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Inset: Brandon Criss (Greene County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Arson fire where a man was found stabbed to death (WXIN).
An Indiana man is behind bars after he allegedly killed his girlfriend’s stepfather who the suspect claimed was a child molester.
The investigation kicked off on Sunday morning when emergency responders, addressing a fire outbreak at a residence in Linton, located around 90 miles southwest of Indianapolis, discovered the body of 64-year-old James “David” Higar in the bathroom. He appeared to have stab wounds on his neck and shoulder. Authorities also found a deceased dog at the scene.
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The Indiana State Police provided a probable cause arrest affidavit, where a witness recounted that his friend, Brandon Criss, aged 39, visited his home earlier that evening, “covered in blood.” Criss reportedly showed him a picture depicting a lifeless man and was “bragging” about having killed David Higar. The photo depicted a man seemingly “lying naked on a bathroom floor, bloody, beaten, and wounded,” according to the affidavit. Criss also purportedly admitted to setting Higar’s home ablaze.
Higar’s nephew informed authorities that his uncle and Criss had been in conflict, with Criss having previously threatened to kill “any of [his fiancee’s] family [that] came over to where he was staying.” As officers were on the lookout for Criss, dispatch received a report from a woman stating that Criss had approached her son at a nearby gas station. The suspect asked her son to take a Carhartt jacket and knife from him as he “thought he killed someone,” as detailed in the affidavit.
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Officers traveled to the gas station where they found Criss and noted he was wearing brown boots with red stains on them. They transported him to the Linton Police Department for an interview.
After receiving his Miranda warnings, Criss said he had been drinking for most of the day and had an argument with his girlfriend before going on a walk. He told cops Higar “gives him rides and helps whenever he needs it,” the affidavit said. Criss claimed he did not do anything to hurt the victim and didn’t understand why he was under arrest. He thought someone was setting him up.
“Where’s the physical evidence?!” Criss allegedly said. “It’s hearsay. They are lyin’ on me. It’s people trying to set me up. I got a lot of haters in this town, a lot of haters.”
But a photo in a “deleted photos” folder on Criss’ cellphone told a different story, according to the affidavit: it was allegedly the picture of Higar’s body that Criss had shown to his buddy earlier in the night.
When detectives confronted him with this information, Criss changed his tune.
“This was a hate crime against David Higar,” he allegedly said. “He’s a child molester and it was committed as a hate crime. I don’t want to be in state prison. If I’m going to prison for the rest of my life, make it federal prison. If this is a hate crime, I’ll be going federal.”
Detectives later spoke to Criss’ girlfriend who told them he had been sexually assaulted as a kid and that he “hated child molesters even though she though he and Higar were close,” cops wrote. She said while Criss is not typically a violent person, he becomes aggressive while drinking alcohol.
The affidavit did not say why Criss preferred federal prison nor provide any further details about his allegation against Higar.
Cops arrested Criss on charges of murder, arson and animal cruelty. He remains in the Greene County Jail without bond. His next court date is scheduled for Nov. 5.
