An Indiana teen murder suspect built a shelter in the woods as he hunted “prey” in a disturbing plan to “prepare to kill” a random person in a patch of woods before getting “the hell outta Dodge,” court documents show.
Maxwell Winkler, 17, was tracked down by Fishers police, a community northeast of Indianapolis, after a series of suspicious encounters centering around the unexplained murder of 73-year-old Henry Kim, found shot to death with his neck slashed Nov. 1.
Police searching Windermere Park near the scene of Kim’s murder ran smack into Winkler, who had been riding a mountain bike associated with the suspect, on Tuesday night, and recovered two pages of notes from his wallet detailing his murderous plans, court documents obtained by the Indianapolis Star show.
“Prepare site and prepare tools for cleanup,” the teen, a student at Hamilton Southeastern High School, wrote. “Select prey. Wait and act inauspicious (play with phone and wave) till prey passes by to strike or surprise attack using bike near site.”
He also wrote of burning items used in the slaying, except for a “trophy” he hoped to keep.
Kim, a retiree, had been out for his daily walk at the time of his murder, which shocked the community of some 80,000 people.
“I used to golf with him. He’s fun loving guy. He’s a good singer,” Charles Chae, a friend of the victim’s for more than 30 years, told WISH-TV. “It’s really shocking. I couldn’t believe my ears, what am I hearing. Especially in Fishers, it’s a peaceful town.”
The disturbing notes, a .22-caliber ammo and gun were found after cops searched the teen’s mother’s home on Cheswick Lane, just blocks from the murder scene.
Cops say fellow students indicated Winkler was acting strangely in the time around the murder and a teacher on Monday called police to say the boy had shaved and had a haircut over weekend, the records show.
A school resource officer was also suspicious of the teen, telling police Winkler two years prior had written a letter titled “My Bucket List,” and planned and talked about “killing, mass destruction and weapons of mass destruction,” the Star reported.
Police found a bloodied towel in the trash outside the Cheswick Lane home.
The cops had just found a shelter made of sticks, with loose ammo in the dirt, when they ran right into their prime suspect Tuesday evening. As he was taken into custody, the teen, unprompted, said “I didn’t kill anyone,” the documents obtained by the newspaper detail.
“There’s just no explanation that could even try to justify anything that’s happened,” Kim Bardach, who grew up with Kim’s son and attended Winkler’s court appearance Wednesday, told WTHR-TV. “I feel like if they’re saying he had anger issues and was in the woods in the middle of the night, I’m kind of wondering why, how did that happen, what kind of problems have there been?
Winkler is held without bond on a murder charge and is next due in court January 13, with a trial scheduled for April 7, 2015, online records show.