Kelly Eckart Found Murdered in Indiana; Michael Overstreet Sentenced to Death But Court Ruled Not Competent for Execution (September 27, 1997)

On September 27, 1997October 6, 2019 By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Felony Crime, Homicide, In Their Name, Military Policy, Navy, PTSD, TBI, Mental Illness, Sexual Assault, VeteransLeave a comment

Kelly Eckart, Indiana

Michael Dean Overstreet

Offender: Michael Dean Overstreet
Occupation: US Navy veteran (discharged for psychological problems after one month), construction, frequently unemployed
Pathology: Stranger abduction, rape, and murder by strangulation, shot victim in forehead
Dates: September 27, 1997
Location: Franklin, Indiana, moved body to Atterbury Wildlife Preserve (Brown County)
Motive: Hunted prey, lured victim, stranger abduction, rape & murder
Victim: Kelly Eckart (18), Franklin College student
M.O.: Stalked at work, followed home after work shift, bumped her car while both driving on road, abducted after she pulled over
Conviction: Sentenced to death (July 31, 2000), Indiana court ruled not competent to be executed in 2014, still on death row
Status: Incarcerated, death row
Appearance: Blanket of Evidence (Forensic Files); All-American Sweethearts (Murder Comes to Town); Death Row (Real Stories); First Love, Forever Evil (Evil Lives Here)
Red Flags: Deprived and abusive childhood, Schizotypal Personality Disorder, mother failed to seek mental health for him, got in fights, bully in high school, went to jail for having a gun at school, isolated & controlled significant other, stalking, threatening, long history of domestic abuse, obsession with weaponry especially knives, always carried a knife, owned firearms, threatened wife with knife, grabbed wife by throat & pointed gun at her head (shot it next to her head), threatened wife with rifle, unexplained absences, secret life/two lives, hallucinations, volatile temper, unpredictable, paranoid, admitted to wife he killed people (delusional thoughts), psychological deterioration, liked killing animals, spent a lot of time alone in the woods, obsessed with media after crimes committed, wife afraid to call the police with suspicions, one misdemeanor in criminal history, loves his family & two children, model prisoner

In the News:

A northern Indiana judge is nearing a decision on whether a man convicted of abducting and killing a Franklin College student in 1997 should be put to death. -RTV6 The Indy Channel (November 13, 2014)

Overstreet ruled not competent to face death penalty. -WTHR (November 20, 2014)

Full Episode: Housing 1900 inmates, 12 of whom are on death row, Trevor spends two weeks in the dark and forbidding world of Indiana State Maximum Security Prison. He hears from men who know what it is like to live under the shadow of the death penalty and even the date and time they will die. -Indiana Death Row, Part 1, Real Stories (August 28, 2017)

Full Episode: Indiana Death Row | Part 2 | Real Stories (August 30, 2017)

Forensic Files:

Full Episode: A young woman disappeared after working the late shift in a department store. Days later, her body was found in an isolated ravine. Tiny clues told police a great deal about the killer. He would own olive-colored carpeting, a white blanket, and distinctive bullets made from wax, not lead. -Blanket of Evidence, Forensic Files (S11, E38)

Investigation Discovery:

Eighteen-year-old Kelly Eckart disappears one night after finishing up her shift at a local hardware store. Hours later her car is discovered abandoned by the side of the road, still running, but Kelly is nowhere to be found. -All-American Sweethearts, Murder Comes to Town (S1, E3)

Melissa Holland was certain that her high school boyfriend, Michael Overstreet, was the man she’d always dreamed of. But only after they were married did she begin to realize that her determination to live happily ever after had put her in mortal danger. -First Love, Forever Evil, Evil Lives Here (S3, E6)

Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.

Related Links:
Indiana Death Row: Michael Dean Overstreet
Just The Facts: Michael Overstreet | Indiana Infamy
Suspect arrested in coed’s death
Killer Sentenced To Death
Accused killer’s kids must keep name
Michael Dean OVERSTREET, Appellant v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (2003)
Murder victim’s legacy lives on
Michael Dean Overstreet v. Superintendent (2011)
Condemned killer claims incompetence in death sentence appeal
Where`s The Justice? Victim`s Family Outraged By Killer`s Sentence
Murder victim’s family upset over killer’s death sentence hearing
Indiana To Use New Drug In Lethal Injections
Indiana use of new execution drug draws opposition
Indiana officials say death penalty protocol is sound
What do recent botched executions mean for death penalty?
Judge to decide if Michael Overstreet is competent to be executed
Indiana Won’t Appeal Overstreet Execution Ruling
Man who killed Franklin College student not competent for execution, judge rules
Indiana won’t appeal Overstreet execution ruling
Indiana Not Appealing Case Of Mentally Ill Death Row Inmate
State Won’t Appeal Delay of Overstreet Death Sentence
Prosecutor: Ruling an injustice to those “who worked to convict this animal”
Reliving a mother’s worst heartache
Executing the Insane Is Against the Law of the Land. So Why Do We Keep Doing It?
Overstreet ruling likely to be guide
Overstreet: State’s request for recusal ‘legally insufficient’
State appeals ruling that suspended death penalty
Meyer testifies on proposed state senate death penalty bill
Court officer recommends reprimand for Johnson County prosecutor
Michael Overstreet ‘had knife obsession’ before murder of Kelly Eckart says ex-wife
Michael Overstreet ‘had knife obsession’ before murder of Kelly Eckart says ex-wife
Webb: Why Indiana should abolish the death penalty
States Struggle with Determinations of Competency to Be Executed
Michael Dean Overstreet | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers
Judge weighs fate of student’s convicted killer
Overstreet ruled not competent to face death penalty
Death Row: Inside Indiana State Prison Part One (Prison Documentary) – Real Stories
Death Row: Inside Indiana State Prison Part 2 (Prison Documentary) – Real Stories
Blanket of Evidence | Forensic Files | FilmRise (S11,E38)
Blanket of Evidence | Forensic Files | Full Episode (YouTube)
Blanket of Evidence | Forensic Files | Netflix (Collection 1, E8)
Blanket of Evidence | Forensic Files | Amazon Prime Video (S11,E19)
All-American Sweethearts | Murder Comes to Town | Investigation Discovery (S1,E3)
All-American Sweethearts | Murder Comes to Town | Investigation Discovery (website)
All-American Sweethearts | Murder Comes to Town | Investigation Discovery (Amazon)
First Love, Forever Evil | Evil Lives Here | Investigation Discovery (S3,E6)
First Love, Forever Evil | Evil Lives Here | Investigation Discovery (website)
First Love, Forever Evil | Evil Lives Here | Investigation Discovery (Amazon)
Forensic Files Premiered ‘Blanket of Evidence’: Michael Dean Overstreet Raped & Murdered Franklin College Student Kelly Eckart (April 4, 2007)
Murder Comes to Town Premiered ‘All-American Sweethearts’ on ID: Kelly Eckart Found Raped & Murdered in Indiana State Park (January 27, 2014)
Evil Lives Here Premiered ‘First Love, Forever Evil’ on ID: Michael Dean Overstreet Abused Wife, Raped & Murdered Kelly Eckart (February 11, 2018)
Forensic Files: 6 Active Duty Military and Veteran Homicide Cases

Offutt Air Force Base Airman Brooker Maltais Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Statutory Rape of 14-Year-Old Girl He Met on the Internet (July 17, 1997)

On July 17, 1997May 20, 2019 By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Child Abuse, Felony Crime, In Their Name, Military Policy, Scandals, Sexual Assault, USAFLeave a comment

Related Links:
Brooker Maltais | Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
Ceara O’Connell | Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
‘Abduction’ Casts Light on Online ‘World of Darkness’
FBI and police: Missing girl may be with AWOL airman at own choosing
FBI: Teen Girl Ran Away With 22-Year-Old Airman
Missing Girl, Soldier Met on Internet
Neb. man sought in missing teen case
Cops: Missing girl was seen in Missouri
It’s Not Just a Game Anymore
Missing Girl Is Found With Man From Internet
Snared by the Net | People
Nation Datelines | SF Gate
Airman pleads guilty to running away with 14-year-old girl
Airman who Ran Off with Girl Receives 4 Years in Prison

On This Day in History: Army Veteran Timothy McVeigh Convicted for Oklahoma City Bombing (June 2, 1997)

On June 2, 1997June 3, 2019 By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Army, Felony Crime, Homicide, In Their Name, Military Policy, Scandals, VeteransLeave a comment

Timothy McVeigh Army — Timothy McVeigh, U.S. Army Veteran

“Timothy McVeigh, a former U.S. Army soldier, is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. On April 19, 1995, just after 9 a.m., a massive truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The blast collapsed the north face of the nine-story building, instantly killing more than 100 people and trapping dozens more in the rubble. Emergency crews raced to Oklahoma City from across the country, and when the rescue effort finally ended two weeks later, the death toll stood at 168 people, including 19 young children who were in the building’s day-care center at the time of the blast.” Read more from This Day in History here.

Related Links:
Oklahoma City Bombing: 168 People Died in an Act of Domestic Terrorism at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building (April 19, 1995)
Timothy McVeigh convicted for Oklahoma City bombing (June 2, 1997)
American Experience PBS Premiered ‘Oklahoma City’: Timothy McVeigh & Terry Nichols Conspired to Bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building (February 7, 2017)
Oxygen Premiered ‘In Defense Of Timothy McVeigh’: Convicted Oklahoma City Bomber Executed by Feds in 2001 for Terrorism (June 25, 2018)
The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum
Oklahoma City National Memorial (U.S. National Park Service)

Air Force Retiree Dennis Dawley & Mistress Brandita Taliano Sentenced to Life in Prison, No Parole for the 1991 Murder of Joan Dawley (April 15, 1997)

On April 15, 1997November 15, 2019 By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Domestic Violence, Felony Crime, Homicide, In Their Name, USAF, VeteransLeave a comment

Preview: Seeking freedom from his controlling wife, Dennis Hawley begins seeing drug-addicted prostitute Brandita Taliano and supporting her financially. In 1993, when Joan receives an inheritance and makes plans to divorce, Dennis, fearing financial ruin, enlists his lover to help murder his wife. -Second Best, Deadly Women (S8, E10)

Air Force retiree Dennis Dawley, 61, with the help of prostitute and mistress, Brandita Taliano, bludgeoned to death his wife Joan Dawley of 35 years for financial gain in Van Nuys, California. Joan wanted a divorce and Dennis and Brandita wanted her inheritance money. The 1991 case went cold for years until DNA technology under Joan’s fingernails yielded a match to Brandita Taliano. Both Dennis and Brandita were charged with murder, conspiracy & solicitation and faced the death penalty. On April 15, 1997, a California jury sentenced Dawley and Taliano to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The pair were spared the death penalty because they didn’t have any prior violent felony records and the jury heard the emotional pleas from Dawley’s daughters.

Investigation Discovery:

Being the other woman’ is a lonely life. Some turn rejection into rage. A call girl craved the high life, a teen mom eradicated her rival, and a lesbian love affair ripped a family apart. These Deadly Women refused to play Second Best’. -Second Best, Deadly Women (S8, E10)

In suburban California, an intruder brutally attacks and kills Joan Dawley. As the Dawley family grieves, it’s up to LAPD detectives to crack the case. Secret home movies uncover a shocking tale of deceit, and a monster lurking behind the scenes. -Stages of Grief, American Monster (S3, E1)

Army Veteran Doug Gissendaner Murdered for Marital Home & Life Insurance; Wife Kelly Sentenced to Death, Executed in Georgia (February 7, 1997)

On February 7, 1997August 15, 2019 By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Army, Domestic Violence, Felony Crime, Homicide, In Their Name, VeteransLeave a comment

screen-shot-2016-11-13-at-8-26-20-pm — Doug Gissendaner, U.S. Army Veteran

Army veteran Doug Gissendaner was murdered by his wife Kelly and her lover Gregory Owen in Auburn, Georgia on February 7, 1997. Doug met his wife Kelly in 1989 in Georgia. Kelly was a party girl and had already been married for six months and divorced when she met Doug. She had a child from her previous marriage and Doug welcomed the child with open arms. Within two months, they were married and then Kelly got pregnant. Doug loved being a father, husband, and family man. Then Doug joined the Army and got stationed overseas in Germany. While Doug was away, Kelly resorted to her old ways and started partying at the clubs on base. Kelly loved being on base with soldiers since the military base was a ready supply of men. It was reported that Kelly was so promiscuous on base that eventually she was asked to leave and her and the children were sent back to the United States.

In 1991, Doug returned home from his enlistment in the Army. He decided to forgive his wife and they reunited. Shortly after the reunification, Doug learned that Kelly was pregnant with someone else’s child. He was disappointed to say the least as he wanted to keep his family together. Divorce was inevitable. But after three years of being alone, Doug was desperate to be with his family again. The couple remarried and moved in together. Doug put up with Kelly so he could be a family man and provider to the children. Kelly wanted a house so Doug bought her one. What Doug didn’t realize is that Kelly was having an affair with 25 year old Gregory Owen. Kelly approached Owen about three months prior to the murder and asked him to get rid of Doug. Owen didn’t take her seriously initially and suggested she simply divorce him.

On the day of the murder, Kelly drove Owen to her residence in Auburn where he would wait for Doug with a knife and a nightstick that she provided to him. Kelly went out drinking with her friends to establish an alibi. Owen ambushed Doug when he got home and forced him into his own vehicle. He then took him to a remote wooded area where he forced him on his knees, hit him on the head from behind with the nightstick, and stabbed him in the neck ten times. Owen paged Kelly after he was done. Kelly showed up to the crime scene, demanded to see the body, and used gasoline, an accelerant, to set Doug’s car on fire. Kelly Gissendaner reported Doug missing to the police the following day. Investigators suspected Kelly immediately because they believed she was not being truthful. They found Doug’s body eleven days later.

Kelly eventually admitted to police that she was having an affair with Gregory Owen and this tip led investigators to the man who would eventually confess to the murder of Doug Gissendaner. Owen was tormented with guilt and felt manipulated and used. As a result, Owen testified at Kelly’s trial that she wanted to cash in on an insurance policy and become the outright owner of the marital home. In exchange for his testimony, Gregory Owen was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in twenty-five years. Kelly Gissendaner maintained her innocence but was found guilty of malice murder and sentenced to death in 1998. She lived her prison life in solitary confinement and was executed by the State of Georgia on September 30th, 2015. Kelly Gissendaner wanted things her way no matter the cost and conveniently had her husband killed after he bought her a house.

Investigation Discovery:

For these women, one good man wasn’t enough. A middle-aged woman used looks to prey on elderly gentleman; an army wife didn’t want a soldier but a squad; and a serial wife cooks up meals to die for. These Deadly Women married for the money, honey. -Deadly Women (S8, E11)

Related Links:
Find-A-Grave: Douglas Morgan Gissendaner
Family: Kelly Gissendaner’s murdered husband ‘is the true victim’
Gissendaner v State of Georgia 2000
Kelly Gissendaner execution postponed indefinitely
Sentence upheld against only woman on Georgia’s death row
Georgia’s only female death row inmate to be executed
Only woman on Ga. death row denied clemency, set for execution
Georgia woman’s execution postponed because drugs appeared ‘cloudy’
Kelly Gissendaner: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
Former Ga. chief justice regrets vote in Gissendaner case
WATCH: Kelly Gissendaner’s 1997 Interview on the Search for Her Husband
Kelly Gissendaner Death Unfair? Boyfriend Gregory Owen Did the Murders, Gets Parole in Eight Years
Georgia Executes Kelly Gissendaner, Renewing Questions About Death Penalty
Kelly Renee Gissendaner got her lover, Gregory Bruce Owen, to kill her husband Doug for the insurance money; She is now on death row
Execution Date Set for Kelly Renee Gissendaner, Convicted of Husband’s Murder
Georgia to execute its first female prisoner in 70 years
Kelly Gissendaner First Woman Executed in Georgia in 70 Years
Children of woman on Ga. death row plead for her life to be spared
Family split over whether Kelly Gissendaner should die tonight
Kelly Gissendaner Left Message for Kids Before Execution Was Postponed
Ga.’s female death row inmate’s last meal request
Georgia death row inmate requests 2 whoppers and more for last meal
Georgia Woman Kelly Gissendaner Sings ‘Amazing Grace’ During Execution
Georgia inmate Kelly Gissendaner executed after failed appeals
Georgia executes Kelly Gissendaner after Supreme Court denies stay requests
Kelly Gissendaner Executed in Georgia After Courts Deny Stay Requests
Kelly Gissendaner executed for planning husband’s murder as man who killed him escapes death sentence
She sang Amazing Grace then the drugs took hold and she stuttered into silence: As the state of Georgia executes its first woman for 70 years, a chilling dispatch from inside the chamber
Georgia executes Kelly Gissendaner, despite plea from Pope Francis
Detective recounts how he put Kelly Gissendaner on death row
The Premeditated Murder of Kelly Gissendaner
Justice has different meanings for Kelly Gissendaner’s family
Profile of Husband Killer Kelly Gissendaner
First We’ll Kill My Husband by Lyn Riddle (Amazon)
Review of First We’ll Kill My Husband
For the Money Honey | Deadly Women | Investigation Discovery (S8, E11)
For the Money Honey | Deadly Women | Investigation Discovery (website)
For the Money Honey | Deadly Women | Investigation Discovery (Amazon)
For the Money Honey | Deadly Women | Investigation Discovery (Hulu)
Deadly Women Premiered ‘For the Money Honey’ on Investigation Discovery: Kelly Gissendaner & Lover Murdered Army Veteran Doug Gissendaner (September 26, 2014)
Deadly Women: 30 Military and Veteran Homicide Cases Featured on Investigation Discovery

MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL

Tag: 1997

Kelly Eckart Found Murdered in Indiana; Michael Overstreet Sentenced to Death But Court Ruled Not Competent for Execution (September 27, 1997)

Offutt Air Force Base Airman Brooker Maltais Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Statutory Rape of 14-Year-Old Girl He Met on the Internet (July 17, 1997)

On This Day in History: Army Veteran Timothy McVeigh Convicted for Oklahoma City Bombing (June 2, 1997)

Air Force Retiree Dennis Dawley & Mistress Brandita Taliano Sentenced to Life in Prison, No Parole for the 1991 Murder of Joan Dawley (April 15, 1997)

Army Veteran Doug Gissendaner Murdered for Marital Home & Life Insurance; Wife Kelly Sentenced to Death, Executed in Georgia (February 7, 1997)

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