Chief Hite Does About Face On Detective's Work On Cold Case

Yesterday, news emerged that IMPD brass yanked Sgt. William Carter from work on the cold case murder investigation of Carmen Van Huss in 1993 after it learned he set up a Gofundme.com page to raise money for a DNA test the department said there was no money to pay. Within hours, enough money had been raised to pay for the test, but Chief Rick Hite yanked him off the case. That news angered the family of Van Huss. "He said (the order) came from his chief," said Jimmy Van Huss, who was 15 when his sister was killed. "If Carter's off the case, the case is over. She's been dead for 22 years."

By this evening, Chief Hite was singing a different tune at a hastily called press conference. "Sometimes people assume things they hear," Hite was quoted by the Indianapolis Star as saying. "I can tell you that the (deputy) chief never brought that to my attention, that he wanted to remove anyone." The Star continued, "But Hite said Friday that he did not know why the family believed that Carter had been pulled off their relative's investigation." "Pressed further, Hite said Carter may have been told to 'temporarily' cease investigating while officials came together 'to talk about where we are in the investigation.'"

Sgt. Carter typically works on the Nuisance ad Abatement Unit, but he's been volunteering time working on cold case investigations since 2013. IMPD told the Star and other media yesterday that Carter had been pulled from the case after he set up the Gofundme page to pay for the DNA test, and that the case had been reassigned to Sgt. Dave Ellison. "When asked whether Carter was still being allowed to work on the case," Maj. Chris Bailey told the Star, "He probably shouldn't be. It should be a case for the investigator." "We just want to make sure that people stay in their lanes," Bailey said. "We have cold case investigators, and we want to let them do their job."

Speaking of people staying in their lanes, Advance Indiana heard an interesting tale about that certain high-ranking police officer having another affair with a female police officer--the same one involved in the cover up of that captain who allegedly impersonated another police officer after a citizen spotted him driving his police car erratically down the street while under the influence of alcohol. It seems the lady officer had to leave the superior officer's home on short notice when word came the wife was on the way home. Backing out of the drive, the officer struck an object and tore the side mirror off her police car. Advance Indiana is told the incident was reported by the officer as a hit-and-run by a car traveling in the opposite direction. A crash scene investigator was a bit perplexed given his conclusion the mirror was struck from the opposite direction. Whoops.