Officials: Ind. teen charged with strangling brother, 10, identified with TV serial killer

Ind. teen charged with strangling brother, 10

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana 17-year-old who told authorities he identified with a television serial killer said strangling his 10-year-old brother satisfied a craving like a hungry person eating a hamburger, according to court documents.

Andrew Conley of Rising Sun showed no remorse or emotion as he described choking to death Conner Conley as the two wrestled Sunday, a probable cause affidavit said. He told investigators the child’s last words were “Andrew, stop.”

Conley said he dragged his brother’s body to his car before driving to see his girlfriend, who told investigators the teen “seemed happy, more happy than she had seen him in a while,” according to the affidavit. Conley said he dumped the body near a park in the Ohio River community about 90 miles southeast of Indianapolis.

“Sometimes people are just evil,” Dearborn-Ohio County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard said. “This is an evil child.”

Prosecutors filed preliminary charges of murder against Conley along with a supporting affidavit Thursday. He is being charged as an adult and will appear Friday in court, Negangard said.

Conley’s family did not return messages for comment Thursday. Negangard said Conley had an attorney but none was listed in the affidavit.

The teen told investigators he had had fantasies about killing someone since he was in eighth grade, including cutting somebody’s throat, and felt “just like” the serial killer Dexter on the Showtime television series of the same name.

“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 and I was sitting there and it just happened,” Conley said in the affidavit.

The slaying comes weeks after Missouri investigators say a 15-year-old girl, Alyssa Bustamante, told them she strangled, stabbed and cut a 9-year-old neighbor’s throat because she wanted to know what it was like to kill someone. A not guilty plea has been entered on Bustamante’s behalf for charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

The affidavit in Conley’s case described him killing his brother before visiting his girlfriend and other friends. It said:

The two brothers were wrestling while their parents were at work. Conley put Conner in a headlock, causing the younger boy to pass out and fall to the floor. Conley dragged Conner to kitchen, put on a pair of gloves and choked the boy for about 20 minutes until he noticed blood flowing from Conner’s nose and mouth.

Conley put a plastic bag over his brother’s head, secured it with black electrical tape, and dragged the body by its feet down steps to the basement and then from the home to his car. Conley struck Conner’s head on the ground several times before putting the body in the trunk of the car.

With the body still in the trunk, Conley drove to his girlfriend’s house and gave her a sweetheart ring.

Negangard said he will consider seeking the maximum prison term of life without parole. Conley’s age makes him ineligible for the death penalty.

“I believe Andrew Conley is a dangerous person,” Negangard said.

Conley also told investigators that on the morning of Conner’s death, he stood over his sleeping father with a knife and thought about killing him. Conley went to police Sunday night, admitted killing Conner and told investigators where to find the body.

The teen had no juvenile record and his teachers considered him a good student, Negangard said.

“This kid, Conner, was a good kid, and Andrew was an A and B student,” he said.

(This version CORRECTS that Missouri authorities say Bustamante told investigators she strangled the girl. A not guilty plea has been entered on Bustamante’s behalf first-degree murder and armed criminal action.)