Suspect In Indiana Serial Killings Stops Talking As Authorities Expand Search

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 22, 2014 4:45PM

Darren Deon Vann (Photo via Texas Department of Criminal Justice)

Darren Deon Vann, the suspect in the deaths of seven women Hammond and Gary, Indiana, refused to speak in court Wednesday morning after cooperating with law enforcement officials in the days following his arrest.

Vann became upset officials allowed media and bystanders in the courtroom at the Lake County (Indiana) Jail for his first court appearance before Judge Kathleen Sullivan. Vann, according to the Chicago Tribune, stared straight ahead, wouldn’t speak when addressed and even refused to acknowledge whether he understood why he was in court. This prompted Sullivan to postpone the hearing until next week and threaten to hold Vann in contempt of court if he remained silent.

Vann has only been charged with the murder of 19-year-old Afrika Hardy, who was found strangled to death in a Motel 6 in Hammond. Vann reportedly led police to the bodies of six other women in Gary, all of them in abandoned buildings. Authorities are ramping up their investigation Wednesday and are looking into the possibility Vann may have murdered more women in Indiana and other states. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart sent deputies to Chicago's South suburbs to help in the investigation.

In Gary, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson and several City Council members stressed safety with city residents. Councilwoman Carolyn Rogers urged residents to find Indiana’s online sex-offender registry to get informed about possible sex offenders in their area. Councilman Ronald Brewer Sr. asked that steps be taken to deal with unlit areas of Gary, while Council President Kyle Allen Sr. asked people to be cautious when meeting people online.

Councilwoman Rogers called for any abandoned building in Gary where a murder victim was found be torn down. Rogers praised Freeman-Wilson’s attempts to address the issue but said “No one should have to drive by a structure knowing that their loved one, or someone, died in it.”

“Get these down really fast — we don’t want them in our neighborhoods,” Rogers added.