A suspect has been arrested in the 2017 cold case murders of an Indiana couple. A witness came forward saying the alleged killer had bragged about stabbing to death the man and woman, police said.
An Indiana man has been arrested in connection with the brutal slayings of a couple in 2017 after new evidence, including a witness who said the alleged killer bragged about the stabbings, came to light, police said.
Dustin Neal, 35, was arrested Friday and charged with two counts of murder, felony murder and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury for the June 2017 slayings of 25-year-old Noele Trice and 29-year-old Bryan Lash, court records show.
Neal was being held without bail at the Wells County Jail Tuesday awaiting transfer to Allen County, according to online records.
The witness, along with new cellphone evidence and a partial print from one victim's phone, led to Neal's arrest, police said.
The couple was found dead the morning after hosting a party that Neal attended, police said. A relative summoned police after discovering their bodies during a welfare check, authorities said.
There was blood throughout the couple's home, police said, and their bodies were found with multiple stab wounds.
Neal had intially been interviewed by investigators and said he had left a party about midnight at the couple's home, where friends had gathered to barbecue and watch a professional basketball game between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers, authorities said.
Neal denied returning to the house, police said. But new cellphone evidence showed his phone had pinged a cell tower near the home after the killings, authorities alleged. A partial print found on Trice's cellphone also led investigators to Neal, according to a probable cause affidavit recently filed in connection with the case.
A witness came forward in October, according to the affidavit, saying Neal had bragged about the killings, which occurred after the couple woke up when he broke into their house to steal marijuana.
Neal allegedly said he stabbed both victims and "I stabbed her in the face so hard the knife got stuck," the affidavit claims.
During his questioning in June 2017, Neal allegedly said Trice was dealing high-quality marijuana from her home and had between two to three pounds of pot worth $4,000 a pound, the affidavit said.
Another witness told investigators Neal had stolen that marijuana and was trying to sell it, the affidavit claims.
Neal has not entered a plea and has no attorney of record, according to court records.
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