'He's OK, he's family': Court docs shed light on Mitthoefer Road killings
A man who lived within walking distance of an area on the east side of Indianapolis where police found two women's bodies days apart has been charged in their killings.
David Hiner, 30, is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of Marianne Weis and Shannon Lassere. After an investigation that detectives say topped more than 100 hours, Hiner was taken into custody Tuesday. Hiner denied his involvement when questioned by police.
Investigators determined both women died from “multiple sharp force injuries” to the neck, according to police, which signaled a connection.
Lassere was the first to be found. Her body was located in a parking lot behind businesses in the 2200 block of North Mitthoefer Road. Detectives said she was likely attacked closer to the road and dragged roughly 12 feet by her arms to the parking lot.
Five days later, on Feb. 1, police were called to the rear of a Dollar General store a few yards from where Lassere's body was discovered after someone noticed Weis' body and alerted the clerk, who called 911.
Both women were found face down with their pants around their knees, which police believe was caused by them being dragged, court documents state. Police and court documents did not mention whether the women were sexually assaulted.
Detectives collected “a significant amount of video” from businesses in the area, according to a news release from police and prosecutors.
Multiple videos showed a man and Weis together in the area behind the Dollar General on the night of her death. Weis, who was homeless, frequently stopped by a pub in the same strip mall. On the night of Jan. 31, she was seen leaving down the alley with a man, concerning other women seated on a back patio. The women asked Weis if she knew the man and if she was alright, to which she replied, "He's OK, he's family," and walked away, witnesses told detectives.
Detectives canvassed various parts of the east side looking for the unidentified man from the video and determined Hiner as a person of interest.
The next day detectives executed a search warrant on the apartment where Hiner was staying with family, located adjacent to where the bodies were discovered.
Police found shoes in the apartment that appeared to have dried blood on them as well as jeans soaking in bleach in a bucket in the bathtub. The shoes were sent to a lab for expedited DNA analysis, according to the news release.
Detectives needed additional time for DNA results before an arrest could be made. They learned Hiner was on probation out of La Porte County, Indiana. A probation violation was filed, and a warrant was issued for Hiner’s arrest. He has remained in custody since then, according to the news release.
Preliminary DNA analysis of blood from the shoes matched with blood of both victims, police said.
A motive has not been determined.
"No one deserves what these two women experienced," said acting Indianapolis police chief, Chris Bailey. "This was brutal and evil."
Past reporting: IMPD investigating 'similarities' after two women found dead near Mitthoefer Road days apart
Shannon Juanita Lassere, 58
Jan. 27: Officers found Shannon Juanita Lassere, 58, suffering trauma at 9:20 a.m. in a parking lot at 2200 N. Mitthoefer Road after responding to a call about a person down.
On the day before her funeral, Justin Smith remembered his mother as a caretaker.
“She took the simplest things, made them her priority and made it her love,” Smith said. “Whether it was cleaning, taking care of the kids, taking care of the dogs. It was the simplest things but she put a lot of love into it.”
The mother of four children and grandmother to 15 lived down the street from where she was found and had gone to the gas station for cigarettes the evening before her body was found.
“We thought she would come right back,” Smith said.
Lassere was hard of hearing, which may have made her an easy target for her killed, loved ones said.
"She was harmless,” Smith said. “They could have taken whatever they wanted from her, and she couldn't have put up a fight. Whoever it was is a monster. The disregard for life. I don't understand it."
When Smith realized his mother hadn’t returned from the gas station, he called his older sister and they started looking for her. When detectives said they wanted to speak with the family in person, they knew something was wrong.
Lassere had lived in Indianapolis since around 2004. She had been living with Smith for about the past four years. Smith remembers how his mother wanted to care for him like he was still a child.
"She would come into our room unannounced, pick up clothes, pick up the dishes and stuff like that," Smith said. "It was frustrating at times, but I loved every bit of it and I miss every second of it.”
Lassere was a mother to everyone she came across, including the black and white dog named Oreo that the family took in off the street. Over the years, she cared for neighbors and family friends, one of the woman’s best friends, Angela Johnson, said.
"Shannon was just full of life,” said Johnson, who drove up from Kansas City to support the family. “She had a spirit about her and was a beacon of light that drew everybody to her. She always wanted people smiling and laughing. She never lost that childhood innocence about her."
Marianne Weis, 52
Feb. 1: Police responded just before 11 a.m. to the 2100 block of North Mitthoefer Road, near its intersection with East 21st. Street, to a 911 call about a person down near a back road.
Officer William Young with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in the hours after finding her body, police expanded their search in the immediate area, bordering an apartment complex and strip mall, looking for clues into the killings.
Weis was known to carry stuffed animals, which she told people made her feel safe because she was living on the streets. Police found those stuffed animals and a black knit balaclava-style hood stained with blood in a residential garbage can near where she was found.
Family and friends of Weis either declined or did not respond to interview requests from IndyStar, but several people posted on social media with messages that Weis was loved and would not be forgotten.
"Anybody who knew you knows what a true angel you are and now you have your wings," one post read.
David Hiner recently released from prison
According to police, Hiner has been on probation since September of last year. Indiana Department of Correction records indicate he's spent the past 10 years in prison for an aggravated battery charge out of La Porte County.
Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.
IndyStar reporter Sarah Nelson can be contacted at sarah.nelson@indystar.com
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana man charged in killings of two women in Indianapolis
