The details about how Jeffrey Finkel would end up gunned down inside his home remain murky, but court documents released after Indianapolis police fatally shot a domestic violence suspect could hold some clues.
Before a call for help was placed minutes before 4 a.m. Nov. 22 from the 1700 block of James Run Way on the city’s southeast side, home security footage captured a shadowy figure slashing vehicle tires in a driveway before slipping behind Finkel’s house.
It’s that vandalism that put Robert Bido, 37, on investigators’ radar and led to them calling him a “person of interest” in a homicide after Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department SWAT officers shot and killed him at about 1:30 p.m., Nov. 25, in Franklin, a town roughly 25 miles south of the state’s capital.
Officers were trying to serve a warrant on Bido for a slew of charges related to a 2024 domestic violence case, where he was accused of choking his ex-wife and holding her at gunpoint before jumping out of a window to flee from police.
Bido was suspected of returning to his ex-wife’s house in the early morning hours of Nov. 22 to slash her tires, according to a police report. Her house was directly next door to Finkel’s, who was killed the same morning.
Indianapolis police were hoping to get a clearer picture of the events that took place on Nov. 22 when they approached Bido outside Ryder System Inc.’s warehouse in the 2200 block of Mitsubishi Parkway in Franklin. Bido, a truck driver, had parked his rig in their lot.
Video of the shooting captured at least five officers surrounding the passenger side before Bido reached out of the window, prompting officers to fire rounds from their rifles. A firearm was found at the scene, police said.
Police have not named Bido as a suspect in Finkel’s killing.
‘I don’t feel like this was random’
The news of Finkel’s death came as a shock to many of his friends and family members, who had seen him less than a month beforehand.
Finkel’s family recently hosted a party in Minnesota primarily to meet his new wife who’d recently moved to Indianapolis from China, family told Fox59.
Finkel’s friends have shown an outpouring of support on social media, calling him a great friend and man. He also wasn’t shy about how much he loved the Ohio State University football team.
Finkel, 64, wore his love for the team like a badge of honor, symbolized by the OSU flags that flew throughout his front yard every season and his dog, Buckeye, who was named after the school’s mascot.
There was a lot Finkel could find joy in: his Buckeyes maintaining a straight shot into the 2026 College Football National Championship, his wife’s recent arrival and the upcoming holiday season.
“I feel like my brother was targeted. I feel like this was an intentional. I don’t feel like this was random,” Dana Adelmann, Finkel’s sister, told Fox59 shortly after the shooting. “He was shot and killed in his own home and it doesn’t seem right because where he lives and in the community where he lives has always felt very safe to me.”
Timeline of events leading up to Franklin police shooting
May 6, 2024: Robert Bido’s wife files for divorce.
June 11, 2024: IMPD responds to a call about a domestic disturbance with a weapon in the 1700 block James Run Way. Bido’s wife says her husband, who was supposed to be away on a trucking trip, entered the house while she was in the shower. He strangled her, pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill her multiple times, she told officers. Three of her children, who were inside the home at the time, coordinated via group chat to call 911. Police attempted to handcuff Bido but he broke free and barricaded himself in a second-story bedroom. He jumped out of a window and “ran off in an unknown direction.” Bido was not arrested on this night.
Michael Leffler, a spokesperson for Ryan Mears, said the case was not immediately prosecuted because an “essential witness initially did not cooperate or provide a formal statement, leading the detective to close the case.”
Bido’s ex-wife filed four protective orders against him over the next 13 months, all of which were dismissed for reasons not immediately known.
Aug. 29, 2024: Bido’s divorce is finalized.
Aug. 25, 2025: Bido’s ex-wife files for a fifth protective order against him, which is issued.
Nov 22, 2025 at approximately 3:25 a.m.: A neighbor’s surveillance camera captures someone slashing tires of two cars parked in Bido’s ex-wife’s driveway. The figure in the video moves toward the house next door, which belongs to Jeff Finkel, before going out of view.
Nov. 22, 2025 at 3:55 a.m.: Finkel is shot and killed in his home.
Nov. 22, 2025 at 7:15 a.m.: IMPD receives a report of two cars’ tires being vandalized at Bido’s ex-wife’s house. Bido is listed in the police report as a suspect.
Nov. 22, 2025 at 7:36 a.m.: IMPD receives a report of a truck’s tires being damaged on James Run Way, one house away from Bido’s ex-wife and two away from Finkel’s. The police report does not list a suspect.
Nov. 24, 2025 at 2:13 p.m.: IMPD Detective Joshua Kemmerling takes a statement from Bido’s ex-wife about the night of June 11, 2024. Over the next two hours, Kemmerling also speaks with three of her children.
Nov. 24, 2025 at 7:22 p.m.: A third resident of James Run Way reports that her car’s gas tank was filled with Mountain Dew. She estimates that it took place around 2:30 a.m. Nov. 22. Her house is diagonally opposite Bido’s ex-wife’s home. The police report does not list a suspect.
Nov. 24, 2025 at 8:23 p.m.: The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office charges Robert Bido with criminal confinement, intimidation, domestic battery, strangulation, pointing a firearm and interference with reporting of a crime. All of these charges were filed in connection with the June 11, 2024 domestic disturbance, according to court documents.
Leffler, the prosecutor’s spokesperson, said the case was reopened “earlier this week when witnesses became willing and able to give statements.”
A warrant is issued for Bido’s arrest.
Nov. 25, 2025: Robert Bido is shot and killed in Franklin, Indiana by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department as they attempt to serve a warrant. Police said that Bido was a person of interest in an Indianapolis homicide. A firearm was found at the scene.
Ryan Murphy is the communities reporter for IndyStar. She can be reached at rhmurphy@indystar.com.
Contact IndyStar reporter Noe Padilla at npadilla@indystar.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: The link between a man shot by Indy police and a killing days earlier
Reporting by Ryan Murphy and Noe Padilla, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
