Andrew Conley Charged With Murder In Death of Brother Conner Conley

The Ohio-Dearborn County prosecutor has upgraded charges against a 17 year old to murder in the death of his 10 year old brother and released new, disturbing information about the killing and plans the teen had to murder his own father.

Prosecutors say the Andrew Conley admits to strangling Conner Conley. The prosecutor called it a "cold-blooded murder" and said he would seek the maximum penalty in the case.

Andrew reportedly told detectives that he felt like the lead character in the Showtime original series "Dexter". In that show, Dexter is a serial killer who pretends to be a happy, normal man while secretly satisfying his need to kill.

The investigation revealed that Andrew Conley choked his brother last Saturday night until he became unconscious and then strangled him with both hands until Andrew knew he was dead. He then placed a plastic bag over his head and secured it with electrical tape. He then dragged the body through the house to his car and placed him in his trunk.

Andrew then drove to his girlfriend’s house and gave her a sweetheart ring while his deceased brother was in the trunk of his car. His girlfriend described him as “more happy than she had seen him in a while.”

He then drove the body to the Rising Sun City Park and dumped the body in a wooded area and covered him with vegetation, within a few hundred yards of the Elementary School that Conner attended.

On Sunday morning, Andrew reportedly told detectives he stood over his father as he slept with a knife, contemplating whether to kill him before deciding against it. During the hours of Sunday, Andrew let his parents believe that Conner was staying at his Grandma’s house in Rising Sun, which was not uncommon.

An autopsy was conducted by Forensic Pathologist, Dr. Dean Hawley of the I.U. Medical Center that indicated the cause of death was manual strangulation and the manner of death was homicide. During his interview, in answer to the question “why did you kill him?” Andrew stated, “Like I had to…like when people have something like they are hungry and there is a hamburger sitting there and they knew they had to have it.” Andrew also stated that Conner’s last words were, “Andrew stop.”

Andrew, who attends Rising Sun High School, was originally charged with "Battery Causing Serious Bodily Injury". He was taken out of school two weeks ago for "self-destructive behavior" and reportedly cutting himself.

The investigation is not yet complete, says Prosecutor Aaron Negangard. "I realize it takes an hour on CSI but it takes a lot longer in Indiana to get results."

The teen will appear for an initial hearing on the murder charge tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. in Ohio County court.

http://www.local12.com/mostpopular/story/Teen-Charged-With-Murder-In-Death-of-Brother/cPGf0lncB0qGdRHl0O-PIg.cspx

What a sick world we live in....poor little kid...his last words were "Andrew stop"....that is so sad....I guess Andrew is getting the attention he felt he wasn't getting and the one who took his attention is gone...those poor parents...blended families are hard but this kid is evil...nothing would have stopped him in the long run...

This is just horrific. And his father states that finding Andrew standing over with him a knife wasn't surprising due to his behavior the last two weeks. Since he was taken out of school for cutting, I wonder if they had just put him on Prozac or something?



http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091203/NEWS01/312030079/Andrew-Conley-17-charged-with-murder-in-the-death-of-his-brother-Conner-Conley-10-in-Rising-Sun.-Ind

Not that medication is an excuse for cold blooded murder, but hasn't it been found that Prozac and another mood/behavior drug given to teens brings out violent tendencies and suicides? I can't remember the name of the other one...

RISING SUN, Ind. (AP) — Showing no emotion and with his parents a few blocks from the courthouse, an Indiana teenager pleaded not guilty to killing his 10-year-old brother. His mother and father were greeting mourners who came to pay respects to their slain younger son.

Andrew Conley, 17, was charged as an adult in Ohio Circuit Court with murdering his brother, Conner Conley, a decision that the boys’ parents supported, said Dearborn-Ohio County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard. In front of a few of his friends, the teen answered only basic questions during Friday’s hearing. His attorney, Gary Sorge, entered a not guilty plea on his behalf, and left the courthouse without talking to reporters.

Nearby, the boys’ parents, Shawn and Bridget Conley, greeted a steady stream of friends and well-wishers who came to a viewing of Connor’s body at the Markland Funeral Home. The fifth-grader was dressed in a dark suit and lay in an open casket.

The boy’s killing has left residents of this small Ohio River town 90 miles southeast of Indianapolis shaken and confused.

According to prosecutors, Andrew Conley, told investigators he strangled Conner while they were wrestling at their home Sunday, then drove his body to a park and dumped it. They say he said he did it to satisfy his craving to kill.
Townspeople described Andrew on Friday as “nice,” “normal,” and “polite.” A relative of the family, Debbie Snyder, said the Conleys were a “strong” and “balanced” family.

And school officials said the brothers were good students and had many friends. Andrew got As and Bs, was a member of the Spanish club and had no record of disciplinary problems.

The Conleys withdrew Andrew from school on Nov. 16, 12 days before Conner’s body was found near a city park, Rising Sun-Ohio County Community Schools Superintendent Stephen Patz said Friday. He declined to say why, and the parents have not talked to the media.

Read more: http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/article/20091206/UPDATES01/91206003/1002/NEWS01

This is a nightmare for those poor parents. I am so glad they support justice for the murder of their son. I don't know if I could be that strong.

It was announced today that Andrey Conley's attorney is going to use the insanity defense. That always seems to happen when a suspect has admitted their guilt.

Prosecutor Seeks Life With No Parole In Brother Killing

Last Update: 7/06 6:32 pm

He confessed to choking his 10 year old brother, holding on to his neck for twenty minutes. 17-year-old Andrew Conley later told police he fantasized about murder for years and modeled himself after the television serial killer, Dexter. Now, the Indiana prosecutor who is taking him to trial for murder has filed a notice of what punishment he is seeking.

Earlier today, Local 12's Deborah Dixon talked with the prosecutor.

This type of murder in Indiana is a potential death penalty case, but Andrew Conley was just 17 when he confessed to killing his little brother. Too young for the death sentence, so the Dearborn County Prosecutor wants to make sure he can never kill again.

"We are pursuing the maximum under Indiana law... life without the possibility of parole."

Negangard says he's concerned about what would happen if Andrew Conley ever got out of prison. The maximum penalty for a juvenile convicted of murder is 65 years, killers usually do half that. Conley said he felt a connection to Dexter, a t.v. serial killer.

"I'M GOING TO TELL YOU something. I KILL PEOPLE."

Also, concerning what Conley did after he choked 10 year-old Connor to death.

"He brutally murdered brother, put him in trunk of a car, drove to girlfriends, watched a movie in which she described him as almost euphoric."

"It's our concern, great risk if he got released, would do this again."

Even though he's confessed to the murder, there will still have to be a trial. And a jury will decide if the teen should be locked up for the rest of his life.

Conley's trial is scheduled to begin in September.

http://www.local12.com/news/local/story/Prosecutor-Seeks-Life-With-No-Parole-In-Brother/erIQVdU87E6b2sEJyV8HJQ.cspx

Teen admits he murdered brother

OH Crime Cincinnati.Com » OH Crime
Updated: 12:42 pm | September 13, 2010

RISING SUN, Ind. – An Indiana teen who told prosecutors he had fantasized since eighth grade about killing someone pleaded guilty Monday to strangling his 10-year-old brother.

Andrew Conley was 17 last November when he was arrested for strangling his brother, Conner. He pleaded guilty to murder before jury selection was to get under way Monday morning.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20100913/NEWS010701/309130021/

Doctor: Ind. boy fought as brother strangled him

Posted: Sep 15, 2010 11:31 AM
By CHARLES D. WILSON
Associated Press Writer

RISING SUN, Ind. (AP) - Fingernail marks on a 10-year-old Indiana boy's neck showed he tried to pry his teenage brother's arm loose as the older boy strangled him, a doctor testified during a Wednesday sentencing hearing.

Dr. Dean Hawley performed the autopsy on Conner Conley, whose brother, Andrew, pleaded guilty this week to murder in the boy's November death.

"There was a struggle, a violent struggle," Hawley, autopsy director at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, told an Ohio Circuit Court judge in the small Ohio River town of Rising Sun.

Read more: http://www.wtxl.tv/Global/story.asp?S=13158254

Teen Who Killed Brother Breaks Down In Court
Conley Apologizes To Police As He Describes Boy's Slaying

POSTED: 11:41 am EDT September 16, 2010
UPDATED: 12:46 pm EDT September 16, 2010

RISING SUN, Ind. -- An Indiana teenager who pleaded guilty to murder broke down while watching video of himself telling police how he killed his 10-year-old brother.

Ohio Circuit Court Judge James D. Humphrey recessed court twice for a total of nearly an hour Thursday morning as 18-year-old Andrew Conley fought to control his emotions.

Defense attorney Gary Sorge said Conley wanted to be excused from the courtroom because he couldn't "bear to hear any more."

Read more, video included:
http://www.wlwt.com/news/25035848/detail.html

Teen who killed brother fought urge to stab father

8:28 p.m. Friday, September 17, 2010



RISING SUN, Ind. — A teenager who strangled his 10-year-old brother joked around with his mother the following morning, and later went into his father's bedroom with a knife and fought the urge to cut his throat, according to video testimony presented Friday at his sentencing hearing.

Shawn Conley testified that he woke up in bed to find his 17-year-old son, Andrew, standing over him with something shiny in his hand. He said he couldn't tell what it was, and the teen quickly put the object in his pocket.

In video played earlier in the hearing, an emotionless Andrew Conley described in detail how he strangled his brother Connor, dragged him to his car and stuffed him in the trunk. He also said he stood over his sleeping father with a knife and fought the urge to stab him.

Read more: http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/teen-who-killed-brother-615763.html

This is so tragic, his mother said they exchanged jokes and shared popcorn the morning of Connor's death...he acted like nothing was wrong. How could such a young person be so cold?

After slaying brother, Indiana teen made popcorn, watched movie

Updated: 11:24 pm | September 17, 2010

RISING SUN, Ind. - Only hours after strangling his 10-year-old brother, dumping his body in the woods and covering it with brush, Andrew Conley made popcorn and watched a movie with his mother.

Bridget Conley and her oldest son joked about how Mom would fall asleep while sitting on the couch, causing her head to bob.

“He was cracking jokes with me and just talking like everything was fine,” Bridget Conley said in a trial deposition played Friday, the third day of the sentencing hearing for Andrew Conley in Ohio County Circuit Court.

The hearing also included a recorded deposition of Andrew Conley, his stepfather Shawn Conley, a court-ordered psychologist and two teachers.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100917/NEWS010702/309170020/1055/NEWS/Boy-s-mother-testifies-at-sentencing

Piper-that's as bad as him at his girlfriend's house.

snipped from upthread:

"He brutally murdered brother, put him in trunk of a car, drove to girlfriends, watched a movie in which she described him as almost euphoric."

Taped Testimony From Mother of Killer, Victim

Last Update: 9/17 7:28 pm

Ten year old Connor Conley loved and looked up to the big brother who killed him. That is what the brothers' mother said in court today in a recorded statement.

The last time Bridget Conley saw 18 year old Andrew Conley was the day he was arrested in their Rising Sun home. She hasn't been in court for any of the hearings to determine how long her 18 year old son will stay in prison. Local 12 reporter Deborah Dxon has more on today's testimony.

Bridget says she had a great relationship with her son Andrew her son, who did well in school. "He loved everybody. He loved hanging out with his friends. He was an A-B student without trying."

But in the weeks before Conner's murder, Andrew started cutting himself all over his body.

Read more: http://www.local12.com/mostpopular/story/Taped-Testimony-From-Mother-of-Killer-Victim/cWN-z6LVGk2sR06KYCXx5g.cspx

Psychologist: Teen Killer Not Psychopathic
Conley Faces Life In Prison For Brother's Slaying

POSTED: 10:44 am EDT September 20, 2010

RISING SUN, Ind. -- A court-appointed psychologist said he doesn't believe an Indiana teenager who strangled his 10-year-old brother is a psychopath.

Dr. Edward Connor was cross-examined Monday during the fourth day of Andrew Conley's sentencing hearing in Rising Sun.

Read more: http://www.wlwt.com/r/25082804/detail.html

Prosecutor: Teen who killed brother a 'monster'

AP News
09/21/10 02:26 pm

A prosecutor says a southern Indiana teenager who strangled his 10-year-old brother is a "monster" who should "rot in jail for the rest of his life."

Dearborn-Ohio County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard is urging a judge to sentence 18-year-old Andrew Conley to life without parole during closing arguments Tuesday at the teen's sentencing hearing.

Read more: http://www.mymotherlode.com/news/national/240200/Prosecutor-Teen-who-killed-brother-a-monster.html

Teen apologizes for murdering brother
Sentencing hearing set for October 15

By Mark Curnutte • mcurnutte@enquirer.com • September 21, 2010

~Snipped~

“I am very sorry for murdering my little brother and I will never forget him and how much he meant to me and how much he meant to so many people. ...

"I would like to apologize to Mom and Dad for all this. I would like to apologize to the community of Ohio County for all this happening.

"I still have no idea why this happened but I really wish I did. I go to sleep every night and wake up every morning and wish I could change what happened."

Conley, now 18, said he would “accept wholeheartedly the punishment I am given and deserve.”

The defense is seeking a term ranging from 45 years to 65 years that includes credit for good behavior and educational attainment.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20100921/NEWS010702/309210032/

I have to wonder just how remorseful Andrew Conley really is. For such a young person to act so normal after brutally strangling his little brother is so bizarre, how can that be? It reminds me of Alyssa Bustamante that strangled and murdered Elizabeth Olten because she also wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone. It will be interesting to see what they do with both of these young killers. Bustamante's trial is scheduled for May 16, 2011.