On Thursday, a cold case murder investigation by Indiana State Police Detectives resulted in the arrest of a 52 year old man in Florida. The detectives served William Stinemetz, of Palm City Florida, with a Fulton Circuit Court arrest warrant alleging felony charges for murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, and theft. The warrant was served at the Martin County Jail (FL) where Stinemetz is currently incarcerated on criminal charges stemming from cases in Florida.
On September 26, 1997 at approximately 11:55 a.m., the Indiana Lawrence Bank at 221 East Main Street, Kewanna, IN, was robbed, at gun point, by a white male who was approximately 5’9’’ tall, husky build, and wearing a mask. He escaped with an undisclosed amount of United States currency.
About an hour and forty minutes after the bank robbery, investigators received information that 69 year old Lawrence Pfeifer of Kewanna, IN, was found shot to death in his home, which was located approximately one mile from the Lawrence Bank. Investigators developed information that Pfeifer's red 1988 Chevrolet Corsica was allegedly used during the bank robbery. Investigators determined that the bank robber used Pfeifer’s car while committing the robbery. The suspect then returned it to Pfeifer’s home and escaped in a different vehicle. The findings of a subsequent autopsy resulted in Pfeifer’s death being ruled a homicide.
Despite efforts by the Indiana State Police and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department to identify the bank robber, and murder suspect, the cases went stale. Evidence which had been collected during the initial phase of the investigations was submitted to an Indiana State Police Laboratory for DNA analysis. The results were entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
On November 9, 2015, a DNA profile was matched to Stinemetz. Further investigation, revealed Stinemetz had family ties to northern Indiana. Combined with the new DNA evidence and previous evidence gathered during the investigation, officers developed enough probable cause to obtain an arrest warrant for Stinemetz. The warrant alleged criminal charges for theft, robbery with a deadly weapon, and murder.
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