Indiana cold case solved after nearly 50 years, suspect identified
INDIANA - Nearly five decades after a World War I veteran was found shot to death in his Indiana home, state police say they’ve finally identified his killer.
The backstory:
Everett Armstrong, 84, of rural Geneva, Indiana, was found dead at his mobile home in Adams County around 4 p.m. on Aug. 19, 1977, according to the Indiana State Police (ISP).
His body was discovered by a fuel oil delivery driver, and his death was ruled a homicide caused by a gunshot wound, authorities said.
An investigation was launched by ISP and the Adams County Sheriff’s Department, which found that witnesses heard a single gunshot just before dark on Aug. 18.
No suspects were initially identified. However, in October 1977, four witnesses came forward and named a potential suspect, police said.
The case went cold until 1981, when three people were arrested in connection with Armstrong’s murder. But six months later, charges were dropped after authorities determined the three had no involvement in the crime.
The case then remained cold for decades.
New Details Emerge :
In 2013, ISP reopened the investigation. Over the next several years, detectives corroborated the information received from witnesses in 1977.
James McBride II confessed to four people within 24 hours of the crime and showed one of them the gun used in the shooting, according to police.
(From left) Everett Armstrong, 84, and James McBride II. (Indiana State Police )
Witnesses also described McBride’s "extremely erratic behavior" immediately after the killing, state police said.
Authorities said McBride provided specific details about the murder that matched the crime scene—details only known to the killer and investigators. His confessions came before a local newspaper, the Bluffton Banner, published an article about the killing on Aug. 20, 1977.
McBride died June 3, 2024, in Adams County. He was born in Decatur, Indiana, in 1954.
What's next:
In 2025, the Indiana State Police Cold Case Team met with a prosecutor in Adams County and presented the evidence of the case.
"Overwhelmingly, the circumstantial evidence showed that James A. McBride II committed the murder of Everett Armstrong in 1977. The Adams County Prosecutor indicates that if James McBride II was still alive, he would have been charged with the Murder of Everett Armstrong," ISP said in a statement.
Armstrong was a World War I veteran and a well-known banjo player, police said.
The investigation spanned 48 years.