Reporters Unbiased Analysis of Crothersville, Indiana

The murder of Aaron "Shorty" Hall in April 2007 again brought focus to the tiny town of only 1500 residents. Garrett Gray and Coleman King claim that they beat Aaron Hall to death because he made an unwanted sexual advance towards King. They left him naked and alone, dying in cold temperatures, suffering multiple beating wounds.
Garrett Gray and Coleman King both plead guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter and were sentenced to 30 years each. They could be free in as few as 15 years for a cold-blooded killing.
This crime is an interesting twist of events, in that Garrett Gray is the son of former deputy coroner Terry Gray. Terry Gray was the spokesperson for the family of Katie Collman and owned the garage in which Hall's body would be located 10 days later. Terry Gray is a former deputy coroner and reserve deputy in Jackson County, Indiana.
8 days after Hall's body was placed in the Gray garage, a local officer named Darryl Hickman went to the Gray residence to make a search. He told Hall's mother, Maria Gumm that he could find no evidence of Hall being at the Gray residence. Later, 13 red stains would be lifted from the premises, including the kitchen, deck and Gray's vehicle. Apparantly Hickman could not smell a rotting corpse as well.
Officer Darryl Hickman is an uncle to Charles "Chuckie" Hickman, the man who previously confessed to killing Katie Collman.
In addition, Hickman originally claimed that Katie witnessed drug activity in a local apartment complex. Prior to that occassion, Terry Gray, acting in capacity as reserve officer went to that same apartment to investigate allegations of meth production. He also could not smell anything and made no arrests.
Denise Travers of the Bloomington Alternative began covering the Aaron Hall case in June 2007 after several media outlets refused to cover the story. Here's how she surmised the town of Crothersville, Indiana:
As ever, the truth – if we can ever know it completely – likely lies somewhere in between the extremes. Sources in Crothersville indicate that the circumstances of Aaron's murder are significantly different than what has been reported in local media. They knowingly imply just how much can be concocted in 10 days – the length of time between Aaron's death and the official discovery of his body in the garage of Terry Gray, deputy Jackson County coroner and father of Garret Gray, one of the defendants. They indicate that a sexual advance was involved -- not toward King, but toward his girlfriend. They state that – contrary to sworn affidavits – there were other witnesses of Aaron's murder: indeed, some have indicated that the Gray household was something of a teen drug haven, and that at the time of the first punch to Aaron's body, some number of other teenagers were present.
What lies in the conscience of these teenagers? Each of the Jackson County residents to which I've spoken has commented, independently and forlornly, about the wretched absence of anything constructive or fun for the youth to engage. A dearth of such luxuries as volunteer opportunities or civic engagement, a surprising lack of church-related youth activity, rampant poverty and drugs and a Footloose-like youth despair combine to make an environment which breeds antipathy and distance. What can be expected of youth whose futures are so bleak? If it is true that other teens and young adults witnessed the attack, how dead must their hearts be to be able to endure their silence?
The influence of power cannot be ignored, either. Hushed tones accompany the mention of certain names, and the ever-present buzz of fear has residents considering using false names or refusing, outright, to speak on record. In a town where so many cling to their personal salvation through Jesus Christ, the landscape of Crothersville, Indiana is ironically godforsaken. Most are afraid to go on the record, for fear that local law enforcement will remember the indignity and further abuse their power through false arrests, trumped-up charges, botched investigations and abject corruption. Each and every Crothersville resident willing to comment about Aaron's murder has his or her own horror story about Jackson County. Many have had personal run-ins with the law. The stories of prejudice, intolerance and narrow-mindedness are legion. In a town the size of Crothersville, social capital is a powerful weapon. Everyone knows who wields the power. Everyone knows who the important families are. Everyone knows who to call to get meth. Everyone knows everyone's family, history, darkest hours. You don't cross those who are in power. Period.