D. H. Fleenor

On December 12, 1982 Billy Joe and Nyla Harlow returned to their Madison County Indiana home from church. In two was Nyla's daughter, Sandra Sedam-Fleenor (although I never saw Fleenor used when discussing her), Sandra's two year old son, Justin and two of Bill's grandchildren ages ten and twelve.

Sandra had recently split from her husband, D.H. Fleenor (I never found a full name) but he had apparently come to the church service that evening, if even for just a few minutes. It seems the adults were talking about this as they entered the home. It was then that D.H came out of a hallway closet brandishing a gun and shot Bill in the stomach. He fell to the floor and D.H ordered the two women and three children into the front room at gunpoint.

D.H then allowed Nyla to go to her husband, who was still alive on the hallway floor. As she bent over to tend to her husband, D.H went over and shot Nyla in the head. He then forced Sandra, with the help of the older children to move Nyla's body into a bedroom of the home. Once that was done D.H forced Sandra and the children into a car in which he made Sandra drive to her brother, James' home. Ten year old Angela was told to go to the door and tell James that they would be out of town for a few days. She was also warned that she was not to give any indication that anything else was going on.

When everyone returned to the Harlow home Bill was still struggling on the floor. Although he was not fatally injured had been injured enough to prevent him from being able to call for help while the others were gone. At this point D.H shot Bill in the head, ending his life. That night the children were “barricaded” in one bedroom while D.H stayed in another with Sandra. The following morning D.H, Sandra and the three children drove to Greenville Tennessee to presumably a home belonging to a cousin of his.

It is unclear why it took four days before the bodies of Nyla and Bill Harlow were found, or who found them, but once they were the number one suspect became D.H. Fleenor. It was said that while he was in Tennessee D.H had called his mother and said he “thought” he had killed the Harlows. Authorities located the home in which Fleenor had fled with Sandra and the children and by all accounts surrounded the home with a SWAT team. It was said that he “held the family hostage for some time.” A later appeal stated that he had held the victims hostage for six hours. It was also said that during “negotiations” he had threatened the lives of the children.

I want to be fair before I move on that some information indicates that Fleenor was arrested on December 13^th, the day after the murders occurred, but I do not find that date to be accurate based on the other information. Since the bodies were not found for four days then it is certain that he was not charged with the murders if he was arrested before then, and if he was arrested on the 13^th then why did it take so long to find the bodies?

Fleenor was extradited back to Indiana and charged with the murders. He was also charged with one count of burglary. There were a multitude of other charges that could have been brought against him but I can only assume they did not necessarily feel the need for those charges as it gave investigators and prosecutors the time and freedom to build the best case they could on the murder charges. The prosecutor decided to seek the death penalty in the case.

The defense asked for and was granted a change of venue. The murders had occurred in Northern Indiana but the trial took place in Johnson County, just south of Indianapolis in Central Indiana. It was said his initial plea was not guilty by reason of insanity. He claimed that he was under the influence of drugs, alcohol and mental stress. The prosecutors were able to present witnesses that claimed that Fleenor had been at a bar the night before the murders and had mentioned the thought of committing them. There was testimony that he had stated he would spend the rest of his life in jail. The provided evidence that the gun used in the murders had been bought earlier that day and that he had friends drop him off at the Harlow home. To be fair to the friends, it was testified that he told them that he was going to the home of two girls whose father did not like him. He asked the friends to knock on the door to see if anyone answered. When no one came to the door Fleenor told the friends to leave him there and he would just wait for the girls to return. They allegedly had no idea this was the home of his in-laws.

While he was in jail awaiting trial he had written letters and made calls in which not only pointed to the fact that he was not, and had not been insane at the time of the murders, but also planned an escape.

On December 1, 1983 he was convicted. On January 4, 1984 the judge sentenced him to death on the two charges of murder. Although he was convicted on the burglary count he was not given a sentence for this. In 1987 and again in 1998 the appeals court affirmed both the conviction and sentence handed down.

Throughout the years Fleenor would confessed to the murders it seems several times. It was said that he had confessed to the parole and pardon boards. However, at the time of his execution on December 9, 1999 his last words were recorded as “I am not guilty.” This all after he had skipped his own clemency hearing and had seemingly decided to stop his fight against the death penalty.

*** I want to note that the majority of the information I read indicated that the ten and twelve year old children present at the murders and who were held hostage by Fleenor were grandchildren of Billy Joe Harlow. However, there was one article who referred to the children as being the stepbrother and sister of Sandra. As someone who does genealogy I know that often half siblings can be listed as step siblings so I am unsure which the author of the article really meant. At the time of their deaths Billy Joe was fifty-eight and Nyla was forty-nine. It does seem possible that the two children could have been the children of both Billy Joe and Nyla but again it was only one article that indicated this. In the same respect, unless these were grandchildren they were raising it would give some credence as to why the bodies were not found for several days. December 12, 1982 was a Sunday and it was too early in the month to say the children were on a break from school.