Doyle
COLUMBUS, Ind. — A Bartholomew County man already awaiting trial on a murder charge has now been formally charged with 18 felony counts of possession of child pornography.
Patrick E. Doyle. 40, is charged with the Aug. 22, 2021 murder of his live-in girlfriend, Heather Ann Steuver. The body of the 37-year-old victim was found in a shallow grave on the property of Nugent Sand and Gravel Co., off Old Indianapolis Road. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, according to court records.
After Steuver was reported as a missing person on Aug. 26, investigators found several child pornographic photos on Doyle’s smartphone and arrested him on Sept. 8. It was during questioning on this case that police were able to get information that eventually lead them to finding the victim’s body 18 days after her disappearance. An initial hearing for Doyle on murder charges was held Sept. 21, but no formal hearing regarding the child pornography was scheduled.
On Thursday, Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Kelly Benjamin said there was a plea offer that would dismiss the child pornography case if Doyle accepted a plea bargain in the murder case offered by the state. But as he did in April 2022, public defender Don Edwards rejected Thursday’s offer and reaffirmed his client’s desire for a jury trial.
So an initial hearing for Doyle was held Thursday on 18 counts of possession of child pornography, all with aggravating factors. Since each charge is a Level 5 felony, a conviction on all counts could result in up to 108 years in prison, as well as fines of up to $180,000.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Kimberly Sexton-Yeager said all but a few of the illicit photos show children under 12 years of age. Sexton-Yeager reminded the defense that the plea offer, which has not yet been approved by the judge, will expire in one week.
A change of plea hearing or pre-trial conference on the child pornography charges is scheduled for 8 a.m. March 27, while a tentative trial date has been set for 8:30 a.m. April 25.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
