GUILTY IN - Melinda Lindsey, 23, shot to death, Porter County, 16 Jan 2015 - #1

[Set her soul free]

Do you know where the dogs are now? Just hoping they're with people who will care for them, and not in some shelter.

Well, Steve had claimed them from the pound (dogs, snakes,ferrets) but now that he is in jail.. Idk honestly..


#JusticeForMelinda

 

[ArabianLover]

Another thing to think about is these articles state Steve Lindsey called 911 "screaming". So if this stalker theory is to be believed, he was perfectly quiet while being attacked before going unconscience? And if he was found "kneeling" in the daughter's bedroom (apparently incapacitated) how did he know for sure that Melinda was even shot? If he only "heard" the gunshot? And why all the screaming after the "stalker" has already left?

 

[Tina Grant]

Well, Steve had claimed them from the pound (dogs, snakes,ferrets) but now that he is in jail.. Idk honestly..


#JusticeForMelinda

Oh God I hope they're not in the house without any food.

 

[Safeguard]

Another thing to think about is these articles state Steve Lindsey called 911 "screaming". So if this stalker theory is to be believed, he was perfectly quiet while being attacked before going unconscience? And if he was found "kneeling" in the daughter's bedroom (apparently incapacitated) how did he know for sure that Melinda was even shot? If he only "heard" the gunshot? And why all the screaming after the "stalker" has already left?

Interesting. How did he know the the alleged assailant who fired the shot, was even gone from the house? Supposedly he, "came to', after hearing a gun shot. Also where was his cell phone? perhaps he sleeps with it in his pocket, but even so, seems odd to me, the assailant would leave it on him. There is just nothing making sense about his story.

 

[Set her soul free]

He packed up the house and moved out, tossed a sheet over the "mess" (the couple that owns the house, are good friends of mine and melindas)
so honestly im not sure 100% where he was staying or what he did with the pets, LAST i had heard before they got him.. he was staying with him step mom and dad..

 

[Set her soul free]

Interesting. How did he know the the alleged assailant who fired the shot, was even gone from the house? Supposedly he, "came to', after hearing a gun shot. Also where was his cell phone? perhaps he sleeps with it in his pocket, but even so, seems odd to me, the assailant would leave it on him. There is just nothing making sense about his story.

nothing about his story makes any kind of sense, seeing as ONE, he NEVER slept anywhere but the room. TWO melinda was up every day with Ellie by 5, and if we want to get tech. she got up about 430 to make breakfast for ellie at 5. so the odds of her still being asleep around 6 are insane to me.. not to mention she was a LIGHT sleeper..

Steves story is a joke.. and any jury will see right passed it.. i myself am counting down the days til the trial.

 

[Tina Grant]

nothing about his story makes any kind of sense, seeing as ONE, he NEVER slept anywhere but the room. TWO melinda was up every day with Ellie by 5, and if we want to get tech. she got up about 430 to make breakfast for ellie at 5. so the odds of her still being asleep around 6 are insane to me..

He called the police at 6:20, but he could have shot her at any time ...or she could have been drugged. If what he told the judge is true he had access to all kinds of stuff.

 

[Set her soul free]

He called the police at 6:20, but he could have shot her at any time ...or she could have been drugged. If what he told the judge is true he had access to all kinds of stuff.

this is true, never thought about him shooting her a good amount of time before the call was placed, you know i did think about her being drugged honestly.. it is something that i as well as family and other friends are waiting to hear back on.

 

[molly1255]

I am having a lot of problems with the husband's story. Every time I try to make his story "work" in my mind, I find another problem why it doesn't work. The details I've considered come from all of the news sites that have reported on this story.

One of the problems I am now having is that Melinda reported on her facebook page that she was up and had breakfast ready so she could feed her daughter by 5 a.m. every morning, as her daughter was an early riser. For the husband's version of events to work, Melinda would have to have been sleeping. The baby would either had to have been asleep and if the baby was awake, she wasn't making any noises to try to wake up her mother to feed her.

Someone gets into the house, chokes out the husband, rendering him unconscious, and drags his limp body into the baby's room, where the husband's hands are zip-tied behind him. If the baby wasn't awake already, this would have awakened her and scared her. I can't help but believe the baby would have cried out in fear.

This is not a big house. It is a 1500 square foot ranch according to the Porter Co. Accessor's website. Melinda is sleeping with a loaded gun, according to her husband, and it because they have a stalker. So if Melinda managed to sleep through the living room incident, I think she would have awakened the minute she heard things going on in her daughter's room. And I also think that if Melinda was afraid enough of the stalker to sleep with a loaded gun, she would have carried that gun down to daughter's room after hearing noises because the stalker would have been on her mind and she would have been prepared to protect her daughter.

 

[HistoryNut]

The husband's story does not add up at all and unless the defense can convince jurors that an unknown intruder was responsible for Melinda's death, I believe he'll be convicted. What bothers me is why this isn't a death penalty case? I don't live in Indiana so I don't know the laws. Perhaps someone else can shed some light on this?

 

[HistoryNut]

Here's a newspaper article, published yesterday, that provides the details. One interesting new piece of information, at least for me, is that they were talking about getting a divorce.

http://www.commercial-news.com/news...cle_5bc2171c-b702-11e4-be1b-bf515e255e47.html

 

[starryfive]

Did anyone read somewhere that a neighbor also called the police? I thought I did, but I can't find the article. Just wondering the time the neighbor called, if that happened.

Here's a timeline based on this article (http://www.commercial-news.com/news/more-details-revealed-in-lindsey-murder-case/article_5bc2171c-b702-11e4-be1b-bf515e255e47.html):

December 5-12 (5-6 weeks prior to Melinda's death) - Steven moved out of the home and in with his brother & sister in law.

January 16 around 2am - Steven fell asleep on Melinda's couch and she was sleeping in the bedroom.

sometime later - Steven "woke up to “like a strangle hold” which is described as a “rear choke” in which someone was behind him and lifted him off the couch....He said the next thing he remembered was a gun shot and he woke up in his baby's room with his hands tied behind his back. "

around 6:19 a.m. - Steven called 911 screaming. He told police someone had broken into his home and he had heard a gunshot. He then stated that they took his wife in a bedroom and he believed there was one suspect. He said he was in his baby's room and he did not know if anyone was still hurt or whether the suspect was still there (It's not clear what info was given in which phone call since there were 2 calls).

"After Melinda was taken away in ambulance, officers forced entry into the baby's bedroom and found Steven bent over at the waist with his hands zip-tied behind his back"

details from article that don't fit the story:
-"Police didn't find evidence of anyone being dragged across the floor, nor did they find any indication of a struggle in the room where Steven Lindsey was found. "
-"According to charging documents, police did not observe any marks or bruises on Lindsey's neck and Steven Lindsey said his neck wasn't in any pain after the incident."

Officers had to use force to get into the baby's bedroom... not sure what that means. Was the bedroom door locked? Was something holding the door closed on the other side? How did that happen?
There's no mention of how the officers got into the house. Was the door open? Unlocked? If Steven is tied down in the bedroom, how else could the officers had gotten in? They mentioned the need for force into the baby's bedroom, which is why I find this odd. Did Steven forget to lock the door before he fell asleep on the couch? But then again, people say this couple had dogs... I don't know of any dogs that would be quiet during all of this - especially if a stranger came into the home! But there is no mention of any dogs in the articles I've read, so not sure what to think about that.

It says no struggle was found in the room Steven was found in... was there evidence of a struggle in another room? Which brings us back to the dogs and why were they not barking during this struggle.

What are the odds that over a month after moving out, Steven happens to be at the house when Melinda is killed? Did he stay over frequently?

Just some of my thoughts/questions.

 

[michmi]

Anything is possible.

But she had to sleep through this attack. And Steve Lindsey did have gunshot residue on his hands

It's also possible he drugged her in some way so she wouldn't wake up.

 

[Kellios]

As to the brother, it said in one article that Steve said they fought about "silly things" and money but the brother told police they "had problems", as I understood the article the brother's story contradicted what the accused told police, therefore it looks like his brother isn't willing to lie on his behalf. I mean, with any case there are a lot of "what if's" or "it's possible" but what we need to remember is not doubt but reasonable doubt. Remember, what's possible is not always reasonable. Given what's been reported so far, it's not reasonable to assume someone other than her husband, the accused murdered her.

 

[BarryW]

Okay, now I'm really confused. Until today I had not heard anything about them having to break into the baby's room AFTER Melinda had been taken away by ambulance. I find it very strange that the police, upon entering the small house, would not have done a quick survey of the home to find out if the suspect was still in the home, or whether anybody else had been shot.

I assume police entered first, and maybe the ambulance was there at that same time (not reported, so don't know). But, according to these latest reports, the ambulance came and took Melinda away. That takes a bit of time, getting her onto the ambulance bed (after taking vitals and doing whatever the first responders needed to do before leaving the house with Melinda.

So, Steve is in his baby's room, behind a door that needed to be "broken into". Wasn't he yelling when the police entered and while the ambulance attendants were working with Melinda.

There's a lot of things that don't make sense in Steve's story. I think he's full of it. But, if the reports about the police entering the baby's room AFTER the ambulance attendants had removed Melinda, then there is more that just doesn't make sense.

What am I missing here?

 

[Safeguard]

Here's a newspaper article, published yesterday, that provides the details. One interesting new piece of information, at least for me, is that they were talking about getting a divorce.

http://www.commercial-news.com/news...cle_5bc2171c-b702-11e4-be1b-bf515e255e47.html

One thing in this news report stands out in my mind. Steven reports: "they", "took" his wife into a bedroom. How in world did he know that? Where is he claiming "they" took her FROM? How could he have SEEN anyone "take" her anywhere, if he was choked unconscious?

 

[BarryW]

One thing in this news report stands out in my mind. Steven reports: "they", "took" his wife into a bedroom. How in world did he know that? Where is he claiming "they" took her FROM? How could he have SEEN anyone "take" her anywhere, if he was choked unconscious?

I missed that. She was in bed. The assumption (without further information) was that she was not yet up for the day (and hopefully was asleep when this happened). He said he was asleep on the couch, and she was in the bedroom. He was asleep until the chokehold he has stated. Then he was unconscious until the gunshot. He did not see the intruder (or intruders).

His ridiculous story will be his ruin.

Still curious about why the police didn't enter the baby's room until AFTER Melinda had been taken away by ambulance. And, other earlier reports stated that Steve asked the police, 1x, how Melinda was. Likely he was hoping he'd hear that she was dead. But she was still alive for a couple more hours. He did not ask again or ask to see her while being questioned by the police. I assumed she was still in the home at this point, but I don't know that this was reported. But it was reported that they found Steve and the baby AFTER Melinda was taken out of the home. I hope that report was in error, otherwise the police would seemingly not be doing a good job at the murder scene. Any mis-steps by the police will no doubt be used by his lawyer to bolster his case. (I still think he can't win, it is just too crazy a scenario he is trying to have people believe).

 

[Safeguard]

Yes. I too am hoping this is a typo about the timing of entering the baby's room. I feel certain they would have secured the house, for their own safety, before doing anything else.

I aslo remembered reading, that Steven had said Melinda had gone to bed, and he fell asleep on the couch. I couldn't find the link. I do feel that most likely, she was sleeping and had not gotten up for the day when she was shot. Just speaks to the fact that he can not keep his "story" straight.

 

[molly1255]

This just adds a whole new strange element to everything. Wouldn't the police have KNOWN he was in the house? He called 911. Twice. I have a very hard time believing that the police didn't check the baby's room until after Melinda was in the ambulance. And also, didn't he inquire about his wife (another news report) but made no effort to go into that bedroom to see her? I do believe that this was listed as one of the reasons police were initially suspicious of him.

Another element to his story that is very strange is that he managed to call 911 using his zip-tied hands. Police asked him to show them how he did it and he couldn't do it. Where exactly was his cell phone? If it was another room, how did he get it? Did the intruder put it by him, as he lay unconscious to make it easier for him to call 911? I think not. Perhaps it was in one of his pockets and managed to not fall out as his unconscious body was being dragged through the house. If it was in a front or back pocket, how did he manage to access it with his hands zip tied behind his back?

Hope the police also asked him to recreate that task, too. I'd like to see someone do that myself.

 

[Tina Grant]

I think there must be some sloppy reporting going on here. There were gunshots reported. Of course the police would have looked for the person who called the moment they entered the house.