In 1982, the Indianapolis Police Department began to wonder if they were starting to deal with a serial killer situation. Before we continue, a correction. They noticed, most likely because some people brought it to their attention.
The problem was that the victims were all gay. And in the early 1980s, this was actually an important factor. The gay community, in general, was far from being accepted by mainstream society. The recent HIV virus was often seen as “God’s punishment for homosexuality”.
The situation between the gay community and law enforcement (again, in general) was no better. The police had a history of violently raiding gay bars, arresting homosexuals just for being gay, and often refusing to “protect and serve” if homosexuals were somehow involved.
So, when a small group of police officers banded together and formed a task force to see if there was a serial killer targeting gay men in and around Columbus, some felt like it was at least a step in the right direction. At least, as long as things were handled appropriately.
By this time, there were a few young gay men who had disappeared after being spotted in gay bars, never to be seen alive again. So, one of the main goals of this task force was to take a long hard look at these cases and see if they could determine if there was any connection (other than the fact that all the victims were gay.)
The First Three Victims?
Michael S Petree was reported missing friends on June 7, 1980. Five days later, Michael would be seen in town, riding in the passenger seat of a car although nobody reported having an interaction with the fifteen year old High School student.
On June 16th, an unidentified young male’s body was discovered in a ditch, but police had no initial luck identifying him so he was buried in a pauper’s grave in Indianapolis’ Oak Grove Memorial Cemetery. However, just a few days later, the body would be identified as Petree’s. His parents began planning a memorial service, however they asked investigators to hold off on exhuming the body until after service.
By the end of the month, several new facts came to light. A proper autopsy was performed and the cause of death was noted as strangulation. Also, detectives learned that for several months before his disappearance, Michael was believed to have been working as a street hustler or male prostitute for gay men.
Yet, everything they learned didn’t seem to get them any closer to catching his killer.
In July, 1992, the remains of an unknown male were discovered in a creek outside Atlanta, Indiana. The coroner’s office had a hard time documenting the time and manner of death, saying that strangulation was most likely. Several months later, the remains were identified as a vagrant named Maurice Taylor. Part of the reason for this delay was that his only close relative, his mother, was an inpatient in an Indianapolis mental asylum and was unable to file a missing person report. While detectives didn’t have much luck in finding his killer, they did discover that he often slept in the boiler room of an apartment complex and made money as a street hustler near a few Indianapolis gay bars.
The body of a fourteen-year-old black male was discovered in a ditch near Noblesville, Indiana. His cause of death was determined to be strangulation by some object smaller than a rope because, the coroner said, the marks on the boys throat were not that large. Soon, the victim would be identified as Delvoyd Lee Baker.
Baker’s parents last heard from their son in the evening of on October 2, when he called home to inform his parents that he would be late as he planned on seeing a movie. This concerned his parents as they believed that the kid didn’t have any money, but they kept their concerns to themselves. The investigators soon learned that the boy he had been hanging out with were known to hang out around Indianapolis gay bars offering sex for cash. The last he was seen alive he was getting into a van with a white man with a bushy moustache.
To be fair, the task force also investigated a few other cases as well, looking for similarities or connections. For example, one gay man was stabbed by his boyfriend after an argument. Even though the details of this crime were not consistent with the other victims, they still looked for any connections, but none were found.
However, while there were no connections found between these three cases, they did spot a few similarities. All the victims were young gay men who were known sex workers. All three victims were strangled and then dumped in a river or ditch in a somewhat remote area. Two of the victims had been last seen getting into a van and witness described the driver as having a bushy moustache. Also, so far, all the victims had been found missing at least one article of clothing.
This was far from proof that the cases were connected or that a single perpetrator was involved. But, it was enough to get the authorities attention.
More Killings
Michael Riley’s body was discovered in a drainage ditch outside Greenfield, Indiana on June 5, 1983. According to family and friends, the 22 year-old man was not a homosexual, although he was often seen inside gay bars. On the last night he was seen alive, he was seen leaving a gay bar with a gentleman. When his body was discovered, it wsa completely nude.
Two years later, on Mary 7, 1985, another body was found. This one belonged to seventeen year-old Eric Roettger. He was discovered without any clothing above the waist. This was also the first victim found not in Indiana, but across the state line in Ohio, in a ditch in Preble County not far from the town of Lewisburg.
Eric’s parents denied their son was gay, but police would later learn that several of his friends were drug users and dealers.
On the day he disappeared, his parents said that he had gone into the city for some summer job interviews, but he is believed to have not attended any of them. He was last seen waiting at a bus stop. However, he did not take the bus. Instead, he was seen getting into a van and the witness believed the driver had a bushy moustache.
Another difference between this and earlier victims was that he had a burn mark on his left shoulder.
In August 1986, the body of Michael Glenn was discovered in a ditch outside Eaton, Ohio, wearing only his underwear. It would take a few years for him to be identified, though. The 22-year-old man lived alone in a trailer park on the outskirts of Indianapolis and worked sporadic jobs, usually as a handyman. Therefore, it is also impossible to know when, exactly, he disappeared, and detectives have been unable to find anyone who claims to see him before he disappeared.
Twenty-one-year-old James Robbins went missing on October 15, 1987. Two days later, his body would be discovered naked in a ditch outside Gwynneville, Indiana. Two witnesses came forward with claims that they had seen him shortly before his body was discovered. However, one claimed he was spotted in a red Jeep Wrangler Renegade while the other claimed it was a Chevrolet Blazer.
In May 1989, the body of Jean Talbot was discovered in a ditch in a rural part of Defiance County, Ohio.
Steven Elliot’s body was discovered in Preble County, Ohio just off I-70 in August 1989 wearing only his underwear. When detectives spoke with his father, they learned that he left the family house ten years ago after he came out as gay. Having trouble supporting himself at that point, he had turned to drugs and male prostitution.
Thirty-two-year-old nurse clay Boatman’s nearly naked corpse was discovered in a ditch near Eaton, Ohio in August 1990. Even though the details of his death matched the other victims’ authorities believed were connected, Boatman’s family and friends denied he was gay or had any connections to the gay community.
In August, 1990, Thomas Clevenger Jr. (19) disappeared from his home. Thomas had a troubling upbringing and was arrested when he was fourteen after he attacked and stabbed the deputy headmaster at his school. This was when he was officially diagnosed with an intellectual disability. Even though his family denied this, several witnesses came forward to tell investigators that he had been involved in gay prostitution shortly before his death.
In October, 1999, the body of Otto Becker was discovered along a dirt road in rural Henry County, Indiana. A couple of witnesses claimed to have seen Becker in a car with two men, one of which appeared to be holding him down. They were shown a large number of mugshots of known criminals and men they think might have been involved, but were unable to say if any of the men were the ones they saw.
After this, the killings seemed to have stopped. Maybe. The authorities knew that it was possible that something had somehow changed.
Patterns, Profiles, and Possible Suspects
In 1983, the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit became involved and started working on a profile. Part of the problem when they first got involved is that nobody had really quite figured out any patterns. Several of the cases they were looking at included additional victims from around the Indianapolis area who were connected to sex workers or the drug trade, several of whom were also found in and around ditches. But there were other details that, according to the FBI, just didn’t fit.
For example, Daniel McNeive was a 22-year-old whose body was discovered in Hendricks County, Indiana. Like the other victims, he was a suspected sex worker with strong ties to the Indianapolis gay community. Unlike the other victims, however, he was repeatedly stabbed to death and was his body was found in a shallow grave.
It was the profiler’s initial work that first suggested that there were multiple killers at work, but this would not be fully realized for another few years.
One of the profiles they came up with, the one that explained most of the murders, said the killer was around 45 years old, living an average suburban middle-class life. They said he would appear normal in his outward appearance. If he is married, they continued, there would be little no no intimacy between the killer and his wife. The marriage would just be for show. The killer knew he was gay but was unable to accept it. In fact, that might be the reason for his killing – lashing out at gay people because of his own internalized homophobia.
One early suspect was a man named Duncan Patterson. During the investigation, they discovered that he had picked up Baker shortly before his death. Eventually, Patterson did agree to picking up the boy for sex, but claimed that he dropped the kid off, alive and well and twenty dollars richer, in front of the public library where he observed Baker getting into another man’s vehicle. The police were able to discover another witness to this and Patterson was dropped from their suspect list. At least for that crime. He was arrested and charged with child molestation.
For a time, police also considered a man named Larry Eyler, who had strong connections to the Indianapolis gay community and turned out to be something of a prolific serial killer who would be dubbed either the Interstate Killer or the Freeway Killer as he would discard of his victim’s remains along highways in Indiana and Illinois, although he is a prime suspect in several other killings in adjacent states. After two many details didn’t fit, he was dropped as a potential suspect.
Today, the authorities still have no definitive proof of the killer’s identity, although they are pretty sure that it was a single person abducting and strangling young gay men and leaving their bodies in ditches and creeks near I-70. It’s probably safe to assume the killer has some direct connection to the Indianapolis area, but as a few victims were found in Ohio, it’s possible there are some connections as well. Most of the victims were discovered not terribly far from I-70, although one was found in a more northern location in Ohio.
And Then A Suspect Emerges Then Disappears Then Shows Up Again And Then… He’s gone
One day in 1995, a young man called the Indianapolis Police Department. He had a very interesting story to tell. A Story that he would tell the police … and the FBI … and some reporters … and quite a few documentary filmmakers … and some Paranormal Investigators … and presumably anyone who would care to listen.
He said that he met a man at an Indianapolis gay bar and wound up going home with the guy. He lived out in the middle of nowhere and wasn’t entirely sure where. The guy’s name, he claimed, was Brian Smith. While he at Brian’s house, they had tried some form of autoerotic asphyxiation, during which time he said that Brian had tried to kill him. In fact, he was certain that Brian had killed a friend of his about a year or so prior. He somehow managed to get away, though. Since he had only a name and couldn’t remember exactly where the house was, that wasn’t a lot for the police to go on. So, the guy kept his eyes open in case he ever saw Brian again. Less than a year later, he did happen to see Brian coming out of a gay club, so he got in his car and followed the man just long enough to get his car’s license plate.
This story has received much analysis and criticism over the years. Some of the details have changed between tellings. Other details just didn’t make sense. There were some things that people felt he knew too much about, or that seemed to reference things that happened at times he was not there. There were other things that logically he should have known about but didn’t seem to.
The more that the police spoke with him, the more they realized he was not exactly a source of reliable information, a feeling that would only seem to intensify in the months and years to follow.
When the police investigated the license plate information that the guy had provided, they discovered the car had not been registered to anyone named Brian, or Smith – but a local businessman named Herb Baumeister.
The more the police looked at Baumeister, the details started to paint a very depraved picture. For example, as a kid his father had him evaluated by a psychiatrist who diagnosed him with schizophrenia, most likely offset with other conditions as well, but with limited records surviving, it’s kind of hard to tell what, exactly. This likely came about after an episode at his school when he found a dead bird on the road on the way to school, which he put on his teacher’s desk when she wasn’t looking.
It is clear now that throughout his life he displayed behavior consistent with some kind of antisocial disorder. In high school, he was known to be a loner and didn’t seem to make any friends.
After graduating high school in 1965, he met a lady named Juliana and started dating. They seemed to click based on their conservative views. The two would finally get married in 1971.
From 1974 to 1985, Herb worked at the Department of Motor Vehicles where his former coworkers would later comment that they thought he was a bit of an oddball. One year, for example, he sent out Christmas Cards with a picture of himself and an unknown male in drag. In 1985, he was caught urinating on a letter that was addressed to the governor and lost that job.
After this, he started working in a thrift store, which he seemed to enjoy. Soon, he’d ask his mother for a $4000 loan so that he could open his own store, which he called “Save A Lot” (no relation to the grocery chain with the same name). One year later, he would open another one.
In 1991, owing to the success of the Save-A-Lot Thrift Stores, Herb would purchase a secluded home for himself and his family and would rename the property “Fox Hollow Farm”.
Three years later, his son found a human skeleton somewhere on the property. Herb explained this away by claiming it had been one of his father’s medical props. (His father was a well-known anesthesiologist in Indianapolis).
At the same time, those who knew the family would comment that their relationship was beginning to have issues. Juliana would agree with this, calling their marriage “loveless”. At work, Herb was known to have wild mood swings, would often come in reeking of alcohol, and the business began to suffer.
In November, 1995, police arrive at Fox Hollow Farm and confront Juliana as Herb was not present at the time. Juliana would not allow police to search the residence, or anywhere on the property. They would soon return with a search warrant. Human remains would be discovered, many of which showed signs of having been burnt.
Shortly after New Years, Juliana would file for divorce. Six months later, as Herb began the process of closing his stores, she would tell her lawyer that the couple had only “consummated their marriage” six times in twenty-five years.
Citing problems at home and with both his stores now closed (and with the police getting very close to making an arrest) Herb runs away to Canada. Shortly after the police in Indiana get a warrant for his arrest, Herb ends his own life with a .357 magnum in a remote area in Huron County, west of Toronto.
Herb did leave a suicide note in which he wrote about his failed marriage and failed businesses but made no mention of anyone he might have killed.
Connecting Herb Baumeister to the I-70 Strangler
Once the authorities began a thorough forensic examination of Fox Hollow Farm, they found enough direct evidence that proved that Herb was responsible for the deaths of several young men whose remains were discovered discarded on the property. The question then became – was he responsible for any other deaths?
Investigators pursued a wide variety of avenues, some of which panned out. Others did not.
And, let’s face it, today Armchair Detectives have raised even more questions. But that’s a story for another day.
When Indianapolis detectives started comparing the Fox Hollow Victims to what someone dubbed the I-70 Strangler (not to be confused with the I-70 Killer who operated a long way down that particular highway) they started to notice a few similarities. For example, the cars that witnesses saw victims getting into were similar to, if not the same, as what Baumeister was driving at the time. Also, both killers targeted men in and around the gay bars of Indianapolis.
Timing also may have been a critical clue. Except for Otto Becker’s remains being found in 1999, no further similar victims were discovered near I-70 – and that happens to coincide with the time that Baumeister purchased the home he redubbed Fox Hollow Farm. If he was the one killing all those men and dumping them near the interstate, now he had a completely new place to safely dispose of any remains.
Beyond the dumpsite, many aspects of both the K-70 Strangler and what police were learning about Baumeister was eerily similar. I am not certain what, exactly, caused the police to try and connect the case, but they did. Perhaps it was that the two killers drove similar, if not identical cars? Perhaps it was the location the victims were chosen. Perhaps there were other factors the public wasn’t made aware of.
Rabbit Holes & Unanswered Questions
For all intents and purposes, both the “I-70 Strangler” and the “Fox Hollow Murders” cases are effectively solved. Herb Baumeister was responsible for all of them.
When Baumeister took his own life, this prevented him from standing trial for his crimes, resulting in two things. First, he never received the punishment he seems to have so deserved. But also, this resulted in neither case having anything resembling closure. All the facts of the case never went before a judge and jury, questions were never officially asked, let alone answered. Instead, we’ve got “the bad guy’s dead, game over.”
Lots of questions remain.
For example, how many people did Herb Baumeister kill? The I-70 Strangler is believed to have killed at least ten people. Currently, thirteen victims have been identified from remains discovered on the farm, as of 2024. Forensic scientists and genetic genealogists continue to work trying to identify further victims. Thousands of bones and fragments were uncovered on the property according to official reports, law enforcement is certain they did not recover all of them.
Even if we somehow were able to come up with a final total after exhausting all other possibilities, that still would not provide us with a final answer. Since we believe that Baumeister disposed of remains along I-70, was it possible he disposed of even more people in other places?
Another question I have that, to the best of my knowledge, has not been asked is what connection Baumeister had to Ohio. One part of that is asking why he chose a few Ohio locations to dispose of his victims – or was he simply trying to move farther away from his haunting ground and just happened to cross the state line. Did those locations have any meaning to him?
While researching this story, I ran across some pages from the gay magazines published in Indianapolis in the 1980s and early 1990s that urged gay men to be careful who they hook up with, or go home with from the bars, urging some degree of safety. I saw the same thing from Dayton area sources, which kind of made sense since I-70 stretched from Indianapolis to Columbus, and similar reports coming from the Cincinnati area as well. There was nothing to suggest Baumeister has abducted and killed anyone from Cincinnati or Dayton, yet it doesn’t rule out that possibility.
Another fact that may complicate this issue was the body of Jean Talbot being discovered in Defiance County, Ohio – which any map will clearly show you is quite a bit away from I-70 and is between Toledo, Ohio and Fort Wayne, Indiana. Quite often in mysteries like this, the most telling clues can be spotted in the odd-man-out situations. And that easily could be the case here.
The more you look at Herb Baumeister, The I-70 Strangler and the Fox Hollow Farm murders, the more rabbit holes you might stumble into. There are a lot of unanswered questions that remain, and it’s quite possible that with a little of that proverbial elbow grease, some law enforcement agency, or some armchair detective just might find some solutions.
