Police: Zionsville mom predicted her son would kill her

Maria Flora, The Lebanon Reporter, Ind.
·4 min read

Apr. 15—A Zionsville woman trembled as she told a friend her son would kill her just two weeks before a body was found in her yard Monday, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Her son, Graham M. Bixler, 30, was arrested Tuesday and arraigned on a murder charge Friday via closed circuit video.

Police assume Graham murdered the woman after neighbors reported strange behavior on his part and Carmel Police stopped him with blood on his clothing, according to court records.

But authorities have not yet identified the body found next to a wheelbarrow in Kristin Bixler's yard at 5375 W. Old 106th St. They are awaiting fingerprint and DNA tests, Boone County Coroner Justin Sparks said this week.

"Due to injuries, a positive ID by family members was not possible ...," according to the affidavit. But police reported that the body found shared characteristics, including a floral tattoo, with Kristin, 59.

A preliminary autopsy revealed her cause of death as a combination of blunt force trauma and sharp force injuries and that the manner of death was homicide, according to court records.

Arraignment

Boone Circuit Court Judge Lori Schein appointed attorney Eric Krupp to defend Graham Bixler after he asked twice to "speak my truth," during Friday's video arraignment.

"This is not a fair process," he told Schein. "I didn't do it."

Schein asked Bixler if he was suffering physical or mental illness, and he said he didn't know.

Bixler is being held without bond in the Boone County Jail in Lebanon, per Indiana law in murder cases. But he asked multiple times for a bond reduction and didn't seem to understand bond is not possible for a murder charge.

Bixler wore an orange jail jumpsuit and spoke slowly and in low tones. He ran a hand through his long, unkempt hair when Schein denied bond.

"They're not feeding me properly here in jail, and I'm dying," he told Schein.

Missing

Police found the body after Kristin's mother, Susan Smith, said she hadn't heard from her daughter since April 2 and that Kristin was afraid of Graham, who had lived with his mother since March, according to court records.

Graham beat and threatened to kill his father in June, when he lived with him, according to court records. And his father, Gregory Bixler, warned his ex-wife that Graham was dangerous, police reported.

Kristin told a friend that Graham tried to kill her last year, and a few weeks ago, she told the same friend, while clearly frightened, that Graham was going to kill her, police reported.

Kristin had moved out of her house for safety and was trying to sell it to pay for mental health treatment for Graham, her Realtor told police. Kristin even slept in her car some nights in fear of him, police reported.

Kristin returned home April 2 to gather belongings, and no one had heard from her since, according to reports.

Strange behavior

Graham's father told authorities after Graham beat him that his son had untreated mental illness.

Co-workers feared Graham, his brother, Roswell Bixler, told police, according to the affidavit. Roswell also told police Graham had a history of using psychedelic drugs, police reported.

A neighbor told police Graham often wandered the property nude and screaming and that he once appeared in his driveway dressed in only a blanket, police reported.

The neighbor shot a photo the day he saw Graham shoeless in the back yard near a wheelbarrow and tarp with what he thought was a mannequin, according to the affidavit. Police viewed the photo and determined the mannequin was actually a body, according to the affidavit.

Another neighbor told police Graham seemed more active than usual lately and that on April 6 he ran the property naked and "acting crazier than in the past," according to the affidavit.

Police found blood on the back patio and saw several holes dug around the body in the yard, according to the affidavit.

Capture

Carmel Police stopped Graham driving his mother's car the next day with blood on his clothing, according to the affidavit. He was detained under an emergency order at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis and released to Zionsville Police, who reportedly arrested him Tuesday after questioning.

Graham, a former Zionsville Community High School track and field team member, declined to answer police questions but allowed a DNA sample to be collected from his cheek, police reported.

Boone County Prosecutor Kent Eastwood declined comment Thursday, as the investigation is not yet complete.

The judge set a pre-trial conference date for June.