SULLIVAN COUNTY, Ind. — Indiana State Police announced another arrest in the 2012 murder of an 85-year-old retired farmer in Sullivan County.
Sullivan Superior Court honorable judge Hugh Hunt issued a warrant Aug. 13 for 39-year-old Richard D. Taft, who was already at the Michigan City Correctional Facility.
Taft was arrested and later charged with murder and two counts of burglary resulting in bodily injury.
Troopers have not shared what led to Taft's connection to the crime.
Lowell Badger was found shot to death in his Sullivan County home on Dec. 8, 2012. Detectives investigated hundreds of tips and conducted more than 300 interviews over more than 11 years since Badger was murdered.
Over the years, police urged the public to be on the lookout for items that were taken from Badger's home, including a floor safe and a television.
In April 2024, a Sullivan County grand jury indicted 38-year-old William Ray Grimes on felony charges of murder, burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary.
The grand jury heard six days of evidence and testimony starting April 17 before issuing a true bill indicting Grimes. According to NBC affiliate WTWO in Terre Haute, Grimes is currently serving a 40-year sentence from a 2023 conviction for battery, theft and unlawful possession of a firearm.
"This is the beginning of the criminal process," special prosecuting attorney Rob Roberts said. "Once again, we encourage anyone that has information related to the murder of Mr. Badger to contact the Indiana State Police.”
Police investigators in December 2021 renewed their plea for information about Badger's killing. It came a year after police released photos showing vehicles that may have been in the area around the time Badger was killed. Those photos were taken from a gas station’s security video in nearby Graysville, a few miles east of the Illinois state line.
A reward of approximately $30,000 was offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Badger’s death.
