Chapter 85: The 30 Year Wait-The Murder of Carmen Van Huss

0:00 Hi guys. I'm Courtney and I'm Lisa, and welcome to the next chapter in the Book of the Dead. Brought to you by dark Cast Network insie podcasts with a twist. Grab your marshmallows and sleeping bags for the Burnt Marshmallows Podcast for Cozy Mysteries. Come alive around the crackling campfire. Picture yourself wrapped in a warm blanket, sipping hot cocoa as we share spooky tales that will whisk you away to a world of mystery, ghosts and perhaps even an occasional monster. Crime solving spirits, urban legends, Bigfoot, We've got it all. Join Burnt Marshmallows every Tuesday wherever you listen in the podcast for Cozy Mysteries.

1:02 Hello, Hello, Welcome to the next chapter of the Book of the Dead. The story I have for you today is one that went decades without being solved, A case with seemingly no answers and no suspects, A case of a victim at the hands of her murderer, but also a victim of a lack of technological advancements and funding, which pushed her case into the realm of cases that sat on a shelf a box or a desk abandoned and waiting for a breakthrough to solve them. This case spans over thirty years of waiting before justice was finally served.

1:44 This is the murder of Carmen von Huss. Carmen von Huss was born on October ninth, nineteen seventy three, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Andrea Phillips and James von Huss. When Carmen was a little girl, parents divorced and her aunts and uncle primarily raised her, but she was still very close with her parents and even more so with her younger brother, Jimmy. According to Fox fifty nine, Jimmy said that Carmen was quote an animal lover and art lover. She picked up stray cats all the time. She was always happy, and everyone loved her. According to Uncovered dot com, Carmen had dreamed of becoming a veterinarian as a child's because she loved animals so much. Growing up, Jimmy and Carmen only saw each other on weekends, but as they got older and they grew even closer, their six year age difference didn't really matter anymore. Carmen attended Laurence Central High School as a teenager, but she really struggled to keep up in school and she eventually dropped out, opting to earn her g DE instead. Carmen developed a passion for drawing and was very talented with the pencil, and she decided to pursue an art degree from Indiana University. In nineteen ninety three. Carmen is nineteen years old, going to school and working part time at Pizza Hut. She lived with her boyfriend at the Turtle Creek North Apartments in the

3:16 eighty two hundred block of Harcourt Road, just south of Saint Vincent Hospital, which is in the North Side neighborhood of Indianapolis. She hadn't lived there long, according to the Indianapolis News, she had only moved there on October of nineteen ninety two. On March second, nineteen ninety three, Carmen, her father, James, and her youngest brother go to Community Hospital South to visit with her grandmother, after which she drives them back to their home at around ten pm. Because of the late hour, James is concerned about Carmen having to drive all the way home because it's around a forty minute drive. Carmen lived approximately twenty five miles away.

4:00 James invites Carmen to spend the night, but Carmen declines, saying that she has to go home to watch her uniform for work the next day. According to The Indie Star, at around eleven pm, Carmen's neighbors at the apartment heard Carmen coming up the stairs talking and laughing with the man they assumed to be her boyfriend. Carmen and the man are heard entering her apartment, and a couple of hours later, between one and one thirty in the morning, neighbors hear sounds of a struggle coming from Carmen's apartment. Carmen is heard yelling get off me, before footsteps are heard running from the apartment. Now, no one knocked on Carmen's door to check on her after this was heard, nor did anyone call the police to report it. The only thing that was done was a complaint being made to the apartment complex management. An employee went up to Carmen's door and posted a noise complaint notice, but again no no one knocked to check on Carmen or see what cause the commotion. This would be a critical mistake.

5:08 On March twenty fourth, just under Two days later, Carmen's former roommate, Missy Hennings, stops by the pizza Hut where Carmen worked, in the hopes that Carmen could put in a good word for her about a job there. However, her manager told Missy that Carmen hadn't shown up that day or the day before. He had called her a few times to see where she was, but being that Carmen was a teenager, he figured she had just decided not to work there anymore. Missy, however, knew this wasn't like Carmen. She was very reliable and wouldn't have just quit without giving some sort of notice. She tells the manager this, so he agrees to call Carmen's father, her emergency contact, to tell him she hasn't come to work and they are very concerned. James, of course, is immediately worried about Carmen. He had called her over the last day and he couldn't get in contact with her, but he wasn't too worried and had assumed she was at the very least going to work. Hearing that she hadn't been there at all, he calls her multiple times with no answer. Finally, he decides to go to Carmen's apartment to check on her. At around seven thirty pm, James arrives at the apartment and notices Carmen's boyfriend's car, which she had been borrowing, as parked outside with her purse visible within it. He walks up to her third floor apartment and sees the note on her door from the apartment manager about keeping the noise down and being considerate

6:40 of neighbors. James knocks multiple times before realizing that Carmen's door is open, and James lets himself in Immediately. Upon entering the apartment, James has walked into a father's worst nightmare. On the floor just outside her kit was Carmen's body. She was partially clothed and covered in blood. James backed out of the apartment in horror and immediately called nine on one, but it was too late. Carmen was already deceased when James came to find her. When police arrived, they immediately got started with the investigation. It was clear that there had been a struggle in the apartment, but police also theorized that Carmen had known her attacker. They found fast food wrappers and a couple of bottles of beer left out in the kitchen, suggesting that Carmen had eaten a meal with whoever had murdered her. Police also spoke to Carmen's neighbors and learned about the noises coming from her apartment, as well as the man that they had heard walking up with her. A neighbor that lived below her also told police that he heard a man arguing for thirty minutes, as well as what sounded like screaming coming from Carmen's apartment on the night she was killed.

7:57 Based on the speculation that this mystery man was Carman's boyfriend, police tracked him down. However, he was in Arizona at the time of Carmen's murder and quickly cleared. At a press conference during the onset of the investigation, Marion County Deputy Chief Jerry Cooper said that while the apartment had clearly been ransacked, it didn't seem as if anything had been stolen. He also said it was clear from the crime scene that Carmen had fought for her life against her attacker. According to medium dot Com, the autopsy revealed that Carmen had been stabbed over sixty times with either a pocket knife or some type of screwdriver, although this murder weapon would never be found. She had also been sexually assaulted, and the medical examiner was able to recover seamen and foreign DNA from Carmen's body. However, there wasn't a lot that police could do with the DNA in nineteen ninety three, but they were hopefully it would be helpful to their investigation. According to The Indianapolis Star, Marion County Sheriff sard and Dave Wilkes said that police were speaking to Carmen's ex boyfriends as well, but they had yet to have any viable suspect in Carmen's murder. On March twenty ninth, Carmen is laid to rest at G. H.

9:13 Harmon's funeral home. During the service, adding another devastating blow to Carmen's family, James receives word that his mother, whom they had got to visit in the hospital, had passed away that very day as a result of a second passing in the family. The von Jasses are struggling to pay for her second funeral, especially since James had been out of work due to two separate work injuries, so a family friend offers to set up something to gather funds to help them out. According to The Indianapolis Star, Cindey Rodriguez set up a trust to try and help alleviate the costs of another funeral. A couple of weeks after Carmen's murder, police make a plea for anyone to step forward that may have seen Carmen and this mystery man together on the night of her murder. Sergeant Wilkes believed that Carmen may have encountered this man at or near the pizza hut where she worked, or somewhere in the Broad Ripple area, and urged witnesses to come forward, but nothing helpful came out of this. The years passed without any leads in Carmen's case, although it was never considered cold, police revisited her case frequently, hoping something new would pop up that would lead them to an arrest. Meanwhile, Carmen's family did what they could keep attention on Carmen.

10:32 With James at the Helm, Carmen's brother Jimmy said that Carmen's death had changed their father and there was an emptiness in him up until his son and death in a car accident on October twenty first two thousand and two. After James's death, Jimmy took on the role of Carmen's advocate, keeping her memory alive and urging police to keep looking the year after James's death in April of two thousand and three, Carmen is one of one hundred sixteen murder victims whose picture is put in a memorial at the Indiana State House. According to medium dot com, Carman's mother attended the unveiling and spoke of how time had done nothing to alleviate the pain of losing her daughter. It had only gotten worse over the last ten years. Unfortunately for Carmen's family, the case would stay stagnant for another decade until twenty thirteen, when Detective Sergeant William Carter from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department started looking into Carmen's murder.

11:35 Detective Carter is not a cold case or a homicide investigator. He actually works in nuisance and abatement, which is essentially where he works to control things that violate various laws and codes within a neighborhood, such as buildings that are out of code or uninhabitable, buildings used for drug trafficking, or illegal sex work, buildings used to transport or store stolen goods, and overall violations that affect a person's quality of life within a dwelling. Detective Carter had just been successful in solving another COLT case, the murder of Amy Widner, when he started looking into Carmen's case during his free time.

12:18 Jimmy said his family was elated when Carter contacted them to let them know he had started looking into the case, and were adamant that with Carter at the home, Carmen's case would finally be solved. In twenty fifteen, Carter urged the Crime LAMB to test the DNA recovered from Carmen's autopsy, which the city funded at the cost of sixteen hundred dollars. Still, when the DNA test came back indicating a female of European descent, they realized that there was a mix up and Carmen's DNA had been mistakenly tested. How that mix up occurred, I can't tell you. When Carter asked for another test to be performed at a Utah lab, he was told there wasn't enough funding for it, even though since they were the ones that made the mistake, they should be the ones to rectify it, according to Assistant Criminal Investigation Commander Chris Bailey. He told the Chicago Tribune that the department typically did not fund these types of genealogical testing, stating that a quote hasn't been proven useful in a lot of cases. Not to be deterred, Carter came up with a solution that he called creative. According to The Indianapolis Star, Carter was inspired to go to the public for help funding the test after the police department asked for donations to fund surgery for a department horse with skin cancer. He said, quote, we ran an

13:48 article about donating money to a horse, and I guess it just kind of moves me to say, Hey, if we can ask for that, then why can't we ask for money to donate to get this DNA test done. A GoFundMe page was set up on February twenty fourth, and an announcement was made on Facebook calling for those some inclined to donate, and the donation started pouring in, with Carter donating some money out of his own pocket. Within seven hours, he had raised twelve hundred dollars of the thousand dollars goal. Carter expressed that any extra money would go towards the reward set up by crime Stoppers for information that was sitting at ten thousand dollars. While Carter acknowledged that the test wouldn't necessarily lead the police to a specific suspect, he said, quote, it's going to narrow the scope down to who we're looking for now.

14:44 There were mixed responses about the use of the fundraiser, but it was mainly due to the fact that people believed that the police or the city should be funding the test. Crowdfunding shouldn't have been necessary. Two days after the successful funding, I was told by Carter that he had been pulled from the case. Jimmy said, quote, this is insane, This is ridiculous. Something has to be changed. If this is how the police department is going to be run, it just makes no sense now. The IMPDS said that the fundraiser had nothing to do with Carter's removal. In fact, Bailly said that Carter was removed after a review of assignments and procedures within the department. He said, quote, we just want to make sure that people stay in their lanes. We have cold case investigators and we want to let them do their job. Bailly said that Sergeant Dave Ellis was assigned to Carmen's case as the cold case unit supervisor, but Jimmy was less than pleased with this and he didn't believe what Bailly was saying. Jimmy said, quote, if Carter's off the case, the case is over. She's been dead for twenty two years. A petition was started the very same day that Carter was removed from Carmen's case, asking for him to be reinstated, and the police department faced a public outcry, leading to a press conference to be held to clarify things. According to Fox fifty nine, Chief Richard Height claimed that they never would have told

16:16 someone to stop working on a case, and that Carter had been asked to assist by the cold case unit. It was alleged that he had only been asked to temporarily stop working on it while reports were being reviewed. Richard Height claimed that the alleged removal was a misunderstanding and Carter was ultimately reinstated, and to give you an idea of the timeline, on February twenty sixth, he was removed, they started a petition, and then later that day he was reinstated, so it was less than a twenty four hour period. I'm assuming the backlash they received was very great that led them to do such a quick change.

16:58 After being reinstated, Carter immediately jumped back into the investigation, urging for the DNA to be tested. According to Medium, the IMPD actually refunded everyone that donated, but it's unclear whether they themselves funded additional testing or even had these specific tests that Carter wanted conducted. Carter was adamant that Carmen's killer was someone she knew, and urged her friends and family to think back about anyone she might have known or been friends with that could be a possible suspect. In twenty eighteen, the IMPD issued a statement, according to Medium, that they were still working on Carmen's case and that quote additional forensic DNA work is being scheduled with an outside source, but as of twenty twenty two, there had been no further updates. That is until last month. In twenty twenty three, according to Uncopboard, police final got a lead on a suspect in Carmen's murder. Parabon, a company focused on analyzing DNA evidence, directed police to look at a person who lived in Carmen's apartment at the time of her murder, after building a profile from blood and DNA found in a trash bag in her home. In August of this year, charges were brought against a man named Dana Germaine Shepherd, fifty three, who was currently living in Boone County, Missouri. He was charged with two counts

18:32 of murder and one count of rape with deadly force in the murder of Carmen von Huss as well as being a fugitive from out of state. At the time of Carmen's murder, Dana Shepherd was twenty three and living in the same apartment complex as Carmen, and according to USA Today, not only did he live in the same apartment, he lived in the adjoining unit, separated only by a common area and a laundry room. He also had a criminal record that spanned decades. In nineteen ninety two, he was arrested for public intoxication, and in nineteen ninety six he was arrested for battery, both in Indiana. In Missouri, he was charged with stealing, disturbing the peace, and driving without a license in two thousand and one, two thousand and nine and twenty thirteen, respectively. After his arrest in September, Deputy Chief Kendale Adams said, quote, for thirty one years, the family of Carmen von Huss has been searching for answers and justice. While nothing can ever replace their loved one, we hope that today's arrest brings them some measure of peace.

19:41 We remain dedicated to bringing justice to all victims and continue to pursue every lead, no matter how much time has passed. At the news of the arrest, Jimmy said, quote, she wasn't able to experience her college graduation, or have a wedding or any life events taken for me when I was a freshman in high school. And I am thankful that finally the man that did it is where he needs to be. For my dad, who apt to find her after what was brutally done to her, makes this day bitter sweet, and I wish he was here to see it now from what I can gather. Dana Shephard was extradited to Indiana after a hearing on September twenty sixth, and bond was denied. But obviously I can't speak on a trial as that hasn't happened yet, so in the coming months, I will hopefully have an update.

20:32 Carman lived a very short life. In fact, she has been gone longer than her time spent on this earth. But it's amazing that after thirty years, she and her family have finally seen justice, and I'm sure that this trial will end with a conviction. Carmen never got to experience all the things that come with getting older, getting married, having children, if she was so inclined, graduating, exploring the world, or starting a career, and it's sick that Dana Shepherd got to live the life that Carmen couldn't do to his actions. Obviously, there's the perception that everyone is innocent until proven otherwise, but I'm inclined to believe that he is guilty, and I'll bring you an update on the trial, as I said, as soon as I have one. But for now, Carmen can start to rest more peacefully and her family finally has some answers. Now, I will say that there is no clear motive that the police have for why Dana Shepherd would have murdered Carmen, but at least to me, the motive seems fairly obvious. It was clear that they knew each other, being that they were neighbors in this apartment complex, and they hung out that night.

21:53 They had some food, they drank a little bit, and at least to me, it's as if Dana thought he was going to get lucky that night and they were going to sleep together, and Carmen, it seems, said no, and Dana got angry, and like many cases that we've covered, a woman's life was taken by a man that could not handle no for an answer. Now, each of the charges that Dana is facing baries in terms of sentencing from twenty to fifty years, and that's a broad spectrum for all of them. So we'll see if and when he is convicted how much time he actually gets. But at least for now he is behind bars and he was denied bond. For a full list of sources, please check out our website botdpod dot com and if you have any case suggestions, you can submit them there or shoot me an email at thedeadpod at gmail dot com.

22:56 Thank you so much for joining me today and listening to Carmen story. As always, I appreciate you guys, and I hope you enjoy being here, and I will be back in two weeks with another chapter of the Book of the Dead, maybe one for Halloween because I haven't done a Halloween specific episode since our first year. But with that, I hope you have a wonderful week and I will see you next time with another chapter of the Book of the Dead. Bye, guys, thank you so much for listening to this chapter of the Book of the Dead, and don't forget that you can always connect with us on Instagram, you can connect with us on Twitter, and you can absolutely connect with us on Patreon. We also have a merch store as well that we have frequent discount codes coming out for so that you guys can get March hand drawn by myself at a better cost.

24:00 We hope you have a lovely rest of your week, and just remember, please be kind and don't forget to always stay safe, stay curious, and stay vigilant. Bye guys, Bye by