Ex-Carmel Man Still Suspect in Boy’s ’82 Death
by Andrea Baranski
A former Carmel businessman remains a suspect in the murder of an Indianapolis teen believed to be a victim in a series of gay related murders. August F. “Gus” Caito of Indianapolis was questioned by a Hamilton County grand Jury in 1982 in the murder of Delvoyd Baker, 14. Baker’s body was found October 13, 1982, in a drainage ditch south of Fishers, one-half mile south of 106th Street on Lantern Road. The teenager had been strangled. Baker’s murder is believed to be among nine other deaths over the past decade involving men who have been linked to the Indianapolis gay community.
Indiana State Police Sgt. James Rhineberger said today Baker was last seen alive with Caito near the Marion County Central Library the night before the teen’s body was found. “Gus appeared before a Hamilton County grand Jury and testl-fled4o a limited number of questions.” said Rhineberger. “We didn’t receive any information (during the questioning) that allowed us to file charges.” Caito refused to answer questions even after Judge Richard F. DeTar granted him immunity which would have prevented his answers from being used in court against him, according to Ledger articles.
DeTar sentenced Caito-to-60 days in the Hamilton County Jail for contempt and fined him $500. Rhineberger would not say if Caito was a suspect in the other nine slayings that have occurred over the last decade. The bodies of two other Indianapolis men, listed among the 10 murders believed to be linked, also were found in early 1980 in Hamilton County. They were Michael Petree, 15 and Maurice A. Taylor, 21. Petree’s nude body was found June 15, 1980, in a drainage ditch along 226th Street near Cyntheanne Road, about three miles east of Strawtown.
The partially clothed body of Taylor was found July 12, 1982, near Weasel Creek along Hill Road south of 296th Street. The site is about 1.5 miles northwest of Omega. Due to the decomposition of the bodies, police were unable to determine the cause of Petree’s and Taylor’s deaths. Indiana and Ohio authorities plan to meet Friday to further discuss the deaths. Hamilton County Sheriff’s Detective Mitchell Russell said he has been assisting Preble County, Ohio, police “We are assisting them with the Investigation and if they get a suspect or make an arrest we will see if he fits into any of our cases,” said Russell.
Russell said the similarities of the victims include the manner they were killed and that all the bodies were dumped near waterways. “We’ve met over several months with Ohio authorities and discussed the similarities,” said Russell. “We are trying to see if we have crossed paths in past interviews and with the present interviews. He said the three victims found in Hamilton County were operating as male prostitutes in the Indianapolis area.
Other victims were:
Michael Anthony Riley, 22, found in June 1983 in a Hancock County drainage ditch.
Eric Allen Roettger, 17, found in May 1985 in Preble County, Ohio.
Michael Allen Glenn, 29, found in August 1986 in Preble County.
James Robbins, 21, found in October 1987 in a Shelby County drainage ditch.
Steven L. Elliott, 26, found in August 1989 in Preble County.
Clay Russell Boatman, 32, found in August 1990 in Preble County.
Thomas R. Clevenger, 19, found September 12 in an abandoned railroad bed in Darke County, Ohio.
Officials have stopped short of labeling the murders a result of a serial killer. “We’re certainty not using the term serial killer,” said Hancock County Sheriff Nicholas Gulling on Tuesday. “We’re not saying there is one person doing it but there are certain similarities that makes you consider that we are dealing with one suspect.”
