This week the man accused of murdering Scott White by stabbing him in the neck with a 12-inch long knife on Thanksgiving Eve, who allegedly then licked the victim’s blood from the knife, rejected a plea deal. His case is now expected to go to trial by jury.

Andrew Charles Damron, 24 at the time of the incident, now 25, of Linton, is accused of the murder of Scott A. White, 31, also of Linton.

Police say after Damron stabbed White, he allegedly licked the blood from the knife as he sat in the truck of another man who had given Damron a ride to White’s home. Damron allegedly told the driver to drive away, or he would kill him too.

Although Damron had fled the scene following the stabbing around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, November 21, he was in custody within an hour after the incident occurred. Around 10 p.m., police found him hiding in a closet in the home of a family member.

Following interrogation at the Linton Police Department, Damron was booked in to the Greene County Jail around 1:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 22, on a warrant previously issued on a petition to revoke a suspended sentence in a recent case involving felony intimidation.

At that time, LPD Police Chief Troy Jerrell said Damron was a “person of interest” in the stabbing incident but he stopped short of naming Damron as a suspect pending the gathering of more facts from the ongoing investigation.

LPD Detective Paul Clark led the investigation, assisted by LPD Sgt. Logan Hobbs, other LPD officers and personnel from the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, the Indiana State Police, and Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Keven McIntosh.

On Monday, November 26, the prosecutor’s office filed a criminal case against Damron, charging him with murder.

When Damron appeared in Greene Superior Court with Judge Dena Martin presiding, Damron was charged with:

Murder, felony murder,
Two counts of intimidation – defendant draws or uses a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony,
Obstruction of justice, a Level 6 felony, and
False informing resulting in a substantial hindrance to law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor.

Deputy Public Defender Ellen Martin was appointed to represent Damron and the state is represented by Prosecutor Holtsclaw and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Keven McIntosh.

Since that time, as the case worked its way through the system, it appeared likely the case would not go to trial because a resolution would be reached in the form of a negotiated plea agreement.

That changed yesterday, Thursday, June 6, in a hearing with Damron before Judge Martin in Superior Court with Prosecutor Holtsclaw and Defense Attorney Martin.

During the hearing, Damron informed the court that he had been offered a plea agreement but he was rejecting it.

Damron’s case is now scheduled to go to trial by jury in January, 2020.

Damron continues to be held without bond in the Greene County Jail.

Case investigation background taken from GreeneStreets story posted on November 26, 2018:

Evidence: Thanksgiving Eve stabbing incident recorded on murder victim’s home video surveillance system

Det. Clark said when Sgt. Hobbs and LPD Officer Joe Riley responded to White’s home on 5th Street NW in Linton around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, November 21, after White’s girlfriend called 911, they found White bleeding from the neck/chest area, unconscious but still breathing. They administered first aid before he was transported to Greene County General Hospital by the Greene County Ambulance Service. A short time later, after White arrived in the Emergency Room, he was pronounced dead.

On Friday, November 23, Det. Clark attended an autopsy conducted by forensic pathologist Dr. Roland Kohr who determined the cause of White’s death was a stab wound to the neck.

In a lengthy, detailed and well-written probable cause affidavit prepared by Det. Clark, he wrote that while Sgt. Hobbs was trying to help White, White’s girlfriend, who did not see the stabbing but was in the home when it took place outside the home, told Sgt. Hobbs that White had walked back into the house after the stabbing, told her he needed to go to the hospital, and told her Andy Damron had stabbed him.

Sgt. Hobbs further talked to this witness at the hospital and she said White collapsed as they were walking to a vehicle to go to the hospital. That is when she tried to help control his bleeding as she called 911.

Clark reported that at the hospital and in a later interview at the police department, White’s girlfriend explained two men had knocked on their door wanting to talk to White. He told them it wasn’t a good time but he did get dressed and went outside to talk and didn’t seem angry or agitated. She didn’t go outside but heard the voices, and later saw the truck driving away.

Det. Clark and Sgt. Hobbs were out trying to find Damron when they located him hiding in a closet in his brother’s residence. Clark said Damron had what appeared to be dried blood on his left hand and red stains on his clothing, but he had no visible injuries. A swab of the stain on his hand was taken for evidence and his clothing was also preserved as evidence.

Damron allegedly told one story then another. Clark said Damron first claimed he’d been drinking at his brother’s house for several hours. At various times, he changed his story. He said he didn’t have a knife, said he hadn’t left his brother’s, actually even denied hiding in the closet, then said he’d left with his cousin to go to the liquor store, then said the cousin’s girlfriend had given him a ride to the liquor store.

As the interviews progressed, Damron said he couldn’t remember what happened but if he did stab anyone, it was because they were coming at him. Later, Damron allegedly said he might have stabbed White, that he didn’t go to White’s residence to kill anyone but if he accidentally stabbed anyone, he was sorry. Finally, Clark alleges that Damron said he did stab White in self-defense while Damron was sitting in his cousin’s truck. After that, Damron requested an attorney.

While Damron was changing his stories in these interviews at LPD, police located the cousin and took him in to the station. Det. Clark reported the cousin said he knew they needed to talk to him and he answered their questions. He allegedly said Damron asked him for a ride to White’s residence and when they knocked on the door, White answered, told them it was not a good time but Damron became upset and kept pressing White to come outside.

The cousin reportedly said when Damron and White talked outside, he thought they were getting along, the two shook hands and Damron got back in the truck. But after that, the two became agitated and Damron told him to get him out of there before he shot White. He said he didn’t know if Damron had a gun on him, but Damron was known to carry a gun, and when White, who had been walking back toward his house, heard the threat, he turned back around and approached the truck.

Clark said the cousin told him he saw Damron raise his arm toward White at the window, then White turned and walked toward his back door. Damron then demanded he be taken back to his father’s house and then started waving a knife around.

According to Det. Clark, the cousin said he then knew Damron had stabbed White. The knife was covered in blood. He said Damron told him to “drive, or I’ll kill you too” and also said “I told him not to f*** with me” before licking the blood-covered blade of the knife.

He allegedly told Det. Clark that he never took Damron to the liquor store, that Damron said he’d wanted to go see White to drink a beer and visit, and that he didn’t know of any reason why the stabbing happened. After the stabbing, he drove Damron to Damron’s brother’s house.

Damron’s brother was also interviewed. He said Damron was at his house visiting and drinking then said he was going to walk to his father’s house to get some cigarettes. When Damron returned with his cousin in the cousin’s truck, he said both Damron and the cousin were “freaking out” and when he learned Damron had stabbed White, he told both of them to leave.

Damron’s brother also allegedly said he was familiar with the knife because he’d given it to Damron months earlier. He described it as a large fixed-blade hunting knife about 12-inches long with a serrated base beneath the regular blade, with a black handle and a silver blade. He said Damron carried it on his right hip in a black molded plastic sheath.

According to Det. Clark, the brother said the two men left when they were asked to leave but Damron returned again and asked the brother for his shotgun. He didn’t give him the shotgun and asked Damron to leave again. He said Damron did leave and when Damron was located in his closet, he didn’t know Damron was in the house. He said he must have come in through the back door and hid.

LPD Officer Orry Phipps located the cousin’s vehicle – a teal 1997 Chevrolet 1500 pickup truck and had it towed to a secure storage area. A search warrant was granted then executed on Saturday, November 24, by Indiana State Police Trooper Eric Russell, a crime scene technician. He collected blood swabs from inside the truck for analysis.

The murder weapon, the 12-inch knife, was not located in the truck, and as of early Monday, November 26, had not been located anywhere else.

However, police were in possession of another very important piece of evidence in this case. Scott White had a video surveillance system at his home and it recorded this incident.

In his affidavit, Det. Clark details what police discovered when they reviewed White’s video footage: At approx. 8:44 p.m., a truck pulls into the driveway and two males exit. After initially going to the back door, the two go to the front of the residence, which is off camera. At 8:51, after walking on and off camera, the two male subjects get back into the truck. The male on the passenger side adjusts an item on his right hip. The item appears to be consistent with the shape of a knife carried on a belt.

Clark continues, after getting into the truck, a male, who is recognizable as Scott White, exits the residence’s back door and approaches the truck, putting on a belt. At approx. 8:53, the male passenger of the vehicle exits the truck after the driver appears to put the vehicle into park and he begins to speak with White. The male is now recognizable as Damron. After talking for a few minutes, the two shake hands, and appear jovial.

White then turns and speaks to the man who remained in the truck. Damron is standing slightly behind and to the side of White. Damron is continuously touching and handling the item on his belt, as well as covering and uncovering it with his shirt and coat. Damron also appears to be talking or making movements that attract White’s attention. White reacts to this behavior and begins to interact with Damron and the item on his hip. Damron and White appear to talk and their posture and body language changes and make them both appear angry and arguing.

The two engage in what appears to be arguing for a little over a minute and ends when White opens the truck door and Damron gets into the truck and White closes the truck door. White walks away from the truck and begins to move a piece of plyboard. At approx. 8:56 p.m., Damron can be seen talking and making a hand gesture, which causes White to become angry and approach the truck. As White approaches the truck, Damron is making furtive movements with his right hand on his right side. White stands at the window, with his hands at his sides and takes an aggressive posture towards Damron.

Damron makes a quick movement, and White turns away from him, grasping the right side of his neck. White enters his back door and the truck drives away from the scene. The entire interaction between Damron and White was approx. four minutes long.

Det. Clark noted that White had nothing in his hands during the incident.

Det. Clark also wrote that the video confirms most of the statement made by Damron’s cousin about the incident.