Orlando Mitchell held without bond in murder case after death of Deputy John Durm

The man facing murder charges in connection with the strangling death of a Marion County Sheriff's deputy will be held in custody without bond, a judge decided Friday morning.

Orlando Mitchell, 34, is charged with two counts of murder, one count of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury and one count of escape in the July 10 death of Deputy John Durm. Mitchell is accused of strangling Durm to death with his handcuff chain before stealing a jail transport van and crashing it in an escape attempt.

Mitchell, who is facing a previous murder charge in the shooting death of a woman last year, was brought into the courtroom with his hands cuffed behind his back. Five deputies escorted the suspect, who was wearing orange jail clothing, in and out, with additional deputies stationed in the front and back of the courtroom.

Special Judge Mark Smith, of Hendricks County, set the next hearing in the case, a pretrial conference, for Sept. 8 at 9 a.m. Prosecutors declined to comment after the hearing, while Mitchell's attorney could not be asked for comment as she took a non-public exit out of the courtroom.

More: Man accused of strangling deputy charged with murder, prosecutor will seek death penalty

Durm was a deputy for 38 years before he died at Eskenazi Hospital after the assault. The Marion County Coroner's Office determined Durm's cause of death was "ligature strangulation."

Before the attack on the deputy, Mitchell was being held at the jail on a murder charge in connection with the death of Krystal Walton, who was shot and killed while dropping her kids off at day care last September.

Deputy John Durm died during attempted jail escape

The violent escape attempt occurred Monday around 11:30 a.m., when Durm was returning to the jail with Mitchell, who had been taken to a hospital visit. The attack was captured on video, according to a probable cause affidavit for Mitchell’s arrest.

Durm arrived at the jail sally port in a van and got out on the driver’s side of the vehicle. After Mitchell stepped out of the van and Durm turned to place a crate on the ground, investigators say Mitchell attacked the deputy. The video showed Mitchell, in an orange jail shirt and pants, raise his hands and use the chains linking his handcuffs to choke Durm, according to the affidavit.

The deputy and the inmate began to struggle, and both fell to the ground. Mitchell stayed on top of Durm until the deputy stopped moving. After finding handcuff keys and removing his cuffs, Mitchell stole the transport van, drove it through a gate and crashed into a telephone pole before he was apprehended, according to the affidavit.

Prosecutor seeks death penalty in case against Orlando Mitchell

At a news conference Thursday, Sheriff Kerry Forestal, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief Chris Bailey and Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced charges against Mitchell, and Mears said his office would seek the death penalty.

"It needs to be known that in this community, if you kill a law enforcement officer, you should be willing to sacrifice your life,” Forestal said.

Watch Orlando Mitchell's July 14 court appearance

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Orlando Mitchell held without bond on murder, escape, robbery charges