Indiana has had its share of controversial and gripping crime stories.
Most are tragic, like the still-unsolved disappearance of Indiana University student Lauren Spierer. A few are simply egregious and incomprehensible, like the weeks-long torture and murder of 16-year-old Sylvia Likens perpetrated primarily by caregiver Gertrude Baniszewski.
Years, even decades, after they happened, Indiana crimes continue to be the subject of docudramas, documentaries, podcasts and public interest. Here are five that have recently been featured in the true crime genre.
Herb Baumeister: Westfield businessman turned serial killer
Herb Baumeister lived with his wife and three children on an 18-acre horse farm off 156th Street in Westfield. But what happened at Baumeister’s sprawling Fox Hollow Farm has continued to haunt Indiana nearly 30 years later. Baumeister, once a Westfield business owner, has become one of the most infamous serial killers in the state.
Investigators believe Baumeister strangled more than two dozen men and buried their bodies in the woods on his property. The victims were mostly young, gay men Baumeister had lured to Fox Hollow. Baumeister fled to Canada a few days after the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office began its investigation into human remains found on his property. He shot himself in the head before police could arrest him.
Authorities estimate there are about 25 victims, some of whom have been identified. Investigators later recovered more than 10,000 bone fragments scattered across Baumeister’s wooded property.
Ghost hunters, national TV networks, filmmakers and curious visitors frequented the farm. The case is also the subject of a new Hulu docuseries.
The Delphi murders: Slaying of two teens changed community
Delphi teenagers Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German disappeared while hiking on the Monon High Bridge trail on Feb. 13, 2017. Their bloodied bodies were found the next day.
The case lingered unsolved for more than five years before Richard Allen, who worked at the local pharmacy, was arrested and charged in the murders.
The jury found Allen guilty of two counts of murder and two counts of murder while kidnapping the girls after a contentious, weeks-long trial in 2024. Special Judge Frances Gull sentenced him to 130 years in prison.
The gruesome deaths of the two beloved teens shook and forever changed the small Indiana community. The case is one of the state’s most high-profile and controversial murders, with Allen claiming the real killers were members of an Odinist group who murdered the girls during a sacrificial ritual in the woods. Some who followed the case have become firmly entrenched in their beliefs that a cabal of corrupt government officials framed an innocent man, or that they’re in cahoots with the real killers, or that Libby’s relatives were somehow involved.
The girls’ deaths have been the subject of several documentaries, including one that followed paranormal researchers in their quest for the killer, and an upcoming book by the hosts of Murder Sheet, a local podcast that covers true crime stories.
The Burger Chef murders
Four employees were kidnapped from a Burger Chef in Speedway as they were closing up the restaurant on Nov. 17, 1978. Around midnight, one of them opened the back door to take out the garbage. What happened next is not fully known, but none of the young workers made it home that night.
The bodies of assistant manager Jayne Friedt, 20; Ruth Shelton, 17; and Daniel Davis and Mark Flemmonds, both 16, were found in a wooded area near Center Grove High School in Johnson County, a 40-minute drive away. Shelton and Davis had been shot execution-style. Friedt had been stabbed several times. Flemmonds choked in his own blood after running 75 yards from the scene and into a tree.
The notorious murders remain unsolved nearly 50 years later.
Last year, the cold case became the subject of a docudrama titled “The Speedway Murders.” The docudrama explores several theories about the case, including speculation that a group of Johnson County men tied to multiple robberies were behind the murders, or that Speedway bomber Brett Kimberlin was somehow involved, or that Friedt was the target because she owed money to drug dealers — none of which have been proven.
The docudrama also features a man who claims a friend, who is now dead, confessed his involvement to him 40 years ago.
Donald Cline: Fertility doctor who fathered dozens
The story of Indianapolis fertility doctor Donald Cline began to unravel in 2014, after Jacoba Ballard, who believed she was conceived using an anonymous sperm donor, took a DNA test to learn about her biological background. Instead, Ballard discovered a growing list of half-siblings.
Throughout his career, Cline covertly inseminated dozens of patients with his sperm without their consent. The children believed their biological father was either an anonymous donor or the man who raised them. DNA testing revealed that 94 of his patients’ children are biological siblings. Cline, whose license was revoked in 2018, pleaded guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice for lying to officials about whether he used his own sperm to inseminate patients. He did not spend time in prison.
In 2022, the case was featured in a Netflix documentary, “Our Father,” which named three women who didn’t want to be identified. The women sued, although only one received a favorable decision from the jury. She was awarded $385,000.
Natalia Grace: A complex and unusual story of trust and betrayal
The story of Natalia Grace made international news after her adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett, were accused of abandoning her in a Lafayette apartment before moving to Canada.
The now-divorced couple adopted Natalia, who they believed to be a Ukrainian orphan, in 2010. In 2019, they were charged with neglect and later claimed Natalia is actually an adult woman with severe dwarfism posing as a child. Michael Barnett appeared on “Dr. Oz” saying Natalia threatened to kill his then-wife and their biological children.
Natalia went on the “Dr. Phil” show to tell her side of the story. “It’s not true at all,” she said when asked whether she lied about her age and whether she intended to harm the Barnetts.
Charges against Kristine Barnett were dismissed in 2023. Prosecutors said there wasn’t enough evidence to prove the neglect charges. Michael Barnett was acquitted by a jury in 2022. Natalia testified at her former adoptive father’s trial. The saga is the subject of a new Hulu series, “Good American Family.”
Contributing: IndyStar staffers Ryan Murphy, Cheryl Jackson, John Tufts and Katie Wiseman; former IndyStar employees Claire Rafford, Natalia Contreras, Holly Hays and Dawn Mitchell; Lafayette Journal & Courier reporter Ron Wilkins.
Contact IndyStar reporter Kristine Phillips at (317) 444-3026 or at kphillips@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Delphi, Fox Hollow, Burger Chef: 5 Indiana cases that grabbed attention of true crime fans
Reporting by Kristine Phillips, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
