Slaughter on North Lasalle (29 page)

“There’s so many things that happened with this case,” West said. “But if you look right at the source at the beginning, there was Uland. And the fact that he refused to take a lie detector test tells me that there was more to it and that he was hiding something. Until you could honestly clear him out of the case there wasn’t anyone else to look at as far as I’m concerned.”

Detective West felt that everything Fred Harbison had said in his letter fit with what the police knew about the case. While there had been many theories about who the killer or killers had been on North LaSalle Street—from outraged boyfriends and husbands to Jimmy Hoffa and President Nixon—the scenario told by Harbison was the most logical. But most importantly, it fit all the facts of the case. With this scenario there were no unanswered questions, no bits of evidence that didn’t fit.

On May 5, 2003, West received a response to his request for case clearance from Deputy Prosecutor John Commons, a man who had been involved with the North LaSalle Street case for many years. In this message Commons said, “It has long been my personal opinion that most likely Ted Uland along with unknown accomplices committed these murders… It is my personal recommendation, based on my years of experience and intimate knowledge of the history of this case, that it be given an exceptional clearance and closed.”

The North LaSalle Street murders could finally be put to rest.

I was a police officer in the Indianapolis Police Department for thirty-eight years, retiring in February 2007 with the rank of captain. I worked for several years as Joe McAtee’s administrative assistant and helped write some campaign speeches during his successful run for sheriff in 1985. Later, I served as commander of the Homicide Branch during the time of Detective Sergeant West’s investigation of the North LaSalle Street murders.

The North LaSalle Street murders deeply affected many people. Friends and lovers of the three murdered men felt the loss for many years. They couldn’t understand the brutality and apparent senselessness of it. But in addition to friends and lovers, the case also deeply affected the detectives who investigated it.

The victims of homicide, unlike the victims of almost all other crimes, cannot speak for themselves. And so, it
is up to the homicide detectives to be their voice and to demand justice on their behalves. When this doesn’t happen it disturbs the detectives greatly. All of the detectives who investigated the case in 1971 were deeply bothered that the case went unsolved for so long. But even though they were personally unable to solve it, they all moved on to have distinguished careers at the Indianapolis Police Department before continuing with other pursuits.

Joe McAtee, following the North LaSalle Street murders, was promoted to captain and then to the position of deputy chief of operations, in which he was in charge of all of the department’s uniformed personnel. Following this, in January 1981, the mayor of Indianapolis appointed Joe to the job of chief of police. In 1985, he ran for election to become the sheriff of Marion County. He easily won and served as sheriff for eight years, being barred by state law from running for a third term. Today, Joe is still at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. He is a colonel and in charge of the Metropolitan Emergency Communications Agency.

After the North LaSalle Street murders, Mike Popcheff continued to work for some time as a homicide detective sergeant. Then, after Mike received a promotion to the rank of lieutenant, the police department assigned him to supervise a uniformed district on the south side of the city. Mike retired in February 1999 and presently works providing corporate security.

Jim Strode also continued to work homicides following the North LaSalle Street case, and also eventually received a promotion to the rank of lieutenant. He retired
in January 1987 and ultimately ran for and won the election to be a constable in Lawrence Township of Marion County. A constable in Indiana is an officer of the court, who helps serve the court’s orders. Jim, though, simply couldn’t stay away from homicide investigation, and is presently back at the Indianapolis Police Department working in their cold case squad.

Roy West retired from the Indianapolis Police Department at the end of December 2007. He now works as an investigator for the Marion County Grand Jury.

Detective Sergeant Pat Stark and Captain Bob Tirmenstein have both passed away, Bob in 1997 and Pat in 2003.

Carol Schultz, following the collapse of the North LaSalle Street murder case in 1996, moved to California, where she found a job writing for a national magazine. Carol eventually returned to Indianapolis and got married. She also finally decided to do what she really loved: She became a private investigator.

There are several of Robert Gierse’s, Robert Hinson’s, and James Barker’s relatives still alive after forty years, and in the writing of this book I attempted to contact them, but not surprisingly, received no response. Twice before, in the 1970s and 1990s, they were promised by the police that the murder of their loved ones had been or soon would be solved, and both times they were bitterly disappointed. It’s very likely that they believed after the second disappointment that the case would never be solved. I hope that by the publication of this book they can finally get some closure.

Robert L. Snow
served for thirty-eight years in the Indianapolis Police Department, retiring in 2007 with the rank of captain. While at the police department, he served in such capacities as police department executive officer, captain of detectives, and commander of the Homicide Branch. He is the author of thirteen books and has had more than one hundred articles and short stories published in magazines including
Playboy, Reader’s Digest
, and
National Enquirer
.

Robert Gierse

Robert Hinson

James Barker

All photos courtesy of
The Indianapolis Star
unless noted
otherwise.

Crime lab technician wheeling evidence-collecting equipment into the crime scene at 1318 North LaSalle Street, a residence shared by Bob Gierse and Bob Hinson. They and their good friend Jim Barker were all found dead there on the morning of December 1, 1971.

Diane Horton, girlfriend of victim Bob Gierse, is consoled by a friend at the murder scene.

B&B Microfilming Service Company, the business founded by Gierse and Hinson, had recently gotten off to an amazingly successful start.