Dearborn-Ohio County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard has filed murder charges against 17-year-old Andrew Conley for the murder of his little brother, 10-year-old Conner Conley.
An Ohio County sheriff's deputy found Conner Conley's body Sunday night around 8:15 in a wooded area near the Rising Sun City Park.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Andrew Conley told police that on Saturday, Nov. 28, he and Conner were wrestling in their living room. Andrew told police he put Conner in a head lock and Conner passed out. Andrew said he put on gloves, and choked Conner for 20 minutes until he was certain Conner was dead. He told investigators he then put a plastic bag over Conner's head, secured it with electrical tape and dragged Conner's body outside. He said he then struck Conner's head on the ground several times before putting his body in the trunk of his car.
He told police he drove to his girlfriend's house and gave her a sweetheart ring. She told investigators when she saw him, "he was happy. More happy than he'd been in a while."
He said he then drove to Rising Sun City Park where he dumped Conner's body by the recycling center and covered it with vegetation. His parents work the night shift, and when they returned home, they asked Andrew where Conner was, he told them Conner was at his grandmothers' house to spend the night. His mother had given Conner permission to stay with his grandmother that night.
"People always want to know a 'why.' They assume there's a 'why.' Sometimes people are evil... and this child is evil," Negangard said.
Andrew also told investigators that early Sunday morning he entered his parent's bedroom with a knife, intending to kill his father.
Also on Sunday, he told investigators that he told two friends he killed his brother. That night police found body and later took Andrew into custody.
Investigators said they found blood on Andrew's clothes and in the trunk of his car.
Negangard said Andrew realized he was "caught" when his parents asked him to pick up his brother from his grandmother's house and he couldn't.
Negangard also said when investigators asked Andrew why he killed his brother, Andrew said "Like I had to... like when people have something like they are hungry and there is a hamburger sitting there and they knew they had to have it and I was sitting there and it just happened."
Andrew also told investigators he'd fantasized about choking or strangling someone and that he "thought about doing different things to people... taking a knife to someone's throat or beating them to death with my hands." He also said he watched the Showtime series "Dexter" - about a serial killer - and says he feels like the main character.
Andrew told investigators Conner's last words were, "Andrew stop."
The prosecutor also said school officials informed him Andrew was an A and B student who had never really been in trouble. But recently, his parents pulled him out of school. And some residents of Rising Sun, Ind. said Andrew had become self-destructive.
Detective Thomas Baxter said recently Andrew had cut his forearms. Residents tell WHAS 11 News, the incident was a suicide attempt.
Baxter also said Andrew's demeanor during his interview was "matter-of-fact," "unemotional," and Andrew "showed no remorse."
The prosecutor said this was a "deliberate" murder and because of Indiana law, Andrew Conley will be tried as an adult. The prosecutor said he considers Andrew "dangerous" and "evil" and will consider seeking life without the possibility of parole.
