Doyle to seek jury trial in murder case involving his live-in girlfriend

Mike Wolanin | The Republic Murder suspect Patrick Even David Doyle is escorted by members of the Bartholomew County Sheriffճ Department from the Bartholomew County Courthouse after a hearing in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021.

COLUMBUS, Ind. — A jury trial is planned in the case of a local man accused of murdering his live-in girlfriend last summer.

Patrick E. Doyle, 39, of 3018 Streamside Court is charged with the death of Heather Ann Steuver, 37, whose body was found in a shallow grave on the property of Nugent Sand and Gravel Co., located off Old Indianapolis Road.

Steuver

Doyle’s public defender, Don Edwards, informed the court Monday that his client wants a jury trial. At this time, jury selection is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, April 25 in Bartholomew Circuit Court. Judge Kelly Benjamin is expecting the trial to last four days, Edwards said.

While being questioned after his arrest for possession of child pornography, Doyle said he discovered blood on himself and saw injuries to Steuver’s face as she was in bed next to him on Aug. 22, 2021, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case.

Doyle is accused of wrapping the victim’s body in a sheet, placing several of Steuver’s possessions in a gray pillowcase, and using the victim’s car to transport the remains and possessions to the sand and gravel company where he once worked, the affidavit stated. Court records also allege Doyle buried her in a shallow grave covered with sand and rocks. He also threw the pillowcase with the victim’s belongings into a nearby lake, according to court documents.

In order to keep Steuver’s death from being known, Doyle told investigators he would send text messages on her phone to people the victim knew that included himself, the detective wrote. According to investigators, Doyle also said he went back to the site twice to shovel more soil on the body with a shovel.

It was 18 days after her death that Steuver’s remains were found after Doyle told investigators where her body was buried, court documents state. Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting ruled the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, and determined the manner of death as homicide.

After Edwards revealed his client wanted a jury trial, the public defender told the judge he was only planning on calling one person as a defense witness. However, that might change as the defense and prosecution continue developing their case, he said.

For the complete story, see Tuesday’s Republic.