FISHERS, Ind. — Charges filed Friday in a Hamilton County court accuse Trevor Dahl of conspiracy to commit murder. That’s on top of an attempted murder case in an alleged road rage shooting filed in November.
“You specifically asked whether Trevor is innocent of what he’s been charged of and I say, 'Absolutely. Yes, he is,'" said Dahl's attorney Bob Summerfield. He told us he intends to file an entrapment defense in his client's latest case.
“It is our current belief that Mr. Dahl was induced and coerced into a variety of things that was done as he remains behind bars," said Summerfield.
Police said Dahl was trying to hire a criminal informant, posing as a hitman, to kill two key witnesses in his attempted murder trial.
“We believe, at this juncture, it will support a pretty firm entrapment argument, that the police did this," said Summerfield. "They manipulated it, and it resulted in the charges everyone is now aware of."
Those charges are two counts of conspiracy to commit murder. Court documents say police have incriminating letters and recorded phone calls from Dahl.
"We are diligently trying to get these alleged recordings, statements, writings, other things they claim to exist," said Summerfield.
In a separate case, police say Dahl shot another man in a road rage incident in November. He was charged with attempted murder shortly after.
In February, a lesser charge in the same case was upgraded to attempted murder.
“Generally, we see overcharge cases where the state’s case isn’t as strong as they would like it to be and so it is them simply tacking on additional stuff so that their case is stronger than it actually is," said Summerfield. "Their case on each of those attempted murders is very weak.”
Summerfield said it will be difficult for the state to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
"We believe there are multiple obstacles for them in this particular case and with Trevor Dahl," he said. "We intend to fight them at every angle."
Dahl has been held in jail since November and – between all of his cases – is being held on a $3.1 million bond. Summerfield also said they may request a speedy trial, which would give the state 70 days to try the cases.
We reached out to the Hamilton County Prosecutor's office who declined to give a statement, referring us to the probable cause affidavit.