IN IN - Herbert Richard Baumeister AKA Brian Smart Preyed on Gay Men - Remains Found at Fox Hollow Farm - Possibly I-70 IN/OH Serial Killer

[Snoopster]

Herbert Richard "Herb" Baumeister (April 7, 1947 - July 3, 1996) was an American serial killer from suburban Westfield, Indiana outside of Indianapolis. He was the founder of the successful thrift store chain Sav-a-Lot in Indiana.

He killed 8 - 16 men in the Indiana/Ohio area.

He committed suicide to avoid arrest on July 3, 1996 in Ontario, Canada after his ex-wife allowed a search on their property and they found numerous bodies buried there.

--
Indiana Businessman Is Linked To 9 Other Killings of Men

Investigators have concluded that Herbert Baumeister, the businessman who committed suicide two years ago as investigators were digging up the remains of seven men in the woods behind his home, probably also killed nine other men whose bodies were found dumped along rural roads in Indiana and Ohio.

https://people.com/archive/while-julie-was-away-vol-46-no-26/

JULIE BAUMEISTER WAS TROUBLED that day in the fall of 1994 when Erich, her 13-year-old, brought home a human skull. He’d found it in the woods of Fox Hollow Farm, the family’s $1 million estate in the Indianapolis suburb of Westfield. Julie was even more unsettled when Erich led her to the site of his ghoulish discovery. There, among the fallen leaves, lay a cluster of bones.

 

[Snoopster]

I have to say I was surprised that no one had posted a thread on this guy. His killing count was likely in the double-digits.

Here's a weird video of him where he was a witness for when a road line painting crew painted over a dead raccoon. Now that's creepy that he cared about that while he was killing people!

 

[Jennifer17]

Self hating gays, who blame men for 'tempting' them. I feel sorry for his wife, but most wives have an idea about this, if they are not putting their head in the sand.

 

[meanmaryjean]

Coroner-elect: Body count will rise for 1980-90s serial killer Herb Baumeister
Newly elected Coroner believes there might be as many as 25 victims

 

[Coppertop15]

I always thought there were more.

 

[Monty Ma]

Police renew effort to ID remains of 17 victims found at Herbert Baumeister's property

Herbert Baumeister, who owned the property where the remains of at least 17 victims were found, is suspected of luring gay men to his home and then killing them.

www.wthr.com

They're looking to identify more victims.

 

[meanmaryjean]

Here's what we know about notorious Indiana serial killer Herbert Baumeister

In 1996, Hamilton County sheriff's deputies found thousands of thousands of decomposed and charred bone fragments on Herbert Baumeister's Fox Hollow Farms in Westfield.

www.wrtv.com

His nine known victims (as of 1999)

• Johnny Bayer, 20, Indianapolis, missing on May 28, 1993.
• Allen Wayne Broussard, 28, Indianapolis, missing on June 6, 1994.
• Roger Allen Goodlet, 33, Indianapolis, missing on July 22, 1994.
• Richard D. Hamilton, 20, Indianapolis, missing on July 31, 1993.
• Steven S. Hale, 26, Indianapolis, missing on April 1, 1994.
• Jeff Allen Jones, 31, Indianapolis, missing on July 6, 1993.
• Michael Kiern, 46, Indianapolis, missing on March 31, 1995.
• Manuel Resendez, 31, Lafayette, missing on Aug. 6, 1993.

 

[IceIce9]

This case has always been so unbelievable to me. I used to live literally within walking distance of Fox Hollow Farms, and the area was so safe, as far as we and all the neighbors knew.

 

[Erutan]

Listened to a podcast about this case.
The depths of evil this H. Baumeister sunk to are beyond belief.
So sorry for the grieving families of his victims !

 

[legalmomma]

I live in Hamilton County IN and can’t believe I’ve not hard of this.

Here's what we know about notorious Indiana serial killer Herbert Baumeister

In 1996, Hamilton County sheriff's deputies found thousands of thousands of decomposed and charred bone fragments on Herbert Baumeister's Fox Hollow Farms in Westfield.

www.wrtv.com

 

[BethAnn777]

I am just a few miles from where this took place. There was another thread on here at some point.

 

[DS2021]

It seems like sources differ in information. This article says 8 victims have been identified, and that there is at least 25 victims

 

[DS2021]

Jerry Williams-Comer – The Charley Project

Allen Lee Livingston – The Charley Project

Charley Project states that authorities
believe these two men are victims of Baumeister as well.

 

[legalmomma]

Private cadaver search for Fox Hollow Farm victims


Private cadaver search for Fox Hollow Farm victims

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Cadaver dogs will search "Fox Hollow Farms" in Westfield – looking for potential victims of a serial killer from the early 90s. The Hamilton County Coroner's office confirms the search, although they are not a part of it.

WISH-TV confirmed through the coroners that an independent and private search by the farm owner will happen Sunday morning. Officials say Cadaver dogs will be brought to the farm to search for remains of potential victims of Herb Baumeister.

 

[Gardenista]

Bone found during Sunday search of Herbert Baumeister property

Members of the Hamilton County Coroner's Office and cadaver dogs are searching the property of Herbert Baumeister. Crews found one bone Sunday during a search.

www.wrtv.com

 

[airportwoman]

I understand that his wife and kids still live in the Indianapolis area. How could she not have known, even back then (IIRC, they married ca. 1970) that he was gay? He'd also had multiple involuntary psychiatric admissions over the years.

This has to be ripping a lot of old wounds open for them, too.

 

[IceIce9]

I live in Hamilton County IN and can’t believe I’ve not hard of this.

Here's what we know about notorious Indiana serial killer Herbert Baumeister

In 1996, Hamilton County sheriff's deputies found thousands of thousands of decomposed and charred bone fragments on Herbert Baumeister's Fox Hollow Farms in Westfield.

www.wrtv.com

The owner of Urban Vines winery and brewery purchased several acres, and some lots for home sites were for sale for $300,000 each.

I live in a nearby neighborhood, and our neighborhood received information 3 days ago that there was going to be a search there on the property.

 

[Hope32]

I understand that his wife and kids still live in the Indianapolis area. How could she not have known, even back then (IIRC, they married ca. 1970) that he was gay? He'd also had multiple involuntary psychiatric admissions over the years.

This has to be ripping a lot of old wounds open for them, too.

I read that they were only intimate 5-6 times in their 25 year marriage. But also you have to think back other killers hide their identity as well. Things were different back then aswell.

"JULIE BAUMEISTER: SUSPICIOUS WIFE​

When her 13-year-old son found a skull while playing on the family property, Julie Baumeister sensed something wasn't right.

She asked Herb, her husband of 23 years, if he knew anything about it but he told her the bones belonged to a medical school skeleton owned by his late father."

She Thought Something Was ‘Off’ About Her Husband. Then Her Son Found A Human Skull.

“There are places in my house my wife doesn’t like to go – that make her hair stand up on the back of her neck.”

thoughtcatalog.com

"Now that we know more about abuse, I’d venture a guess that she simply thought believing her husband’s story and not asking questions was the safest option for her and her children.
...

It seems like Julie spent as much time keeping the kids away from Herb as possible. The last few summers, she’d taken the kids to the family’s lakeside condo 100 miles away, leaving Herb to “focus on business” back in Westfield alone. It was during this time that gay men and boys started disappearing from Indianapolis. It wasn’t until one man was shaken enough by a violent sexual encounter with a wealthy man named “Brian Smart” that he came forward to police. “Brian Smart” turned out to be Herb Baumeister."

 

[airportwoman]

(Maybe she had a boyfriend at the lake?)

She did say in an interview that aired on A&E many times that she was completely shocked at the idea that Herb had killed anyone - that he was able to discipline the children without hitting them or yelling at them, never touched her in a non-loving way, etc. - but the daughter of BTK said similar kinds of things about HER father too, although like the Baumeisters, a lot of other things made sense after he was arrested.

She also said that in the 1980s, Herb made numerous trips to various cities in Ohio, and Ohio authorities were reopening some cold cases there too in the meantime.

 

[IceIce9]

Cadaver dogs hit 20 locations at Herb Baumeister property

13News also learned 12 families with missing loved ones contacted the coroner to get DNA swabs.

www.wthr.com