Pelley legal team hopes to show prosecutors lied, hid evidence in 'prom night murders' case
SOUTH BEND — Jeff Pelley’s struggle to be exonerated enters a new phase on Monday as the 50-year-old will present evidence he says shows that he did not receive a fair trial when he was convicted of killing his father, mother and two step-sisters on the night of his high school prom in 1989.
The hearing is years in the making, as Pelley’s legal team has gathered records and testimony in an effort to convince St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Stephanie Steele that he deserves a new trial. They claim prosecutors lied about evidence at trial, and that new testimony suggests Pelley’s father’s illegal financial dealings in Florida may have been the motivation for the murders.
For Pelley, the hearing is effectively the last chance at a new trial and potential exoneration after being convicted of the killings 15 years ago. Pelley tried to get his verdict overturned immediately after his 2006 conviction and the state appeals court briefly overturned the conviction before it was upheld by the Indiana Supreme Court in 2009.
'Counterclock': True crime podcast reignites 1989 'prom night murders' as Jeff Pelley seeks new trial
Since then, Pelley and his attorneys with the Indiana University law school’s Wrongful Conviction Clinic have waded through records requests, court transfers and COVID-19 for their day in court.
After a scheduled four days of testimony, Steele will decide whether Pelley is entitled to a new trial.
Court filings in the past weeks and months show Pelley intends to argue prosecutors engaged in “blatant falsehoods” during his original trial by telling jurors a pair of blue jeans, which were entered into evidence, had been washed in the washing machine at the Pelley house.
Pelley will also highlight the testimony of a church directory saleswoman named Toni Beehler. Beehler’s statement, which was not heard by Pelley’s jury, indicates Pelley’s father was afraid for his life because of illicit financial transactions when he worked for a bank in Florida.
Meanwhile, St. Joseph County prosecutors have maintained that all of Pelley’s claims have already been decided by his appeal in front of the state supreme court and that the new evidence would not change the result of a new trial.
In recent court filings, prosecutors have tried to block Pelley’s attorneys from issuing subpoenas to multiple officials involved in the original investigation and trial. Judge Steele has ruled in Pelley’s favor and allowed his lawyers to subpoena former prosecutors Frank Schaffer, Ellen Corcella and Scott Duerring.
Steele ruled in favor of Pelley, and next week’s proceedings will likely see his attorneys try to discredit the evidence collection and maintenance processes of the county’s criminal justice system.
'Prom night murders'
Bob Pelley was found dead in an upstairs hallway of his house in Lakeville on April 30, 1989. Dawn Pelley — who was Bob’s wife and Jeff Pelley’s stepmother — was found dead in the basement of the house, along with her daughters (Jeff Pelley’s stepsisters) Jolene and Janel. All four were killed with a shotgun believed to belong to the family.
The case quickly garnered media attention, as Bob Pelley was the minister of Olive Branch Church in Lakeville and the murders occurred on the night of Jeff's high school prom. Bob Pelley had reportedly grounded his son, prohibiting him from attending activities with his friends surrounding the upcoming prom.
Investigators believed the friction between Jeff Pelley and his father surrounding the dance could have been motive for the murders.
Around 4:35 p.m. on the day of the dance, some friends of Jeff Pelley’s stopped by the Pelley house to take pictures and noticed the 17-year-old was wearing a pink shirt and blue jeans.
The friends left shortly before 5 p.m. and Jeff Pelley was next seen at a local gas station around 5:20, where he got help fixing his car. Jeff Pelley then drove to his girlfriend's house to change into his tuxedo and go to the dance.
The bodies of the Pelleys were found later that morning in Lakeville by parishioners and the murder investigation began. Police found no sign of forced entry to the house, but they did find a small load of clothes, including a pink and blue shirt and blue jeans, in the washing machine. A luminol test of the washing machine cylinder failed to determine whether it was reacting to blood or phosphates found in laundry detergents in 1989.
But prosecutors never should have told jurors the jeans were washed, Pelley’s filing claims, because initial police reports indicated the jeans were in fact dirty, meaning they hadn’t been washed, and were not found in the washing machine.
'I am Jessica': Book describes impact of 1989 Lakeville murders on surviving sister
No physical evidence directly connected Jeff Pelley to the crimes, though investigators noted he had motive, access to the presumed murder weapon and was unaccounted for about 20 minutes on the evening of the prom.
Though the murders happened in 1989, Jeff Pelley was not charged until 2002 by newly elected St. Joseph County Prosecutor Christopher Toth. Pelley was convicted in 2006 and sentenced to 160 years in prison.
Was Jeff Pelley wrongfully convicted?
In next week’s hearing, Pelley’s attorneys will not re-try the case, but rather they will present evidence they believe shows Pelley wasn’t given a fair trial in 2006.
That evidence centers around what they claim were “deceptive” and “reckless” actions of prosecutors, Pelley’s brief states.
“In truth, confirmation bias, illogical extrapolation, mishandled evidence, and blatant falsehoods were behind the prosecution’s claim that the pieces of the puzzle fit thirteen years post-crime,” the brief says.
In addition to the unwashed jeans, a key piece of evidence Pelley says prosecutors mishandled is the testimony of Toni Beehler and the potential for an alternative motive for the killings.
According to court documents, Beehler came forward to police in 2003 when she saw Jeff Pelley was charged with the murders. In an interview, she told investigators she contacted Jeff’s father, Bob Pelley, about a photographic church directory for his parish.
She said the church board voted to hire Beehler’s company, though Pelley didn’t like the idea because he didn’t want to have his picture published “as he had another life prior to becoming a minister.”
'Prom night murders': Jeff Pelley wants a new trial. Here's what we know.
Beehler said Bob Pelley didn’t tell her what his past life had been or what he did, court documents say, but her statement potentially gives credence to an alternative theory that the Pelleys were killed by members of a criminal organization as retribution for Bob Pelley’s illegal financial dealings with a bank he worked for.
Pelley’s recent brief says prosecutors never told his defense team about Beehler’s statement, which would be a violation of rules of trial conduct, and that the recording of the Beehler interview is now missing.
In response to Pelley’s brief, prosecutors maintain they did give the interview to Pelley’s attorneys. Even if they hadn’t, the state wrote, Beehler’s statement is "hearsay" within hearsay” and would not be permissible at trial.
The hearing
Jeff Pelley’s evidentiary hearing is scheduled to start Monday afternoon and will run through at least Thursday. Last month, Pelley was transferred from Indiana State Prison in Michigan City to the St. Joseph County Jail ahead of the hearing.
After hearing the evidence, Steele could take weeks or potentially months to decide whether Pelley deserves a new trial.
Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Hearing is Jeff Pelley's last chance in Lakeville 'prom night murders'
