WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
Two men have been convicted in the 2019 torture-slaying of a northern Indiana woman whose body was found inside a trash bin dumped in southern Michigan.
An Elkhart County jury found Donald Owen Jr., 22, and Mario Angulo Jr., 20, guilty of murder Thursday in the October 2019 and killing of 31-year-old Kimberly Dyer at a house in Elkhart.
The Columbia City woman’s body was found stuffed in a trash bin and dumped and covered in a marshy area near Constantine.
Owen and Angulo, who were tried jointly during a nearly two-week trial, were also convicted of robbing and injuring Robert Porter, 32, of Sturgis.
Jurors will reconvene May 17 to decide if the Elkhart men will be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Evidence was presented at trial showed that Dyer was accused by people at the Elkhart house, described as a haven for methamphetamine users, as having a so-called “snitch list” of names.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Katelyn Doyle said Dyer was tortured for hours in the house’s basement before Owen ordered that she be “put to sleep.” Doyle said Angulo then sliced Dyer’s throat with the glass of a broken bottle, killing her.
A third man, Matthew Murzynski, 25, of Elkhart, had been charged with robbery and confinement in the case but he previously pleaded guilty to charges and is awaiting a May 6 sentencing. (AP)
