Weaver v. State

This is an appeal from a verdict of guilty of a charge of first degree murder returned in the LaPorte Superior Court on June 7, 1963. Because of the constitutional questions raised in this case, it would seem helpful to recount briefly some of the evidence regarding the crime and the apprehension and custody of the defendant.

While two boys were hunting in a pasture-like field in St. Joseph County, they discovered the body of a 15 year old girl who turned out to be the decedent, Mary Koontz. She was lying mostly nude with her head suspended from a small pine tree by means of a scarf tied to…