Slayings of Gay Hoosiers Had Been Linked Before

by The Indianapolis News (AP)

This is not the first time police have linked some of nine men slain and left in rural Indiana and Ohio in the last 10 years. Investigator previously have hooked some of the slayings together and reported that some others were not linked. Monday, while not saying the deaths were the work of one killer, Ohio authorities described similarities in all nine cases. In May 1983, Indiana State Police said two deaths were similar:

Daniel S. McNeive, 22, and John L. Roach, 21, both of Indianapolis. Although details of McNeive’s death were not provided, Roach was found stabbed to death in December 1982 in a field near Putnamville. Neither McNeive nor Roach were listed by Ohio authorities Monday. However, three months before linking Roach and McNieve, state police had linked Roach’s death with the slayings of Michael Petree and Delvoyd Baker both on Monday’s list.

In June 1983, the deaths of two other men on the new list, Maurice Taylor and Michael Anthony Riley were linked to seven other Indianapolis gay men, including McNeive and Roach. Also in June 1983, a state police investigator said McNeive and Roach were killed by at least two independent killers. Later, police said the same person was responsible for killing Taylor, Petree and Riley, while someone else killed Baker.

Other investigations have touched on similar killings:

In July 1 983, police agencies formed a task force to probe the killings of at least 15 male prostitutes whose bodies were found in Indiana and Illinois.

In 1983, August “Gus” Caito of Carmel was called to testify before a grand jury on the slayings of several men linked to the Indianapolis gay community. State police failed to link Caito to any of the deaths.

In July 1986, Larry W. Eyler was sentenced to death for the torture-slaying of a male prostitute. Later, he refused to talk to investigators who linked him to other killings.