Michigan City Man Charged With Brutal Murder
CHICAGO (CBS) – Discovery of human remains two years ago has led police to charge a former Michigan City man with murder.
It was a cold case dating back to October 2009, when a woman named Sylvia Marie Jones was believed to have been murdered.
The first break in the case came on Aug. 30, 2010 when a person walking though sand dues along Melton Road in Gary, Ind., found a shallow hole filled with bones.
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Investigators then found clothing. DNA tests confirmed Jones had been buried at the location.
Police have charged Johnnathan Fuller, 38, formerly of Michigan City with murder, abuse of a corpse and altering the scene of a death.
Fuller is alleged to have used an ax to bludgeon the woman seven times before flattening her face, cutting off her hands and burying her in the hole she had dug, the Times of Northwest Indiana reported.
In 2009, a bank card belonging to Jones was found in Fuller's possession when police were arresting him on an unrelated charge.
Further investigation revealed that statements were allegedly made by Fuller that indicated he was involved in her murder.
Doctor Stephen Nawrocki, a forensic anthropologist, with the University of Indianapolis was able to determine that the DNA profile extracted from the bones found at the sand dunes were Jones'.
Fuller is currently being held at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Carlisle, Indiana for an unrelated felony.
