Convict maintains her innocence before judge announces sentence.

By Bill McCleery - IndyStar.com

May 18, 2005

GREENFIELD, Ind. -- Nine months after Brett Dobbins was gunned down outside his Hancock County home, an Indianapolis woman received a 55-year prison sentence Tuesday for plotting his death.

Linda Shimer's sentencing hearing in Hancock Superior Court ended an ordeal that left one man dead, three people in prison and a widow to raise her son without his father.

Shimer, 55, was convicted last month of murder for hiring a teen-ager to kill Dobbins, 44, Eden.

In issuing Shimer's sentence, Judge Larry Amick said Dobbins' death was particularly senseless.

"There is no excuse, none whatsoever, for what happened in this case," Amick said.

Dobbins is survived by his wife, Nancy, and a 7-year-old son, Brandon.

Shimer was one of Nancy Dobbins' best friends but had a bitter relationship with Brett Dobbins. In last month's trial, prosecutors said Shimer's dislike of the man had erupted into a "volcanic hatred."

That hatred developed into a murder-for-hire plot in which, prosecutors said, Shimer offered a Cadillac to Kenneth Kelly, 19, Indianapolis, in exchange for killing Dobbins.

Kelly told jurors last month that early on Aug. 10, he fired two shots into Dobbins' back as he prepared to go to work at the Raytheon plant in Indianapolis.

Kelly pleaded guilty to murder and is serving a 55-year sentence.

Kelly's girlfriend, Jennifer Brundage, 18, New Palestine, has admitted to driving Kelly to the Dobbins home the morning of the slaying. She has pleaded guilty to assisting a criminal and is serving an eight-year sentence.

Kelly and Brundage testified against Shimer at her trial.

But in her sentencing hearing, Shimer maintained her innocence.

"I do feel a sense of responsibility for what these two kids did," she said, referring to Kelly and Brundage. "Without my involvement, I believe this never would have happened. However, there was never any intent on my part for any of this to happen."

She added, "I hope the Dobbins family can find some healing and comfort."

Shimer's parents, husband, son and daughter also took the stand on her behalf at Tuesday's hearing, as did two longtime friends. All depicted Shimer as a warm, friendly woman incapable of involvement in murder.

"I can't believe the verdict," her husband, Gary Shimer, said. "I do not believe she was involved in this at all."

Linda Shimer spent considerable time Tuesday defending her parenting style, a response to prosecutors' charges last month that teens gathered to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana at her Indianapolis home in Warren Township.

Shimer admitted using marijuana but said she never used it when she thought her children or other teens might see her. And she said any teens who used alcohol or drugs in her house did so "behind my back and without my knowledge."

She showed a twinge of regret.

"If I had it to do over again," she said, "I would change a few things about the way my house was run."

One of Kelly's visits to the house, prosecutors have said, ultimately led to the plot to kill Dobbins. Kelly told jurors that Shimer said she could get him a Cadillac -- one that belonged to Brett Dobbins -- after Kelly expressed a desire to own such a car.

Kelly told jurors he accepted the offer. Prosecutors said Shimer bought bullets for Kelly and later drove him past Dobbins' house to show where he lived.

"If I knew the Kenny Kelly I know now, he would have never come into my house and never gotten near my children," she said.

Nancy Dobbins attended Shimer's sentencing hearing but did not speak. She declined to comment afterward.

A spokeswoman for Dobbins' family said the victim's relatives were satisfied but not happy with the sentence.

"As far as the family and friends of Brett Dobbins are concerned, justice will be done when Linda Shimer takes her last breath in prison," Lezlie Filson said.

Shimer said Tuesday that she planned to appeal the verdict. Amick appointed lawyer Bonnie Wooten to handle Shimer's appeal.

Woman convicted of murder

Linda Shimer guilty of arranging for man to kill her best friend's husband, jury says.

By Bill McCleery - IndyStar.com

April 19, 2005

GREENFIELD, Ind. -- A Hancock County jury Monday night convicted an Indianapolis woman of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of her best friend's husband.

The seven women and five men deliberated for about 10 hours before returning their verdicts against Linda Shimer, 55, after a weeklong trial.

Jurors received the case just after 11 a.m. and reached their verdict about 9 p.m. Shimer was charged in the killing of 44-year-old Brett Dobbins, who was gunned down Aug. 10 outside his Eden home.

She showed little reaction to the verdicts and did not respond to a reporter's request for comment as she left the courtroom. She will return to court May 17 to be sentenced. She faces a sentence of 45 to 65 years on the murder charge and 20 to 50 years on the conspiracy charge.

Juror Jennifer Chisler, 27, Greenfield, said one factor in her decision was Shimer's interview with detectives after the killing. Shimer referred to the time of the shooting -- about 5:30 a.m. -- even though she said she was just learning of the death from detectives. Those detectives testified they had not mentioned the time to Shimer.

Hancock County authorities believe Shimer offered a Cadillac to Kenneth Kelly, 19, in exchange for killing Dobbins. Kelly, who testified against Shimer, pleaded guilty to murder and is serving a 55-year sentence.

Hancock County Prosecutor Larry Gossett praised Hancock County Sheriff's Detectives Jeff Rasche and Kevin Haggard. He said their quick work tracking down the gun Kelly used to shoot Dobbins might have made the difference in the investigation. The gun was found in a car owned by the girlfriend (now the wife) of one of Kelly's cousins.

Rasche said he is gratified by the verdict but mindful of the tragic consequences for several families.

The Dobbinses' 7-year-old son "will carry this with him for the rest of his life," Rasche said. "(And) I'm still very saddened for the Shimer family and everyone else that's involved."

Earlier Monday, in his closing argument, Gossett called Shimer "a very evil woman" who set the wheels of the conspiracy in motion. Gossett said Shimer, who was the best friend of Dobbins' wife, Nancy, had a "festering hate" for Brett Dobbins.

Gossett said testimony showed that Shimer made the proposal to kill Dobbins, bought bullets for Kelly and even showed him where Dobbins lived.

"It's as cold-blooded a murder as I think you have had," he said. "This was a terrible crime, and it's a terrible crime that didn't need to happen."

Shimer's attorney, Randall Sorrell, declined to talk to a reporter after the verdicts were returned.

In his closing arguments, however, he placed the blame for Dobbins' death on Kelly and his girlfriend, Jennifer Brundage, who drove Kelly to Dobbins' home on the day of the killing. Brundage is serving an eight-year sentence for assisting a criminal.

"They're killers and they're liars, and you can't trust them," he had said of Kelly and Brundage, who also testified against Shimer.

In his remarks to the jury during closing arguments, Deputy Prosecutor Dan Nelson recalled statements Linda Shimer made to Nancy Dobbins about hiring a cheap hit man to kill her husband. Shimer had asked Nancy Dobbins what she would do with her husband's three Cadillacs if he died, Nelson said.

"She sees this person hanging around her house," he said, referring to Kelly. "She knows he may not be the most sophisticated person. She knows about his likes and dislikes, and she dangles in front of him what he likes -- 'I can get you a Cadillac.' "

Sorrell, however, said Kelly was delusional. He suggested Kelly might have invented the conspiracy after hearing Shimer and Nancy Dobbins talk about their dislike for Brett Dobbins.

Referring to a suicide attempt by Kelly and Brundage, Sorrell said, "It's the guilty people who try to kill themselves. It's the innocent people who show up and fight for their freedom."

In the end, jurors didn't agree.

Juror Alan Errichiello, 28, McCordsville, said he was convinced by witness testimony about Shimer buying bullets for Kelly and riding with him to the Dobbinses' residence so he would know how to get there.

But Errichiello said he carefully considered all evidence and arguments from prosecutors and the defense.

"When I weighed both sides, I was convinced she was guilty," he said.

Being a juror was emotionally draining, Chisler said. She kept thinking of Shimer's husband and family members she had seen in the courtroom.

"But we didn't put her in this position," Chisler said. "We're just finishing it up and doing what the law instructs us to do."

Police: Teen Admits To Killing Man For Payment

19-Year-Old Pleads Guilty To Murder

TheIndyChannel.com

November 10, 2004

Authorities say a teenager has admitted to killing a Hancock County man in an alleged murder-for-hire scheme.

Kenneth Kelly, 19, of Indianapolis, pleaded guilty this week to murder in connection with the shooting death of Brett Dobbins, 44.

Police said they believe Kelly on Aug. 10 shot Dobbins twice in the back outside Dobbins' home in Eden, about seven miles north of Greenfield, as Dobbins was leaving for work.

Kelly told investigators that someone offered him a vehicle or cash to kill Dobbins, according to police.

Kelly, who was arrested in late August, is one of three people charged in connection with the killing. Authorities accuse Linda Shimer, of Indianapolis, and Jennifer Brundage, of New Palestine, of helping to set up the slaying, RTV6 reported.

Police said Shimer is a friend of Dobbins' wife. Brundage was Kelly's girlfriend.

With the help of confidential informants, investigators found the gun used in the shooting and linked the weapon to Kelly, the Hancock County Sheriff's Department said.

Kelly faces a prison sentence of up to 55 years.

Authorities Allege Man Was Hired To Kill

Court Document: Suspect Offered Vehicle Or Cash To Shoot 44-Year-Old

TheIndyChannel.com

September 2, 2004

Third Arrest Made In Hancock County Shooting Death

Woman Faces Murder, Conspiracy Charges

TheIndyChannel.com

September 2, 2004

TheIndyChannel.com

Linda Shimer

Kenneth Kelly pleaded guilty to murder and is serving a 55-year sentence.

The victim

Brett Dobbins, 44.