Pubdate: Fri, 20 May 2005 Source: Courier-Journal, The (KY) NEWS02/505200376/1025 Copyright: 2005 The Courier-Journal Contact: http://www.courier-journal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/97 Note: Source rarely prints LTEs received from outside its circulation area Author: Harold J. Adams Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) 'KATIE' MURDER CHARGES TO SHIFT Initial Suspect To Be Cleared, Sheriff Says Charles "Chuckie" Hickman's Charges Will Be Dropped Ten-Year-Old Katlyn "Katie" Collman Was Found Dead In January Authorities Said They Plan To Charge Anthony Stockelman, 38, Of Seymour, Ind., In The Murder Of 10-Year-Old Katlyn Collman Authorities plan to drop murder charges against Charles "Chuckie" Hickman in the death of a 10-year-old Crothersville, Ind., girl and to charge a second suspect today. Jackson County Sheriff Jerry Hounshel said the county prosecutor, Stephen Pierson, told him yesterday that he would charge Anthony Stockelman, 38, of Seymour, Ind., with murder and criminal confinement in the death of the girl, Katlyn "Katie" Collman. Stockelman remains jailed on charges of sexually molesting Katie, whose hands were tied behind her back when police found her body in a Jackson County creek on Jan. 30. She had been reported missing five days earlier. Pierson, who could not be reached last night, has scheduled a press conference this morning at the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown. Hounshel said police will take Stockelman to court after the press conference for a hearing on the new charges. The sheriff also said Pierson did not tell him when he plans to drop the murder charge against Hickman, who authorities have said confessed to his involvement in the crime. It could not be determined last night what led Pierson to change course in his prosecution of the case. Efforts to reach Katie's family last night were unsuccessful, as were attempts to contact attorneys for Hickman and Stockelman. Katie disappeared after school on Jan. 25 while running an errand at a store three blocks from her home. Police arrested Hickman on Feb. 2 on charges of murder and criminal confinement. According to a police affidavit filed in connection with Hickman's arrest: Hickman told investigators that Katie had seen residents of the Penn Villa apartments in Crothersville making or using methamphetamine. He said the people Katie saw feared she would tell others, and "a plan was formulated to take her to Cypress Lake to scare her into silence." Hickman told investigators he "may have bumped" Katie into the water. Hickman also said Katie had been taken to his trailer in a white Ford F-150 pickup truck borrowed from a friend. A witness reported seeing Katie riding in such a truck the afternoon she disappeared. Suspicion returns Investigators first questioned Stockelman on Jan. 27 because he owns a white Ford F-150 and had been seen in the area about the time of Katie's disappearance. Authorities discounted him as a suspect after Stockelman said he was in the neighborhood to help his mother move from a house on a nearby street. More than two months passed before investigators again focused on Stockelman, doing so because of an uncommon brand of cigarette found near Katie's body. DNA from semen found on the girl matched DNA found on a cigarette butt. Police asked the few local merchants who sold the cigarettes to report anyone who purchased them. A store in Seymour told police on April 4 that someone had bought a carton of the cigarettes. The merchant reported a license plate number that police traced to Stockelman's truck. Investigators questioned Stockelman again that day, and he provided a DNA sample to investigators. Police arrested him April 6 after the Indiana State Police laboratory told investigators that Stockelman's DNA was a match. Pierson later said Stockelman was also considered a suspect in Katie's murder. Regarding Hickman, Hounshel said yesterday, "All we've ever had on Chuckie is his statement." - --- MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman