A coroner in Indiana looking into the Fox Hollow Farm serial killer claims law enforcement “dropped the ball” when the case was first investigated in the 1990s.
In April, Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison reported that his office had discovered human remains belonging to Daniel Thomas Halloran on Fox Hollow Farm in Westfield, Indiana. He was the tenth victim of Herb Baumeister, a suspected serial killer with at least 25 victims.
Jellison told Fox News Digital in an interview that he believes police enforcement did not handle the matter appropriately when they first investigated it.
“I think originally in the investigation, law enforcement did a good job of excavating the remains, but I think as time went on in the investigation, our county really dropped the ball,” Jellison told the newspaper.
Jellison claims that in the late 1990s, local law enforcement required victims’ families to pay for DNA testing, and he believes they did not aggressively pursue the potential of further victims or suspects.
“They decided not to fund DNA testing to identify potential victims in what could be one of the most widespread serial murders in our country. They imposed the responsibility and cost of DNA testing on the families. And, from a criminal standpoint, I believe there is a possibility of another suspect or suspects. And I am not sure if law enforcement followed it as aggressively as they could have,” he said.
According to detectives, Baumeister enticed gay men into his home in the 1980s and 1990s and reportedly killed them. Detectives say he would then bury their victims over his 18-acre property, Fox Hollow Farm.
When his family was out of town, Baumeister, the owner of the Sav-A-Lot retail company, allegedly went to homosexual bars in the Indianapolis region and brought men home.
According to Fox 59, investigators originally considered Baumeister as a suspect in the summer of 1995. However, authorities were unable to enter his property until 1996, when around 10,000 bones and bone fragments were discovered.
According to detectives, Baumeister enticed gay men into his home in the 1980s and 1990s and reportedly killed them. Detectives say he would then bury their victims over his 18-acre property, Fox Hollow Farm.
When his family was out of town, Baumeister, the owner of the Sav-A-Lot retail company, allegedly went to homosexual bars in the Indianapolis region and brought men home.
According to Fox 59, investigators originally considered Baumeister as a suspect in the summer of 1995. However, authorities were unable to enter his property until 1996, when around 10,000 bones and bone fragments were discovered.
In April 1998, Hamilton County Sheriff James Bradbury stated that the matter was closed.
“If someone has any information, we don’t care who it is, we’d be happy to look into it,” Bradbury added. “But Herb Baumeister is the only suspect we have in all of them.”
Families of those allegedly killed by Baumeister have waited decades for closure, which Jellison hopes to alter. In 2022, he launched an inquiry into the identification of DNA from 10,000 bone fragments.
Jellison stated that he “cannot imagine” that law enforcement would place the financial burden of a DNA test on a victim’s family in today’s reality.
“These remains reflect victims in a homicide or murder. So, to tell the families that if they want to know if their loved one was murdered, it’s a tragedy in and of itself,” Jellison added. “I think we’re better now. Today, we are more attentive to crime victims and their families.”