Whitley County Grand Jury indicts Indiana man for triple murder

The Whitley County Grand Jury indicted an Indianapolis, Indiana man Monday morning in connection with the 2017 triple homicide of a local family.

The grand jury indicted Jeremy Hatfield, 34, charging him with three counts of murder in the strangulation deaths of Robert Mack “Little Man” Kennedy III, who had just turned 16 years old; his mother, Emogene Ormae Bittner, 36; and her husband and Kennedy’s stepfather, Christopher Michael Bittner, 24, who were all found dead on Sept. 13, 2017, at a 1602 Deep Branch Road residence.

The killings are believed to have taken place on Sept 11 or 12, 2017, and drug involvement is suspected as a partial motive in the case, Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird said previously.

The grand jury also indicted Hatfield for first-degree burglary, tampering with physical evidence, receiving stolen property-firearm and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.

The case went unsolved for more than a year until Williamsburg police made three arrests in late January 2019 in connection to the case.

Darnell L. Chivers, 38, and Anthony L. Hester, 33, both of Indianapolis, are also charged with three counts of murder, first-degree burglary and tampering with physical evidence in the case, but so far they haven’t been indicted in the case.

For more information, see Wednesday’s edition of the News Journal.