Petree Death One Of Five Unsolved
by Meg DeBard
Five homosexual deaths in the Indianapolis area this year, including the case of a 15-year-old boy whose body was found in a Hamilton County drainage ditch this summer, share a common denominator. All remain unsolved. Dead end leads have stumped investigators who can’t even call the deaths murder, for sure: No cause of death has been determined in the cases despite complete autopsies and lab tests, according to Hamilton County sheriff’s investigator Lt. Dick Russell. Grasping for connections between these deaths, police say that two of the victims may have been acquaintances.
Michael Petree, the 15-year-old boy who was found in a ditch in White River Township June 16, may have known Donald Kidwell. Kidwell, a 42-year-old Merchant’s Bank data processor was found dead in a car trunk north of Lizton, Indiana on July 5. Hendricks County Investigator John Hancock said it was “purely speculation” that Kidwell and Petree were acquainted. Hancock said that Petree often used the service elevator” at Merchant’s Bank, downtown office, and rode to the sixth floor. The elevator doors open near Kidwell’s office. But, said Hancock, “Nobody can really place him up there.” He said none of the employees remember seeing a “kid with a bike” inside the bank.
Petree was known to frequent Monument Circle in Indianapolis where he was supposedly picked up and paid for sexual favors. As in the Petree case, no medical reason for death has been determined for Kidwell. Hancock said a thorough autopsy and toxicology reports made by a Chicago lab turned up nothing. Hancock said he believes Kidwell was dead before he was placed in the trunk. A fire was then set between the man’s legs to try to destroy the body, he said. The fire did not cause the death because no carbon was found in the trachea or lungs, he said. Hancock called the case “80 percent homicide, 20 percent accidental.”
There’s a possibility, he said, that Kidwell died from an undetectable drug and his companions tried to cover up the death. Two autopsies on Petree also were fruitless. However, police believe the boy was dead before he was placed in the ditch. Russell said another unsolved homosexual death occurred at fort Harrison and two in metropolitan Indianapolis. Russell said he is keeping his “eyes and ears open” for any connection between the deaths and is in continuing communication with the Indianapolis Police Department and other agencies on the cases.
Heflin Charged for Tampering
Marion County issued a warrant today for the arrest of Robert Heflin, 50, of 490 N. 18th St., Noblesville, on charges of tampering with a state’s witness in a child molesting case pending against him. Heflin is accused of threatening a witness for the state, a 15-year-old male prostitute, who was to testify at the trial scheduled for November 19 in Hamilton Superior Court. Heflin is free on bond on that charge pending trial. Bond was set at $1,000 in the new charge of tampering. Heflin is to stand trial before a jury on three counts of child molesting and three counts of child exploitation.
He supposedly picked up young men on Monument Circle in Indianapolis and paid them for committing sexual acts. Heflin once was a suspect in the death of Michael Petree but has been cleared of any connection with the case. Petree’s nude body was found June 16 in a drainage ditch in White River Township. Petree also worked as a male prostitute in the Monument Circle area, police have said.
