Indiana man accused of murder, corpse abuse
NEW CASTLE, Ind. - More than a week after finding the body of 22-year-old Kirsten Sidwell stuffed into a suitcase in a wildlife area, authorities charged an eastern Indiana man with murder and abuse of a corpse in connection with her death.
Indiana State Police say 37-year-old Anthony Dailey of New Castle was charged Thursday in connection with the New Castle woman's death. A fisherman found her body April 2 at a state wildlife area in northern Henry County, about 40 miles east of Indianapolis. Henry County Coroner Steve Hacker told The (Muncie) Star Press that Sidwell's body was found in a suitcase.
Dailey is being held without bond. A judge entered a not guilty pleas for him and appointed a public defender during an initial hearing.
The victim's father, Josh Sidwell, told CBS affiliate WTTV his daughter knew her alleged killer. He believes the two started seeing each other back in January but he thought they broke it off.
The station also reports that court documents show Dailey told his sister he "messed up," and admitted to putting Sidwell in a suitcase and dumping it in a pond. Dailey allegedly told police he knew Kirsten for seven or eight years but they never dated.
Authorities found carpet fibers in Dailey's apartment and a blood smear in his bedroom linking him to the crime, WTTV reports. According to court documents, the primary cause of death appears to be asphyxiation by strangulation, but authorities are waiting for toxicology results before releasing a cause of death.