Wayne Kubsch

In 1992 the state of Virginia executed Roger Keith Coleman. Coleman had proclaimed his innocence right up to the end and there were many who believed after his execution that an innocent man had been killed by the state. There had been DNA testing done prior to his execution but through his defense attorney's Coleman had fought the results. Now of course at the time of his execution DNA was not what it is today so the results were not as conclusive as they could have been many years later. There was a push by those who believed he was innocent to have more modern DNA testing done after his execution, mainly to show the flaws in the death penalty. A decade later the Governor of Virginia allowed those tests to be done and it left absolutely no question that Coleman was guilty. There were many in high places left to “eat crow.” Coleman's case proved that no matter how staunchly someone claims their innocence it proves nothing. While the case of Wayne Kubsch is not as dramatic as the Coleman case his recent actions show, at least for me, that his claims of innocence for more than twenty years fall flat.

On the evening of September 18, 1998 thirteen year old Anthony Early returned to his Mishawaka Indiana home around 5:30 pm after his mother, Beth Kubsch, had failed to pick him up after a school dance. When he got home he saw that not only was his mother's car in the drive but a truck belonging to Rick Milewski was also there. Rick was the father of Aaron Milewski, Anthony's half brother. Beth was the mother of both boys and while Anthony lived with Beth and her husband, Wayne Kubsch, ten year old Aaron lived with his dad in nearby South Bend. When Anthony got into the home he saw a lot of blood inside his house. Apparently the trail of blood led Anthony to the basement where he saw the bodies of thirty-five year old Rick and his brother, Aaron. Anthony ran out of the home and to a neighbors home where 9-1-1 was called about 5:45 that evening. At the time Anthony had not seen his mother.

Investigators arrived and they too found the bodies of Rick and Aaron Milewski. Like Anthony, they too did not find Beth Kubsch right away. Once it became apparent that Rick and Aaron were dead law enforcement went to a judge to get a search warrant for the home and had to wait until that was signed before they could look more around the house. Beth's husband, Wayne showed up at the house about 6:45 to find his home surrounded by police officers and crime scene tape. While officers were waiting for the search warrant to be signed Wayne willingly agreed to go down to the police station for an interview.

While being interviewed Wayne gave investigators a timeline of his day. It had included going to work, going home on lunch (where he claimed he could not get inside), leaving work and going to Michigan where he picked up his son, Jonathon apparently for the weekend. At the time of his interview Beth had not been found, nor had investigators revealed, or even knew the cause of death for Rick and Aaron. Later Wayne's friend Dave Nichols and Dave's wife Gina would testify that after being interviewed by the police Wayne had called their home. They would claim that Wayne would say that Beth “was gone” and while Dave took that to mean dead others have pointed out that phrase could have different meanings. However, they also claimed that Wayne told them that Rick and Aaron had been shot. This latter information was not known to investigators until the following day. Wayne's defense would later claim that at least this later comment was not stated at that time and alleged that Gina would hear about the gunshot wounds from what was described as a “gossipy waitress” who had relayed that to Dave. It is unclear which story was true in the end.

Around 9:00 that evening Beth's body would be found behind the stairs in the basement. The body had been covered and concealed. She had been hogtied with duct tape. At this point investigators brought Wayne back in for questioning but it was said he almost immediately invoked his right to an attorney and so the interview did not go anywhere. The following day it was discovered that Beth and Aaron had been stabbed numerous times (at least twenty-one for Aaron) while Rick had been stabbed in the heart. Rick had also been shot twice in the head while Aaron had been shot once in the mouth.

Of course, being the husband of one of the victims Wayne Kubsch was an immediate suspect. On December 22, 1998, some three months after the murder Wayne was arrested and charged with three counts of first degree murder. Investigators believed they had all they needed to obtain a conviction against Wayne, and apparently they did.... twice. In fact it was enough for two juries to recommend the judge sentence Wayne Kubsch to death and the judge agreed. And yet both convictions and sentences were overturned on technicalities.

But, before I get into the trials and what happened with them let us go over the evidence in the case.

First there was what investigators and prosecutors believe was the motive, at least in the murder of Beth Kubsch. Wayne and Beth had been together for about seven years but they had not married until November of 1997. Just two months before the murders Wayne took out a life insurance policy against Beth for $575,000. There was an indication as if it was possible that the couple had gotten policies together but I am unclear if that is true and truthfully in the end it really did not matter. Prosecutors believed it was this insurance policy that was the motive for the murder. They had learned that Wayne owned eleven rental properties and the mortgages amounted to more than $400,000 by mid-1998. By September of 1998 Wayne was not only behind on the mortgages and taxes for his rental properties but was also more than $20,000 in debt due to credit cards.

Investigators were able to trace both Wayne and Beth's phones in this case and knew where they pinged at any given time. Wayne had stated that he had gone home during his lunch hour but he had forgotten his key that morning and since Beth was not home he could not get inside. This was shown through the phone records. However, he failed to mention, and apparently denied that he had returned to the house around 1:45 after he had gotten off work. Later Wayne did go to Michigan to pick up his son, and he was seen there, but prosecutors allege that this only occurred after Wayne had left three bodies laying in his home in Mishawaka. They theorized that the murders occurred between 1:53 and 2:51.

Through those phone records they were also able to track Beth's movements on the day of her murder. She had worked in the morning and then she had gone to a local credit union. She was seen on the camera at the the bank at 11:08 and had received a receipt stamped for 11:14. At 11:50 she was in South Bend meeting with a credit counselor. Then it appears she went back home. At some point throughout that morning there had been a conversation between Beth and her ex-husband, Rick Milewski. Presumably they set a time in which Rick would bring Aaron to the home for visitation, although there was another theory. Rick's brother would tell investigators that he was talking to Rick that day and Rick had gotten another call. When Rick returned he told his brother that Wayne had called and they had discussed moving a fridge located at Wayne's home. There did not seem to be anything specific reported about a time or anything so little more is known about the call. Prosecutors would allege that while Beth was the target of Wayne for the money, that the murders of Rick and Aaron had simply occurred because they had come to the home while Wayne was still there and cleaning up.

A search of Wayne's car revealed the receipt that Beth had received earlier in the day at the bank as well as wrappers to duct tape that allegedly matched that used on Beth. The receipt alone seemed to contradict Wayne's story. It was indicated that Wayne's car was searched fairly early or at least before Wayne would have had access to the home after the discovery of the murders. According to his story he had not been at the house since Beth had received the receipt so there was absolutely no reasonable explanation on his part for the receipt to be found in his vehicle.

It was determined that the knife used in the crime had come from a kitchen set at the home but I am unsure that it was actually recovered. I also heard nothing about the gun that was used so I have no idea what kind of gun it was or if it was ever recovered.

This is where things not only get a little tricky, but also a little confusing as there seemed to be little information found to elaborate. Wayne had a friend named Brad Hardy and apparently at some point he had gone to the police and talked to them. I cannot, despite severely trying, find out exactly what Brad Hardy told investigators. It was enough though that at some point Hardy was charged with assisting a criminal and conspiracy to commit murder. However, those those charges were dropped and Hardy was given immunity to testify against Wayne in his first trial. But again, I can find nothing about what he said, what he alleged, or anything. That being said it appears that Wayne's defense argued that it was Brad Hardy who had committed the murders.

There was another important witness that also came with some controversy and which led to the courts to overturn the second conviction. The witness was a girl named Amanda Buck. Amanda was nine years old; she was best friends with Aaron Milewski and she and her mother lived across the street from Aaron and Rick. Amanda and her mother were interviewed early the week following the murders. Amanda's mother would pick her up from an after school program between 3:30 and 3:45 and go home. When asked if they had seen Aaron and Rick on Friday afternoon both Amanda and her mother stated they had seen Aaron. Neither could remember if they had seen Rick or Rick's truck but initially insisted that they had seen Aaron sometime after 3:30 on the day of the murder. Investigators would tape the interview with the young girl and her mother. Investigators had done some more digging and had determined that both Amanda and her mother had confused Thursday with Friday based on her mother cashing her check and other things. It is not completely clear whether Amanda, or her mother actually testified at the first trial but at the second trial Amanda testified that she did not recall talking to the police. Because of this statement I feel as if she had not testified in court because even at nine that would have been difficult to forget. At any rate at Wayne's second trial in 2005 the defense wanted to play the audiotape of Amanda in 1998 and the courts had decided not to allow it. According to the appeals court this was a mistake.

So Wayne Kubsch was convicted on June 15, 2000 on three counts of murder. Two months later on August 28, 2000 Wayne was sentenced to death. The courts overturned that conviction and sentence in March of 2003 because the judge had allowed the jury to see a videotape of Wayne invoking his constitutional right to silence when he was being questioned by the police. Wayne was sentenced to death again after his second trial on April 18, 2005. In September of 2016 the courts ordered the second reversal based on what they called “critical evidence that was withheld and might have convinced jurors that Kubsch was innocent.” Prosecutors appealed this decision to the Indiana Supreme Court but in May of 2017 they refused to hear the case. In August of 2017 the state announced they were prepared to try Wayne Kubsch for a third time. It is unclear whether they announced publicly if they continued to ask for the death penalty.

By this time the families of the victims are obviously extremely frustrated. In my opinion neither reversal was based on anything that would have influenced the jurors or would disprove any of the evidence against Wayne. The families were just weary of it all. They urged the prosecutors to not seek the death penalty in the next trial because it would lessen the appeals.

Some have argued and talked about how there was virtually no forensic evidence against him. This is not unusual in my opinion since the crime occurred inside his home. There was no blood inside Wayne's vehicle but prosecutors argued that he likely showered and changed clothes before leaving and heading to Michigan. Wayne's defense had obviously tried to poke every hole that they could in the prosecution case and in my opinion only won their case on technicalities.

It was not made exactly clear exactly how things would happen but in February of 2019 Wayne Kubsch pleaded guilty on two counts of murder. The agreement dropped the charge against Aaron's murder but it ensured if the judge approved it that he would receive life in prison without the possibility of parole. The prosecutor was quoted as saying “It's important to note that life without parole means life without parole. There's no chance of him going free. There's no chance of him being released.” It is unclear if whether through the plea Wayne told the story of what actually happened that day or spoke about it at all. Regardless of that fact he knew taking this plea that, if accepted, that it would mean absolute life in prison and he waived his rights to any appeals. In my opinion there was absolutely no reason to take this deal unless of course he truly is guilty. An innocent man would not have taken a deal that guaranteed he would die in prison and there was nothing he could do to change that. I just wish for the families of the victims he would have done it more than twenty years ago!