Former Papa Johns employee accused of killing two workers at his old store in Elkhart
ELKHART — A former employee of a Papa Johns location in Elkhart is accused of murdering two ex-coworkers there on Sunday.
In court documents filed Tuesday, Elkhart County prosecutors say Jose Benitez-Tilley spoke to employees at the pizza chain on Saturday evening to ask for a job. One hour later, he allegedly returned and shot to death 37-year-old Dustin Carr, and 22-year-old Haley Smith.
Their bodies were found in an alley behind the store at 1532 of Cassopolis Street the next day.
Benitez-Tilley, 19, is expected to be charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted abuse of a corpse, documents say.
Elkhart police were called to the Papa Johns just after 10 a.m. Sunday when an employee coming in for the day shift found the bodies in the alley outside. Responding officers notified the Elkhart Homicide Unit, which handled the investigation.
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Police learned that Benitez-Tilley was a former employee at the store and that he had "unspecified issues" with other workers, court documents say. Witnesses told police Benitez-Tilley came to the branch on Saturday night hoping to get a job and was the only person in the store with Smith and Carr as they closed up, according to documents.
Surveillance footage from a nearby store showed a man get out of a gold Dodge Caravan and go into the store, court documents say. After about 30 minutes, the footage suggests, the man walked out and drove the car around to the back of the restaurant with the lights off.
On Sunday evening, police located the gold Dodge outside of Benitez-Tilley's home in Goshen and he agreed to be questioned by investigators.
According to court documents, Benitez-Tilley told police he had gone to the Papa Johns, shot Smith and Carr with a handgun and tried to dispose of the bodies, but couldn't and left them in the alley.
Police claim the 19-year-old also admitted he tried to sexually assault Smith's body after she was dead and stole cash and jewelry from both victims.
Formal charges have not been brought as of Tuesday morning and an initial court date for Benitez-Tilley has not been set.
Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Jose Benitez-Tilley charged with killing two Elkhart Papa Johns workers
