Murder charges filed against roommate

By SOPHIA VORAVONG • svoravong@jconline.com • January 15, 2010
Tippecanoe County's prosecutor is confident that investigators have sufficient evidence to go forward with criminal proceedings against a Lafayette man suspected of killing his roommate -- despite never locating the victim's body.

Wesley E. Kelly, 29, was charged Thursday in Tippecanoe Circuit Court with murder in the suspected death of Steven L. Smith, 52, who was last seen alive on Dec. 6, 2008.

The prosecutor's office met Wednesday with Smith's family.

"We are pleased and ready to move forward with the case," his cousin and family spokeswoman, Cyndi Miller of Danville, said.

Kelly also was charged Thursday with misdemeanor battery and being a habitual offender. He currently is serving a three-year sentence in the Indiana Department of Correction for failing to register as a sex offender.

The allegations against Kelly stem from an apparent fight with Smith on Dec. 6, 2008, at their apartment on South Fourth Street in Lafayette.

The investigation began when Smith's family and neighbors contacted police on Dec. 11, 2008, after days of not hearing from him or seeing him.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed Thursday, Smith's mother, Doris Smith, told police that her son's apartment was "unusually clean and neat" and that toiletry items were missing -- appearing as though no one lived there.

Neighbors also said that Kelly reportedly admitted to fighting with Smith, which included slamming Smith's head into a wall and a toilet. The affidavit does not provide a reason for the fight.

Investigators suspect that the two men were later standing on a downtown railroad bridge over the Wabash River when Smith was struck with a padlock that was attached to a rope.

The blow reportedly knocked Smith into the water.

"Any new information or leads that are developed -- we will continue to work those," Detective Mike Humphrey said.

Law enforcement and firefighters have searched in and along the Wabash's banks numerous times in the past year for Smith's body. Those attempts, which included searching via horseback, helicopter and by boat, were not successful.

"It presents a unique situation, proceeding with a murder case without having an actual body," Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington said. "But there have been a number of similar, successful prosecutions around the country."

It's a scenario that Patti Bishop, founder of volunteer search organization IN Hope, knows well. Her stepdaughter, Karen Jo Smith, went missing on Dec. 27, 2000, in Marion County.

Karen Jo Smith's body was never recovered, but the woman's ex-husband, Steve Halcomb, was convicted in December 2004 of murder and later sentenced to 95 years in prison.

Steven Smith and Karen Jo Smith are not related.

"You have the fear from the moment we knew the grand jury indicted," Bishop recalled Thursday. "Even though we knew that he did it, until the jury comes back with that conviction ...

"It was a surreal experience, especially since there was no body."

Bishop speaks daily with Miller, Steven Smith's cousin. Her organization also has helped the family put together prayer vigils and hand out fliers with Smith's information to Lafayette businesses.

What kept Bishop strong during the trial for her stepdaughter's convicted killer was faith in prosecutors and Marion County investigators.

"I give kudos to any law enforcement agency that has taken this step," Bishop said. "Crimes of this type -- where there is no body -- is happening more and more. It can be done."

Harrington said authorities waited a year to file charges in case Smith's body or other evidence was found by people hunting or fishing along the Wabash during summer and spring.

Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy