Apartment Searched – Testimony Heard on Links to Gay Murder
by George Stuteville
Investigators searched Larry W. Eyler’s apartment in Terre Haute Tuesday while a grand jury in Illinois heard testimony about his alleged involvement in one of several murders of homosexuals. Eyler, 30, has been held since Friday in a jail in Waukegan, Illinois on charges he killed Ralph Calise, 28, Chicago. The Lake County, Illinois grand jury heard testimony connected with the slaying of Calise, whose body was found August 31 in a cornfield near Lake Forest, Illinois.
Eyler who also has an apartment in Chicago, is scheduled to make a court appearance today in Waukegan on the murder charge. Meanwhile, detectives from the central Indiana task force investigating the deaths of eight Indianapolis men obtained a search warrant to go through Eyler’s apartment on Terre Haute’s east side. They carted off a “vanload” of items, including a rope, shoes, clothing and pornographic materials, a task force source said. The apartment belongs to a longtime friend of the suspect, said Eyler’s attorney, Kenneth K. Ditkowsky of Chicago.
The apartment, where Eyler lived for about five years, is owned by an Indiana State University professor, the source said. The source did not know if the professor and Eyler lived together. The purpose of the search was to locate items overlooked when detectives searched the apartment on October 1st according to the source. Police were looking for evidence relating to three murders the task force is investigating. The victims are:
John L. Roach, 21, Indianapolis, found last December in Putnam County
Daniel S. McNeive, 22, Indianapolis, found last May in Hendricks County
Steven R. Agan, 23. Terre Haute, found Dec. 28 in Vermillion County
The grand jury heard from about eight witnesses, including two friends of Eyler who would provide an alibi for him in Calise’s murder, Ditkowsky said. The friends were expected to testify that they and Eyler left Indianapolis on the night of August 29 and arrived in Chicago the next day. All three spent the day shopping and playing basketball, Ditkowsky said. “We can account for every minute of his time,” Ditkowsky said.
“There is absolutely no question that the police have the wrong man.” Before his arrest, Eyler filed a $250,000 federal civil rights suit charging that police in Indiana and Illinois were harassing him. Ditkowsky said he will file a separate civil rights complaint with the FBI in Chicago, charging that Lake County deputies have refused to allow Eyler, a Roman Catholic, to attend Mass or have a Bible or rosary in his cell.
In a related matter, a news conference will be held today at Indiana State Police headquarters to discuss findings from autopsies on four male bodies unearthed two weeks ago at a Newton County farm. Authorities are expected to announce what caused the deaths of the men and what steps are being taken to identify the victims. The central Indiana task force is investigating those four deaths.
