Suspected Indiana serial killer pleads not guilty to two murders

By Mark Guarino CROWN POINT Ind. (Reuters) - Suspected Indiana serial killer Darren Vann pleaded not guilty at a court hearing on Wednesday to the murders of two women. Vann, 43, a convicted sex offender, has been charged with murder in the deaths of Anith Jones, 35, and Afrikka Hardy, 19. Both women were strangled. After Hardy's body was found in a motel room in Hammond, Indiana on Oct. 18, police said, Vann led them to six other women's bodies, including Jones's, in vacant buildings in neighboring Gary, a financially troubled city about 25 miles southeast of Chicago. Vann has not yet been charged in the other deaths, though Gary officials indicated last week that more charges were expected. Police are looking into his claims that he has killed more people in the past two decades. Shackled and wearing gray-and-black prison stripes, Vann appeared sleepy, as if sedated, and often had his eyes closed. He told Lake County Magistrate Judge Kathleen Sullivan he understood the charges against him, and that he would not retain a private attorney but will be represented by a public defender, Matthew Fech. Vann, who served five years in prison in Texas and was released in 2013, refused to speak or even acknowledge his name during his first court hearing last week, and the judge warned that he could be charged with contempt. Sullivan reissued a gag order on the case on Wednesday. Two other bodies identified as possible Vann victims are Teaira Batey, 28, and Kristine Williams, 36. Three bodies have not been identified. Memorial services for Hardy and Williams are scheduled for Saturday. Vann's next court hearing is on Jan. 9. (Reporting by Mark Guarino; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Mohammad Zargham)