David Ison
Ripley County Sheriff's Office
(Brookville, Ind.) – David Ison, the man accused of murdering five people in Franklin County, will not face the death penalty, county prosecutor Mel Wilhelm said Friday.
Wilhelm filed a life-in-prison-without-parole charge in Franklin Circuit Court, a sixth charge in addition to the five murder charges Ison, 46, already faces.
Ison, a Fayette County resident, allegedly shot Roy Napier, his estranged wife Angela, their two grown children and family friend Henry Smith at two homes on Stipps Hill Road near Laurel on September 25. Ison’s then girlfriend told police that Ison shot the family because Roy Napier had raised the price of prescription pills Ison was trying to buy from Napier.
Police were called to the murder scene after neighbors drove upon Melissa Napier’s four-year-old daughter wandering in the road. She was the only survivor of the massacre.
According to the Richmond Palladium-Item, Wilhelm had considered filing death penalty charges against Ison and presented the case in October to the Capital Litigation Committee of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council for its evaluation.
Citing the publicity the murder case has received, Ison’s defense attorney filed for a change of venue for the trial. Franklin Circuit Court Judge Steven Cox granted that request in November.
Cox could rule soon on where the trial would be located.
A death penalty trial could have been costly for Franklin County. County officials have been discussing a possible short government shutdown to save funds to prosecute Ison for the death penalty.
LINKS:
Murder Suspect Granted Change of Venue
Murder Suspect Wants Trial Moved
Ison Pleads Not Guilty To Franklin Co. Murders
Ison Charged With Five Murders
Services Set For Metamora Massacre Victims
Person of Interest Held In Murder Case
ISP: No Persons Of Interest In Five Deaths
Questions Abound In Franklin Co. Deaths
Five Found Dead In Two Metamora Homes
RCHD: Mosquitoes are Three Times More Likely to Carry West Nile Virus This Year
South Dearborn Grad Competes AIT Training in South Carolina
Batesville Tool & Die Gives $25K to MMH Foundation's Capital Campaign for New Hospital
Batesville HS Principal Takes Superintendent Job at Plainfield
Intersection Improvement Project Set to Begin at U.S. 50, I-275 in Greendale
Ghent Man Charged with Murder
