Murder. Muck. Missing jewels. How this Indy canal is connected to a 1977 murder

A canal was drained in Broad Ripple Village this week with ties to one of the most bizarre stories in Indianapolis history.

It's the story of an eccentric millionaire, multiple massive heists, murder and lost riches that span from here to the Arizona desert.

It's the story of Indy grocery heiress Marjorie Jackson, who kept more than $9 million hidden in her home on Spring Mill Road until she was murdered in one of the biggest residential burglary heists in U.S. history.

Who was Marjorie Jackson?

Marjorie was the widow of Chester Jackson, whose father founded the Standard Grocery chain, which included more than 250 stores in Indianapolis and other cities across the state.

After Chester's death in 1970, Marjorie became reclusive and was known by neighbors for strange behavior that included odd religious rituals, talking to birds and shouting racial slurs.

After a bank employee embezzled $700,000 from her account, Jackson withdrew vast sums of cash and stashed it in and around her home.

Read the Retro Indy report: Missing millions and the murder of grocery heiress Marjorie Jackson

The first robbery and jewelry in the canal

Word quickly spread of the woman with an unsecured fortune at home, and 19-year-old burglars Walter Bergin Jr. and Douglas Howard Green broke in, found jewelry everywhere and stuffed their pockets. But the jewelry became an afterthought when they discovered $817,000 in cash in a closet.

After they fled the house, the two drove down Spring Mill Road. As they cruised along Westfield Boulevard, Green began throwing out the jewelry. Most of it, he thought, landed in the canal. He flung an unknown number of diamond necklaces, diamond rings, "three or four watches," a necklace with a jade setting and one pearl necklace.

That canal has now been drained so that crews can remove excess silt and debris while the Westfield bridge is closed and a new bridge is built.

The deadly heist

On the night of May 1, 1977, the house was broken into again and thieves made off with an estimated $1 million. They came back a couple of nights later for more.

On that night, Mrs. Jackson was shot in the stomach with a .22 rifle and bled to death on her kitchen floor.

They unsuccessfully tried to burn the home and body, ultimately only succeeding in alerting authorities to the crime and the death of the reclusive millionaire that otherwise would have likely gone unnoticed for months.

Police later found $5,013,389.93, much of it stuffed in a 32-gallon trash can tucked inside a hallway closet.

Read the full story: Murdered heiress, mystery, missing millions and more

The rest of the money

Several people were charged with crimes related to the Jackson murder. The main two perpetrators were Howard "Billy Joe" Willard, who was convicted of murder, sentenced to life and died in prison, and Manuel Lee Robinson, who was convicted of arson and burglary and paroled in 1988.

Investigators recovered $1.6 million through Robinson's arrest and found another $1.7 million Willard had buried in the Arizona desert.

Read more about the mystery of the fortune and the theory that the FBI might have found much more than what they reported here.

More true crime: Notorious crimes in Indianapolis-area history

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Drained Indianapolis canal has ties to massive heist, Indiana mystery