CASE UPDATE: Convicted murderer Jesse Stephens appeared in Greene Circuit Court earlier today, August 11, for an initial hearing on a petition to revoke his suspended sentence in a murder case. During the hearing before Judge Eric Allen, via video connection between the Greene County Jail and the courtroom, Stephens waived his right to an attorney and the judge set his bond at $25,000 cash only. This amount is in addition to the bond set in the previously reported drug case of $10,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed.

Story below was previously posted on Greene Streets last Thursday, August 6, 2020:

Convicted murderer Jesse Stephens is back in jail

In 2001, Jesse Stephens was convicted of the 1996 murder of his wife, Michelle Stephens. He served his time, was released and has been on probation. Late Tuesday night, a citizen reported a truck was “all over the road.” GCSD Deputy Alan Jackson located the truck, crossing the center line near the Lighthouse Junction, made the stop and arrested Stephens on drug charges.

Jesse Wayne Stephens, 55, Lyons, was arrested by Deputy Alan Jackson of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday, August 4. Stephens was booked into the Greene County Jail at 11:43 p.m. and was initially held without bond pending court appearance.

Deputy Jackson and GCSD Sgt. Bobby Pierce were both in Bloomfield that night when a female citizen told Sgt. Pierce that she had been following a gray pickup truck that was “all over the road.” She provided a license plate number for the truck.

Deputy Jackson headed west on State Road 54 and caught up to a gray Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck with a matching license plate near the intersection of SR 54 and SR 57 – also known as the Lighthouse Junction. There the truck turned and headed south on SR 57 and the deputy reported the truck crossed the center line after crossing railroad tracks. A traffic stop was initiated and the truck pulled over on Base Road.

Stephens was the driver. He produced a driver’s license but no proof of insurance or registration because he had recently purchased the truck.

When records were checked, the deputy learned Stephens’ driver’s license was suspended. He asked Stephens to get out of the truck and told him it would be towed.

The deputy completed the standard inventory of the truck prior to towing and when the tow truck arrived, he asked Stephens if he still wanted a ride to his home. Stephens said yes.

Deputy Jackson said for safety reasons, he asked Stephens if he could do a pat down for weapons before he got into the patrol car and Stephens agreed.

Deputy Jackson reported that during the pat down, a glass smoking device was located in a pocket and a plastic bag with a white crystal substance was found inside a boot – it field-tested positive as methamphetamine.

Stephens appeared in Greene Superior Court earlier today, Thursday, August 6, and was charged with possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony, and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor. His bond was set at $10,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. As of Thursday evening, Stephens had not posted bond and was still in jail.

Also today, but in Greene Circuit Court where Stephens was convicted of the 1996 murder, the Greene County Probation Department filed a petition to revoke his suspended sentence for the murder.

This is not the first time Stephens has been accused of violating his probation.

After his murder conviction, Stephens was sentenced to 30 years in prison and began serving his time in the Indiana Department of Corrections on March 2, 2001. That was back when the law granted more liberal good time credit – the law has since changed. According to DOC records, he was released from prison on March 12, 2012, and returned to the authority of the local court in Greene County and was placed on probation.

In early December of 2018, the Probation Department alleged Stephens had violated the terms of probation and the judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

When deputies arrived at his home, in Marco, to serve the warrant on January 2, 2019, Stephens refused to come to the door, barricaded himself in a room then dropped down through a hole in the floor and hid in a crawl space. The stand-off went on for several hours.

The Indiana State Police sent numerous troopers and an ERT (Emergency Response Team) and they drove an armored vehicle into the barricaded room, deployed tear gas and apprehended Stephens who was hiding in the crawl space.

(To find the earlier story on GreeneStreets about the arrest, click on the Tag “Jesse Stephens” below this story.)

After his apprehension, when Stephens went to court on January 23, 2019, Stephens admitted to a violation of his probation and the judge revoked one year of his suspended sentence. Stephens was sent back to prison and was then released from DOC on July 4, 2019.

The date of a hearing on his suspended sentence in the murder case has not yet been set.