Jeffrey Allen Whipps

Case record

Background

Jeffrey Allen Whipps was a convicted murderer who faced a second murder in Knox County.

The murder of Vincennes University student Lisa McCracken happened in 1987 at McCracken's off-campus apartment. Whipps originally pleaded not guilty to the murder of Lisa McCracken.

Thirteen years later, random DNA testing in 2000 matched Whipps' DNA to DNA found at the murder scene. At that time, Whipps was already serving 89 years in prison for the 1995 murder of Jill Slater. Whipps faced the death penalty in the McCracken case, but a plea bargain reduced his sentence to 40 years more in prison.

Lisa McCracken was murdered on October 13, 1987. The case remained unsolved for 13 years before the DNA match in 2000.

Whipps was arrested in June 1995 for the Slater murder, not for the McCracken murder. He was in prison convicted for the murder of another Vincennes teenager, 15-year-old Jill Slater. A DNA test by Indiana State Police linked both murders to Whipps.

When Whipps pleaded guilty to the second murder in Knox County in 2004, Lisa's family, the prosecutor, and the lead investigator said they were satisfied with the ending.

Knox County prosecutor John Sievers said:

"There's a tremendous amount of satisfaction both for the family and for law enforcement to hear an individual admit that he did it. Even after a trial, and I've talked to the victim's family, it's never quite closed even though their trials come and they've been found guilty. Without a person taking accountability for that, there's always a little bit lacking."

Whipps was expected to be sentenced on October 2, after which the 40-year sentence was expected to be served after his current 89-year prison term. Even with good behavior, the soonest he could be released from prison was 2059. Whipps would be 90 years old by then.

Other homicide case in Vincennes

Kathleen Westfall was 44 years old when she was murdered May 31, 1995. She was reported missing after she did not show up for work at Good Samaritan Hospital. When police arrived at 8:15 p.m. at her apartment on Bayou Street, they found her beaten to death.

An autopsy showed she suffered blunt trauma to the head and upper body. She had been dead for several hours. Police said Westfall was struck numerous times with what they called "a smooth surfaced object." Her apartment showed no signs of forced entry, so detectives believed she probably knew her attacker enough to let the person into her home. There also were not many signs of a struggle, indicating the attacker may have caught her off guard when she was not looking.

Police said Westfall was not sexually assaulted, but they would not comment on whether any items were stolen from her apartment.

When Westfall was murdered, Jeffrey Whipps had not yet been arrested for either the Slater or McCracken murders. Westfall was murdered in May 1995, and Whipps was arrested 22 days later.

Indiana State Police Detective Gary Gilbert said Whipps was never considered a suspect in the Westfall murder because the method of killing was completely different from the Slater and McCracken murders. Westfall was beaten, while Slater and McCracken were stabbed, and the two crimes had many other striking similarities.

The Indiana State Police still actively investigated the Westfall case and hoped to add it to their "Solved Cases."

The offence

A jury found Whipps guilty of murder; arson, a class B felony; and sexual misconduct with a minor, a class C felony.

The evidence at trial tended to prove that Whipps left the residence of a friend at about 6 a.m. on June 17, 1995, and entered a home some 150 feet away where a young child and a fifteen-year-old babysitter were still asleep. Whipps had sex with the babysitter, killed her with a stab wound to the center of her chest, and then set the house on fire in two places.

Investigation

The following day, the police called Whipps and said they would like to talk to him. Two officers drove to the home where Whipps lived with his mother. Whipps came out and sat in the back of the squad car.

During the conversation, one of the officers noticed that Whipps' left shoe had been burned. The officer told Whipps he would like to sketch the sole of his shoe. Whipps removed the shoe and handed it to the officer. While sketching, the officer noticed what he thought was blood on the shoe. The officer handed it to his superior officer.

After examining the shoe, the senior officer stopped the interview and said it was time to read Whipps his Miranda rights. There was a brief tug of war over the shoe, which the officers won. Whipps gave a statement, described as the first of three denying involvement in the crime.

The police apparently did not arrest Whipps on this occasion, but they kept his shoe. After holding a hearing on Whipps' motion to suppress, the trial court permitted the State to offer the shoe as evidence during Whipps' trial.

Trial

Whipps appealed after a jury found him guilty of murder; arson, a class B felony; and sexual misconduct with a minor, a class C felony.

The trial court sentenced him to eighty-nine years in prison. The judgment was affirmed.

Whipps contended that the shoe should have been excluded as the product of a seizure that violated the Fourth Amendment. He argued that the absence of a warrant and his passing of the shoe were involuntary. The appellate court reviewed voluntariness by reviewing the totality of the circumstances, citing Williams v. State, 611 N.E.2d 649 (Ind. Ct. App. 1993), trans. denied.

The appellate court concluded the trial court was justified in viewing the circumstances under which Whipps handed the officer his shoe as voluntary. It reasoned that the officers had once received the shoe from suspect Whipps and having observed it was burned and possibly bloody, they were authorized to retain it. It stated they obtained access to the shoe lawfully and its incriminating nature was immediately apparent, and that those facts authorized seizure of the shoe under the Fourth Amendment. It cited Taylor v. State, 659 N.E.2d 535, 538-39 (Ind. 1995), and concluded it was properly admitted as evidence.

Whipps also claimed error in permitting the child under the charge of the babysitter to identify him in the courtroom. The appellate record stated Whipps did not object when the child identified him, so the issue was not preserved for appeal, citing Clausen v. State, 622 N.E.2d 925 (Ind. 1993).

The appellate court stated that the judgment of the trial court was affirmed.

Dickson, Sullivan, Selby, and Boehm, JJ., concur.

Sentencing

The trial court sentenced Whipps to eighty-nine years in prison.

In Knox County in 2004, Whipps pleaded guilty to the murder of Lisa McCracken, and the plea bargain reduced his sentence in that case to 40 years more in prison.

Whipps was expected to be sentenced October 2. The 40-year sentence was expected to be served after his current 89-year prison term.

Appeals

The case included an appeal in the Supreme Court of Indiana.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIANA CAUSE NO. 42S00-9609-CR-623 JEFFREY ALLEN WHIPPS, Appellant (Defendant Below) v. STATE OF INDIANA, Appellee (Plaintiff Below)

APPEAL FROM THE KNOX CIRCUIT COURT The Honorable Murphy C. Land, Judge Cause No. 42C01-9506-CF-034

SPARDED, Chief Justice appeared in the captioned materials, and the decision was stated: "We affirm."

Outcome

The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court in Whipps' appeal.

In Knox County, Whipps pleaded guilty to the second murder of Lisa McCracken, and the plea bargain reduced his sentence to 40 years in prison in 2004.

Timeline

• June 17, 1995 — Whipps left a friend’s residence at about 6 a.m., entered a home about 150 feet away where a young child and a fifteen-year-old babysitter were still asleep, had sex with the babysitter, killed her with a stab wound to the center of her chest, and set the house on fire in two places.
• May 31, 1995 — Kathleen Westfall was murdered.
• October 13, 1987 — Lisa McCracken was murdered.
• 2000 — Random DNA testing matched Whipps' DNA to DNA found at the murder scene involving Lisa McCracken.
• October 2 — Whipps was expected to be sentenced.

Other details

Whipps was awaiting trial for the McCracken murder.

The McCracken murder case involved the possible death penalty before the plea bargain.