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Last updated on Friday, August 9, 2013
(BLOOMFIELD) - Dates have been set for the two trials of men accused of the murder of 19-year-old Katelyn Wolfe.
Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw has not said if he will seek the death penalty.
26-year-old Jordan Buskirk and 25-year-old Randal Crosley, both from Jasonville, are charged with Wolfe's murder, but both will be tried separately in Greene Superior Court.
Buskirk's case is set for February 3, and Crosely will face a jury on March 3.
Greene County Public Defender Alan Baughman is representing Crosley and Greene County Deputy Public Defender Jacob Fish is representing Buskirk.
Both men were charged June 14 with murder; conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit rape and criminal confinement.
Crosley was also charged with two counts of dealing in a Schedule IV controlled substance.
Both are being held without bond in the Greene County Jail without bond.
In both cases, defense attorneys earlier filed motions asking for a change of venue due to publicity surrounding the cases but Superior Court Judge Dena Martin denied the motions after attorneys for both sides agreed upon a resolution - Judge Martin issued orders that the cases will remain in Greene County but the juries will be selected from outside the county. A decision on which county jurors will be picked from has not been reached.
Katelyn Wolfe was reported missing to the Linton Police Department in the early morning hours of June 6.
According to a probable cause affidavit, a few days prior to the alleged attack, Buskirk told police that he and Crosley traveled to Terre Haute where they bought condoms, handcuffs, restraint straps, rope and a 20-lb. weight.
Buskirk told investigators the initial plan was to "rape and then murder" and that it was an idea that "popped in their heads."
Buskirk said they kept the items in the trunk of his car and that they weren't targeting Katelyn Wolfe specifically, but that they intended to attack someone.
Buskirk told police he and Crosley picked Wolfe up at her home about 1 a.m. then drove around doing drugs and gave Wolfe several pills. After driving around for a while on country roads they stopped the vehicle got out and opened the rear doors and pinned Wolfe down. There they climbed on top of Wolfe for sexual intent.
Buskirk told plice Crosley started choking Wolfe in a head lock and they let go when they thought she was unconscious. Buskirk allegedly handcuffed Wolfe behind her back while Crosley taped her mouth shut and duct taped her legs. Crosley allegedly hit Wolfe in the face multiple times because she was trying to bite them. Buskirk put his own white shirt over her head then put duct tape around her head and neck.
According to the affidavit, Wolfe was still conscious and was trying to talk but could only make noise due to the duct tape. Buskirk said he asked her what she was saying but explained that "Crosley then started saying over and over that she needed to die" and Buskirk took a rope, wrapped it around her neck and choked her until she stopped struggling.
The two men then allegedly dragged Wolfe to the rear of the car and put her in the trunk. They then drove around getting high and Crosley used Wolfe's cell phone -- he sent text messages, using Wolfe's phone, to his own phone and to his wife Tamera Crosley's cell phone. The men drove to a location near Sullivan to conduct a drug deal, with Wolfe's body in the trunk, but the deal didn't go through.
Next the two allegedly stopped at another rural location near Sullivan and got the body out of the trunk. Crosley then allegedly used a rope to tie the body into a fetal position and connected the rope to a 20-pound weight.
From there, they drove to a lake where they got the body out of the trunk again and dragged it to the top of a hill and let it go. Wolfe's head struck a tree branch on the way down and was gashed and bled, and then her body got lodged. Buskirk alleged that Crosley then drug Wolfe's body the rest of the way to a ledge and threw it over a high wall into the lake, some time after 3:10 a.m.
Buskirk told police that he and Randal Crosley then returned to conducting their "drug business."
The two allegedly cleaned the car out and returned to the lake later in the day to make sure the body had not floated back to the surface. They also disposed of various items in several different locations.
Later, Burskirk took police to the different areas where they recovered numerous items including duct tape, one of Wolfe's shoes, rope, restraints, a section of the tree that caused a gash in Wolfe's head and a trash bag containing a pair of Buskirk's blue jeans.
Then on Sunday, June 9, police spoke to Randal Crosley's wife Tamera. She told them she had gone out to rural areas she was familiar with to look for Wolfe. She said at one of the lakes she went to, she saw a shoe floating on the surface of the water at the base of high wall.
Officers went to that location that day but did not locate anything on dry land. The next day, on Monday, June 10, they called in Indiana Conservation Officers and Wolfe's body was recovered around 5 p.m.
After an autopsy, Forensic Pathologist Dr. Roland Kohr ruled that the cause of death was asphyxia due to smothering and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
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