Danny Coston Charged in the Murder of Jessica Evans and Jacob Wheeler

[Coyote]

Coston



Wheeler & Evans

An Illinois man has been arrested and charged with murdering a young couple whose bodies were found days apart after the two went missing last weekend, according to police.

Jessica Evans, 17, and her boyfriend, 22-year-old Jacob Wheeler, disappeared while on a camping and fishing trip near the Little Wabash River.

On Monday afternoon, police found Evans dead in the bed of her boyfriend’s pickup truck, setting off a manhunt for Wheeler, who became a person of interest in the investigation.

According to White County Sheriff Doug Maier, officials had a break in the investigation on Friday after coming across evidence of a second vehicle at the scene of the couple’s disappearance, according to the station KFVS.

Pieces of a wrecked car were linked to 36-year-old Danny Coston, of Carmi, who confessed to killing the couple when questioned by police.

Early Saturday morning, Maier has confirmed that the 22-year-old’s remains were discovered in a rural area of Wayne County based on information provided by the suspect.

Coston has been preliminarily charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Sheriff Maier called the crime a ‘random type situation’ that turned into a horrible event. Coston was apparently an acquaintance of Wheeler's father, but did not know the 22-year-old man or his girlfriend.

Wheeler and Evans, a popular senior at Norris City-Omaha-Enfield High School, were reported missing Sunday after the 17-year-old girl failed to show up for work at 5am, according to the Evansville Courier & Press.

Sheriff Maier told The Southern that the couple had been ‘dating only a short time, just a matter of a few months.’

Wheeler, a U.S. Army veteran who had served in Iraq, was married but amicably separated from his wife, according to police.

Norris City-Omaha-Enfield School Superintendent Cliff Karnes has described Evans as a ‘good kid’ who loved art.

The 17-year-old was discovered with three gunshot wounds to the head in Wheeler’s truck on Monday.

The vehicle had rolled down an embankment and over a large tree before coming to rest in a heavily wooded area. No weapon was found in the pickup or nearby, and the keys were missing.

The sheriff’s department and other law enforcement agencies launched a search by foot, all-terrain vehicles, horseback and air in an attempt to find Wheeler, but it was not until Coston’s arrest that his body was finally recovered north of Interstate 64.

Authorities said they believe they know the motive behind the killings, but would not release the details just yet.

Coston is being held on $3million in the White County Jail.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...eran-boyfriend-22-vanished.html#ixzz25btEq9WS

The man accused in the double homicide of a White County couple was formally charged with five counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault, along with related felony charges, during a tense first court appearance Tuesday at White County Courthouse.

Danny K. Coston, 36, repeatedly raised his cuffed hands to wipe his nose as the nine counts filed in connection with the deaths of Jessica Evans, 17, and Jacob Wheeler, 22, were read by Judge Thomas Sutton in front of a packed courtroom.

Coston, authorities said previously, confessed to killing Evans and Wheeler, who were reported missing Aug. 26 when they failed to return home from a weekend fishing and camping trip along the Little Wabash River in rural White County.

The body of Evans, a senior at Norris City-Omaha-Enfield High School, was discovered about a mile from the campsite in the bed of Wheeler’s truck Aug. 27. Wheeler’s body was discovered in rural Wayne County in the hours after Coston’s arrest Friday night.

While motive and an exact course of events have not yet been revealed, the information filed against Coston did offer more details about the killings that shocked local residents last week.

Evans, who was shot three times in the head, was also sexually assaulted, according to the information filed by White County State’s Attorney T. Scott Webb. Coston “committed an act of sexual penetration by threat of force and personally discharged a firearm during the commission of the offense,â€￾ causing Evans’ death, the documents said.

Wheeler, a U.S. Army Iraq War veteran and member of the Army Reserves, had also been shot, according to the information. Coston is accused of removing Wheeler’s body from the murder scene and transporting it to a remote location in nearby Wayne County in an effort to “prevent or delay the discovery ofâ€￾ Wheeler’s death by homicide.

Coston is also charged with concealment of a homicidal death and two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.

Coston showed little emotion during the hearing and responded with “Yes, sir,â€￾ when asked if he understood the charges against him. Jerry Crisel was appointed to serve as Coston’s counsel and a preliminary hearing was set for Sept. 12. Coston’s bond was continued at $3 million.

Victims’ friends and family members waited as Coston was escorted from the courtroom.

Before deputies and court security could lead him away however, he was approached by his own family and friends, who shouted, “We love you, Danny.â€￾ Several unidentified people attempted to hug and kiss him before he was taken from the courtroom and back to the jail, across the alley from the courthouse.

After the hearing, Wheeler’s father, Harold “JRâ€￾ Wheeler, said he never believed his son, who was identified by law enforcement as a “person of interestâ€￾ in Evans’ death, was capable of such an offense.

“I knew he would never do something like this. I started looking for him Sunday, and I never stopped,â€￾ he said.

Coston, he said, was an acquaintance who lived about a quarter-mile from the Wheeler residence, and his arrest for the murders was unexpected.

“I’ve sat at his campsite and drank a beer with him. He’s been in my house,â€￾ a visibly pained Wheeler said of Coston.

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/c...cle_985b143e-f711-11e1-9d5e-001a4bcf887a.html

 

[Coyote]

A chilling portrait of a young White County couple’s final hours was drawn during testi-mony delivered in a court hearing Wednesday.

White County Sheriff Doug Maier was the sole witness during a hearing to determine whether there was probable cause for suspect Danny Coston to be bound over for trial in the murders of Jessica Evans and Jacob Wheeler last month.

Coston, 36, is charged with five counts of first degree murder, one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault, concealment of a homicidal death and two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm in con-nection with the deaths of Wheeler, 22, and Evans, 17.

The couple was reported missing Aug. 26 when they failed to return home after a Saturday night fish-ing trip on the bank of the Little Wabash River in rural White County.

Evans’ body was found the next day, while Wheeler’s was located after the investigation led authori-ties to Coston on Aug. 31.

Under questioning from White County State’s Attorney T. Scott Webb, Maier described the investigation leading up to Coston’s arrest, but the most compelling testimony came when Maier was asked about interviews conducted with the suspect.

Coston changed his story several times during initial interviews, but when confronted with discrepancies and evidence gathered over the course of the investigation, “(Coston) finally said, ‘You’ve figured it out,’ and he said (he would tell) what truly occurred that evening,â€￾ Maier testified.

Coston told Maier he had been drinking at the New Haven American Legion Saturday night. He got a ride home, got into his truck and drove to the Little Wabash River, where he encountered Wheeler and Evans. He spoke to them both, he told Maier, before returning to his residence to get his boat.

As he was trying to put the boat in the water about a quarter of a mile south of the couple’s fishing site, he got the boat stuck.

Coston told Maier he approached the couple again, asking for their help in getting the boat unstuck. Wheeler refused but the couple did agree to give him a ride home.

With Wheeler driving, Evans in the passenger seat and Coston in the bed of Wheeler’s truck, the three began the trip to Coston’s house, about three miles from the fishing site.

“Halfway there, he told them to stop the vehicle on the roadway,â€￾ Maier said.

Once stopped, Coston got out of the truck bed, went to the driver’s side of the truck and fired one shot through the driver’s window, striking Wheeler in the head.

The gun he used, Coston told Maier, was probably his own Ruger .22 caliber pistol and not Wheeler’s Walther .22 caliber pistol.

Coston pulled open the door and Wheeler’s body rolled into a ditch. He then got in the car with Evans.

“She was screaming, asking if (Wheeler) was going to be OK. She began to plead for her life and ad-vised (Coston) she would do anything,â€￾ Maier said. “He took that to mean she would have sex with him.â€￾

Coston then drove to a remote wooded area where he got the truck stuck on a fallen tree. Both exited the vehicle.

Coston told Maier he then had consensual sex with Evans in the bed of the truck.

“He didn’t think the sex was forced. He said she was holding his hands the whole time,â€￾ Maier said. “He then realizes he has to kill her,â€￾ or leave a witness to Wheeler’s murder.

“He picked up the gun and she is screaming, ‘No, no, no. He shot her on the side of the head but she was still coming at him, so he shot her directly in the forehead,â€￾ Maier said.

After putting Evans’ body in the bed of the truck, Coston said he walked back to his truck and drove to get Wheeler’s body. He then took county roads north to a remote area of Wayne County where he dumped Wheeler’s body, Maier said.

He threw both his gun and Wheeler’s gun out the driver’s side window on his way back to his resi-dence. Neither has been recovered.

During a final interview, Maier asked Coston “about other involvementâ€￾ in the crimes. At that point, Maier said, Coston invoked his rights and quit talking.

Judge Thomas Sutton found probable cause and set an arraignment for Sept. 19.

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/g...cle_0cdf1744-fd5a-11e1-a739-0019bb2963f4.html

 

[Valasca]

The fuck? ANOTHER Wheeler, but this one is a victim?