pursue whatever we can to ensure that
justice is done in this case,” he said. “Take him at his word. Andrew
Conley is a dangerous person.”
Brother in custody in death of boy, 10
By Mark Curnutte - Cincinnati.com
November 30, 2009
RISING SUN, IND. – Many people in this Ohio River
town of 2,500 woke Monday morning to the news that the body of a
10-year-old boy had been found the night before in a wooded area near
a city park.
Durhonda Drew heard a report on the radio and
talked at breakfast to her twins, students in third grade at Ohio
County Elementary/Middle School, where the dead youth, Conner Conley,
was in the fifth grade.
By noontime, even more shocking, word had spread
around town – from the cigarette smoke-choked Snack Shack on Main
Street to the halls of Rising Sun High School – that Conner’s
17-year-old brother had been arrested and was being held at the
Dearborn County Juvenile Center in Lawrenceburg.
Jeremy Monk, the boys’ uncle who often watched
them, said the 17-year-old was in custody and that his sister, the
boys’ mother, had been with police all day.
“It’s a damn shame,” said Monk, standing on his
front porch. “They are both good kids. They are both honor roll
students.”
The Indiana State Police is leading the
investigation, and its spokesman, Sgt. Noel Houze, said that a
17-year-old juvenile was in custody and had been charged with causing
serious bodily injury, a felony.
“It is a preliminary charge,” Houze said. “It is
still a death investigation.”
Houze refused to confirm the identity of the
suspect. He said more information would be available Tuesday, once
results of an autopsy were available.
Houze said he did not know the cause of death or a
motive, but said police were not looking for any other suspects.
Conner’s body was found about 8:15 p.m. after Ohio
County Sheriff’s Deputy Adam Ziegler received word a boy’s body was in
Rising Sun City Park. The body was discovered about 30 yards from a
maintenance building near a dump, adjacent to an oil and antifreeze
recycling station and an informal burial ground where three pets had
been buried.
Parents in Rising Sun know the area as a popular
hangout for teens.
Investigators believe Connor died elsewhere and
that his body was moved near the park, Houze said. A missing-person
report had not been filed, he added.
The Rising Sun-Ohio County Community School Corp.
enacted its crisis plan Monday, calling available counselors and four
ministers to the elementary/middle school to counsel its 625 students
as well as staff, Superintendent Stephen Patz said.
Conner was in the fifth grade and had his name
published in the weekly Rising Sun Recorder newspaper for being on the
A-B honor roll.
“He was a good student, he had lots of friends,”
said Patz, superintendent for 16 years.
Though other students have died of illness and
accidental injury during his tenure, Conner’s death was the first Patz
could remember involving foul play.
Houze, stationed at District 42 in Versailles, said
it would be the first homicide in Rising Sun in 15-18 years.
The suspect lived near Rising Sun but not in the
city limits and was taken into custody late Sunday night or early
Monday morning, Houze said.
The brothers and their parents once lived with Monk
in a house on Main Street, only a few blocks from the 260-student high
school and no more than half a mile from the park.
Neighbors living near the house recalled Conner’s
mother taking him to the nearby public swimming pool, but said the
Conley family kept to itself.
