Mark Wilson

Courier & Press

The defense attorney of the man accused in Aleah Beckerle's abduction and death said he is concerned about public disclosures about forensic evidence he has not yet received.

Sgt. Jason Cullum, spokesman for the Evansville Police Department, said the information was not released by police but came from the courts through a media public records request for the search warrant.

Under Indiana law, search warrants are public records once police file a return which inventories the evidence recovered, which also becomes public record.

"That document is public record unless sealed by a judge," Cullum said.

Terrence W. Roach, 24, is charged with three counts of felony murder, as well as charges of burglary with serious bodily injury, criminal confinement, kidnapping and abuse of a corpse.

He was arrested March 31 after police said he confessed to taking and killing the wheelchair-bound, nearly immobile, and nonverbal 19-year-old Beckerle in July. Her body was found in an empty house on the South Side.

Attorney Glenn Grampp raised his concerns at a hearing in Vanderburgh Superior Court on Thursday, prompting judge Robert Pigman to order prosecutors to discuss it with police.

Grampp said the information concerned autopsy findings and forensic evidence, including a piece of clothing from the vacant house where Beckerle's body was located. He said he saw it referenced in a news alert from a local media mobile news app.

"I don't believe that is information we have," said Deputy Prosecutor Kevin McDaniel.

He said the only information the state has in its case file, so far, are charging documents and a probable cause affidavit.

McDaniel said the affidavit and charging information was all the state's case file contained too, so far, and that he was not aware of anything else. He said he had no knowledge of what may or may not have been released by law enforcement.

"I'm not asking for a gag order or anything along those lines, but I think it is unreasonable and unfair that this information is released by law enforcement before even his attorney sees it," Grampp said.

Police reported Roach said he smoked synthetic marijuana and that the idea of kidnapping the 19-year-old just "popped in his head," according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Roach told police he broke into Beckerle's bedroom at her East Iowa Street residence, carried her out of the same window and put her in the back of his truck, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Police said Roach took her to the vacant house and confined her using duct tape. The affidavit says during this time period Roach reported that Beckerle died after being duct taped. Roach told police after that Beckerle died, he then had "sexual intercourse with the corpse," according to the affidavit.

The information that led to the discovery of Beckerle's body came from a citizen, who according to the affidavit, was "searching for abandoned property."

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