MADISON COUNTY, Ind. (WTHR) - Police in Madison County have made a fifth arrest in the investigation of two murders.
Sheriff Scott Mellinger said Wednesday that the investigation continues into the deaths of Trinity Parker and David Phillips. He said David A. Roberts, 37, has been charged with murder in Parker's death.
Detectives said Roberts "had prior knowledge Trinity Parker was going to be killed and took part in helping the killer locate her."
Police found Parker's body in an abandoned Grant County home on August 14th.
Mellinger said Jordan Zirkle, 30, Anderson, now faces a second murder count of murder in connection with Parker's death. Zirkle had already been charged in Phillips' murder. Phillips body was discovered on August 13th at a Rangeline Road nature preserve.
Court documents released earlier reveal a possible motive in the murders.
38-year-old Daniel Jones is now charged with 2 counts of murder and a charge of confinement.
Three people were also charged with aiding in those murders:
- Brittney Vontress, 30
- Jordan Zirkle, 30
- Taylor Wheeler, 23
The sheriff said Jones led investigators to Parker's body in southern Grant County near County Roads 1100 South and 400 West.
According to court documents, Vontress told investigators that Jones killed Parker because "she was a snitch."
At the time of that murder court documents say Jones was with Zirkle and another man named David Roberts.
After the murder, the court documents say Jones wanted to find Roberts.
Zirkle and Wheeler told investigators Jones believed the second murder victim, Phillips, knew where Roberts was.
Court documents say Zirkle, Wheeler, Vontress and Jones drove Phillips II to a nature preserve off of Rangeline Road in Anderson.
Jones is then accused of shooting and killing Phillips II out on one of the trails.
Zirkle says he was with Jones during that shooting and spoke to Eyewitness News.
"And they put one in his head, and I didn't see the second shot, but he said he got him a second time," Zirkle said in a jail interview.
He also told us, he was at the Grant County house where Parker was murdered, but didn't see it happen.
As for why they were killed, Zirkle wasn't clear.
"I honestly can't answer that one hundred percent," he said.
We asked Zirkle why would he still be hanging out with the alleged gunman who shoots a second victim days later?
"I never left,” says Zirkle. “He said if I left I was a liability and I was dead."
Court records say investigators also saw messages on Daniel Jones' phone where he appears to be asking for more jobs that were "187." The detective says "187" is a common term for murder.