Hellcat
Registered
Prison acquaintance provides key information in 1998 strangling case.
By MARTI GOODLAD HELINE
Tribune Staff Writer
SOUTH BEND -- A South Bend man already in prison for murder was charged Wednesday with murder in a 1998 case.
The St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office has charged Breond Yarbrough, 27, with strangling Glenn Blair, whose body was found in his apartment in November 1998.
Last fall, Tim Decker, a cold case investigator with the County/Metro Homicide Unit, said he had focused on one suspect but still needed some final pieces of information for an arrest warrant.
The pieces all came together, according to Chief Deputy Prosecutor Frank Schaffer, into a
ase that he believes will be compelling for a jury.
Blair's sister found her brother dead Nov. 3, 1998, in his apartment at 526 W. Colfax Ave. Based on medical tests, authorities believe Blair was
k
lled sometime between Oct. 31 and Nov. 3.
Blair
worked temporary jobs and did carpentry work, his sister told The Tribune at the time. The landlord said in 1998 the sister received Blair's disability check and paid his rent.
Blair's body was found with unique black markings of racial epithets on its back. This fact, which was not publicized, would become crucial in the investigation, Schaffer said.
Police were not able to come up with a suspect shortly after Blair's death, but did recover fingerprints from several items in the room, including a beverage bottle next to the body.
Homicide investigators put the case on the front burner last fall after receiving an anonymous letter from someone in the Indiana Department of Correction, saying Yarbrough was in prison b
ragging about strangling a man on Colfax.
Yarbrough had been sent to the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City in April 2001 after receiving a 65-year sentence. He pleaded guilty to the murder of
Ernest S
amuels Jr., 40, of Niles.
He admitted that in March 2000 he had str
angled Samuels and beat him on the head with a tire iron from the victim's car. Yarbrough took Samuels' wallet, cell phone and a bag of papers
Decker, the cold case investigator, was able to track the letter about the 1998 case to a man who had become acquainted with Yarbrough in prison.
The information the inmate had would have been known only to the killer, Schaffer said.
The man knew about the racial markings on the body such as "KKK" and a derogatory word for black people.
"This was never released to the press," Schaffer said.
The prosecutor also noted the informant was living in Evansville at the time Blair was killed.
The final piece that put the case t
ogether came when police confirmed that fingerprints left on a liquor bottle near Blair's body matched Yarbrough's prints.
In addition, the liquor bottle is of the brand that Yarbrough
said was the
only type he drinks, Schaffer said.
"Decker and (Commander Tim) Corbett (of the County/Metro Homicide Unit) worked very ha
rd to put this together," said Schaffer, noting their trips to prisons to talk to people.
Schaffer said the arrest warrant would be sent to the prison and read to Yarbrough within the next few days. He then will have to be transported to St. Joseph County for an initial court appearance. No date has been set for that.
This is the second cold case that investigators have brought charges for this year, Schaffer said.
In January, Javon Crockett-Berry was charged with murder in the 2001 shooting death of Mary Lou Wolfe, 49, of South Bend, in an apparent robbery gone wrong.
Last year, the Metro Homicide Unit made arrests in several cold cas
es.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/20..._charged_
in.sto
By MARTI GOODLAD HELINE
Tribune Staff Writer
SOUTH BEND -- A South Bend man already in prison for murder was charged Wednesday with murder in a 1998 case.
The St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office has charged Breond Yarbrough, 27, with strangling Glenn Blair, whose body was found in his apartment in November 1998.
Last fall, Tim Decker, a cold case investigator with the County/Metro Homicide Unit, said he had focused on one suspect but still needed some final pieces of information for an arrest warrant.
The pieces all came together, according to Chief Deputy Prosecutor Frank Schaffer, into a
ase that he believes will be compelling for a jury.
Blair's sister found her brother dead Nov. 3, 1998, in his apartment at 526 W. Colfax Ave. Based on medical tests, authorities believe Blair was
k
lled sometime between Oct. 31 and Nov. 3.
Blair
worked temporary jobs and did carpentry work, his sister told The Tribune at the time. The landlord said in 1998 the sister received Blair's disability check and paid his rent.
Blair's body was found with unique black markings of racial epithets on its back. This fact, which was not publicized, would become crucial in the investigation, Schaffer said.
Police were not able to come up with a suspect shortly after Blair's death, but did recover fingerprints from several items in the room, including a beverage bottle next to the body.
Homicide investigators put the case on the front burner last fall after receiving an anonymous letter from someone in the Indiana Department of Correction, saying Yarbrough was in prison b
ragging about strangling a man on Colfax.
Yarbrough had been sent to the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City in April 2001 after receiving a 65-year sentence. He pleaded guilty to the murder of
Ernest S
amuels Jr., 40, of Niles.
He admitted that in March 2000 he had str
angled Samuels and beat him on the head with a tire iron from the victim's car. Yarbrough took Samuels' wallet, cell phone and a bag of papers
Decker, the cold case investigator, was able to track the letter about the 1998 case to a man who had become acquainted with Yarbrough in prison.
The information the inmate had would have been known only to the killer, Schaffer said.
The man knew about the racial markings on the body such as "KKK" and a derogatory word for black people.
"This was never released to the press," Schaffer said.
The prosecutor also noted the informant was living in Evansville at the time Blair was killed.
The final piece that put the case t
ogether came when police confirmed that fingerprints left on a liquor bottle near Blair's body matched Yarbrough's prints.
In addition, the liquor bottle is of the brand that Yarbrough
said was the
only type he drinks, Schaffer said.
"Decker and (Commander Tim) Corbett (of the County/Metro Homicide Unit) worked very ha
rd to put this together," said Schaffer, noting their trips to prisons to talk to people.
Schaffer said the arrest warrant would be sent to the prison and read to Yarbrough within the next few days. He then will have to be transported to St. Joseph County for an initial court appearance. No date has been set for that.
This is the second cold case that investigators have brought charges for this year, Schaffer said.
In January, Javon Crockett-Berry was charged with murder in the 2001 shooting death of Mary Lou Wolfe, 49, of South Bend, in an apparent robbery gone wrong.
Last year, the Metro Homicide Unit made arrests in several cold cas
es.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/20..._charged_
in.sto