John P. Chapman was murdered at an abandoned house in Linton on the night of Tuesday, March 17. Since his body was discovered the next day, on Wednesday, March 18, and officers from the Linton Police Department arrived at the scene, an investigation has been ongoing to bring the murderer to justice. This week, Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw and Linton Police Chief Paul Clark agreed to share more information about the case after charges were dropped against two of three suspects connected to the murder.

Background

It’s not been an easy case. In fact, the investigation has taken some unexpected twists and turns. Hundreds of man-hours have been spent following leads and tracking down everyone who might know something. The Linton Police Department has been assisted by numerous other officers and investigators from other agencies, as well as the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office, with LPD Sgt. Logan Hobbs leading the investigation.

On Wednesday, March 25, two suspects were arrested and both were charged with murder. Brandon Allen Christopher Lee Criss, aka Brandon Criss, 34, and a juvenile, Devon Thomas Paul Nichols, aka Devon Nichols, now 17, both from Linton, were booked into the Greene County Jail where they were both held without bond. (Editor’s Note: Though Nichols was a juvenile, his case was automatically waived into adult court and the information about his case became a matter of public record.)

The investigation continued, hampered by delays caused by the pandemic. During one interview, the juvenile implicated Criss and himself, but Criss maintained his innocence to police, and he had an alibi. Then when new video surfaced giving a clearer picture of who was with Chapman prior to the murder, plus Chapman’s phone was cracked and police got a look at who had been communicating with him the night of the murder, a different suspect emerged.

On Monday, April 6, Gary Alexander “Alex” Moore, 18, also of Linton, was taken into custody and has been charged with aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony; battery by means of a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony; and obstruction of justice, a Level 6 felony. He’s accused of being with Chapman at the abandoned house on the night of Chapman’s death and getting into a physical altercation with Chapman. He allegedly admitted using a knife and causing one of the three stabbing wounds suffered by Chapman, by stabbing him with the fixed blade knife.

The investigation continued and police are still waiting for the delayed returns on some of the items that have been submitted to labs for analysis.

On Monday, May 4, Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw filed motions to dismiss the cases against Criss and Nichols. Nichols was released from jail. Criss is still in custody on charges of counterfeiting that are still pending.

Readers following this case may remember that Criss was interviewed earlier in the day, before Chapman was killed that Tuesday, by LPD Officer Debbie McDonald. He was questioned about allegedly trying to use counterfeit bills to pay for purchases at two Linton stores. He allegedly told Officer McDonald that Chapman had given him the bills and he would take care of Chapman. So many readers were surprised when the cases were dismissed.

In the motion to dismiss, Prosecutor Holtsclaw wrote that he was requesting the dismissal “for the reason that the continuing investigation into the death of John Chapman has revealed new video footage, cell phone information and witness testimony that casts significant doubt as to whether Brandon Criss or Devon Nichols were involved in Chapman’s death. Additionally, information originally provided to investigators by Devon Nichols regarding when and how he and Brandon Criss committed the murder has now been shown to be false.”

When the two cases, against Criss and Nichols, were dismissed, readers asked, why? Were they not involved with the murder of John Chapman? The motion to dismiss, quoted above, answers that basic question but GreeneStreets asked Prosecutor Holtsclaw and Chief Clark if they could elaborate on these questions. These are their answers.

 From Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw:

Why were the cases against Brandon Criss and Devon Nichols dismissed, if you can discuss?

To begin, I want to make it clear that John Chapman’s death, like all major cases, remains under investigation up until the time each case is resolved. While we did dismiss the murder and related counts against Criss and Nichols, there is still a case pending against Gary Alexander Moore that is connected to Chapman’s death. While that case remains pending, I am limited in discussing some specific details of the investigation. However, I believe the public deserves information as to why Criss and Nichols no longer face criminal charges related to Chapman’s death.

During the course of the initial investigation, detectives worked very hard to determine who was responsible for killing Chapman. Numerous interviews were conducted, hours of video surveillance footage was obtained and several search warrants and subpoenas were executed. Eventually, evidence was obtained that Brandon Criss had a connection with John Chapman and a motive to harm or kill him in connection with a counterfeiting operation. Devon Nichols was found to be involved with Criss in the counterfeiting operation and was interviewed. During the investigation, Nichols provided several statements to law enforcement, some were even given after Nichols was charged and had retained counsel. Nichols’ statements included information that Criss was responsible for Chapman’s death and that Nichols had acted as a lookout while it occurred. While Criss denied committing the murder to police, multiple witnesses provided information to law enforcement indicating Criss had made statements to them implicating himself in a murder. Criss also disposed of a knife to another witness after the murder. Initial video surveillance showed a young male meeting with Chapman minutes before his death. This male appeared to match Nichols description and walked from the area of Nichols’ home to meet Chapman. At the time of their arrests, there was sufficient probable cause to arrest and charge both Criss and Nichols with the murder of John Chapman.

The investigation continued after the arrests, as it should, and there were several items of evidence collected after the initial charges were filed. I would note that the pandemic did slow down law enforcement’s ability to obtain some evidence, particularly phone record evidence. Also, Chapman’s cell phone had to be sent off to a company to break the passcode before it could be analyzed. This took weeks to accomplish. Additional video cameras with relevant surveillance footage were discovered that assisted investigators in trying to determine exactly what happened during the night in question. These discoveries led to identifying Gary Alexander Moore’s involvement in John Chapman’s death. From that point, investigators also began looking at possible connections between Moore, Criss and Nichols. No connections between Moore and Criss or Nichols have been made.

Eventually, Nichols was asked to submit to another interview regarding the information he provided to law enforcement indicating that Brandon Criss was responsible for Chapman’s death and that he had assisted. It was determined that he had been lying about the information he had provided to police and newly acquired video surveillance footage confirmed that Nichols’ prior version of how the murder occurred was false. Near the same time, law enforcement received information that proved that a witness who had told police that Criss called and left a message on the night of the murder to say he had been involved in killing someone and needed help was mistaken on the date of the call. The call actually occurred later than the witness stated and after Criss had been interviewed by police. The message had been deleted by the witness and so far experts have been unable to retrieve the deleted message from the answering machine. At that point, Detective Hobbs and I met to discuss the new developments in the case. After reviewing all of the evidence collected thus far, Detective Hobbs and I agreed that there no longer existed credible evidence to prove that either Brandon Criss or Devon Nichols were responsible for killing John Chapman. I then promptly dismissed both cases.

What happens now?

Since the prosecution of Gary Alexander Moore is pending, I cannot discuss the details of his case, except to say that it is possible that additional charges may be filed in that case. The investigation is ongoing. It should also be made clear that the charges against Gary Alexander Moore are only accusations at this point and he is presumed innocent until and unless he is proven guilty.

Devon Nichols is a juvenile and was charged as an adult only because of the murder count. He can and will be subject to juvenile jurisdiction for his actions in misleading law enforcement in this investigation.   

 From Chief Paul Clark of the Linton Police Department:

Where do things stand with this case?

Since March 18, the Linton Police Department and lead investigator Sgt. Logan Hobbs have dedicated hundreds of man hours in the investigation of the murder of John Chapman. As law enforcement investigators, we are tasked with the responsibility of seeking out the truth in the interest of justice. And as this investigation continues, our task remains the same. Sgt. Hobbs and other investigators have exhaustively pursued the truth of each and every piece of evidence. Many of those truths became exculpatory towards Brandon Criss and the juvenile involved in that case. When the case and facts evolved to the point where it was no longer believed that Criss and the juvenile committed the murder, the Prosecution dismissed those cases. We support that dismissal.

However, the Linton Police Department will continue to gather and report the facts related to the murder of John Chapman until the person or persons responsible are served with justice.

As Chief of Police, I am very proud of the efforts that all of the law enforcement professionals have devoted to seeking truth in this case, especially Sgt. Hobbs. We are grateful to all the agencies who have assisted us in that cause.

Because this matter is ongoing and under investigation, I will not discuss specifics of the case. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.