Arthur Eugene Lindsey

I came across this case when I was working on some genealogy. Where I live they have a local genealogy site and within that site they also have an archive of old newspaper articles. First I had come across a death card for Arthur Lindsey's victim. Basically these are cards that are compiled either by that particular local funeral home, or in later years compiled by obituaries that are listed in the newspaper. The older ones especially have some interesting information. For example the death card for Julia Zink told me not only that she was twenty-one years old and living in the nearby town of Mount Vernon, but it told me her relatives. Julia's card went on to say that she had been “killed and tossed into Ohio River nude.” A notation at the bottom said “accused: Arthur Lindsey, 25.”

Arthur Lindsey was apparently from the Mount Vernon Indiana area but he had apparently spent some time in California. One report stated he lived there for two or three years. By November of 1964 he had “recently returned to the area.” Now, I cannot tell you that Arthur Lindsey had a criminal record by this time but I have to say I would be surprised if he did not for a few reason. The crime he committed in 1964 was rather gruesome for one, for two, it appears that the authorities went straight to him when Julia Zink could not be found.

Julia Redman had married Marion Zink in 1963 apparently after Marion's first wife and mother of his two children had died. On November 14, 1964 Julia had been home with her two stepdaughters. It is not clear exactly how old the children were at the time. I can say that while Julia was preparing to turn twenty-two years old in just a few days, Marion was more than a decade older. I point this out to note that it is possible that the children were not very young at the time because when Marion returned home at around midnight and did not find Julia it was said that he thought she may have gone to visit a sick relative. Of course this was 1964, where people worried less about crime or leaving children, especially while they were sleeping. Today one would think it more unusual to leave children, no matter their age, alone even while sleeping. I think the time period and the fact that the Zink family lived in a very rural area should be noted. In today's day and age Marion Zink would have been criticized for not automatically calling the authorities when he returned home to find his wife gone and his children in bed sleeping. But, he waited until the following morning to report anything to the authorities about Julia being missing.

The police went to the Zink home and then they apparently talked to neighbors. Witnesses described a vehicle having been at the Zink home the night before and reported that it vehicle had California plates. Authorities seemed to know right away that they had described the car belonging to Arthur Lindsey. Now, Mount Vernon is not a big town even today so in 1964 it is probably safe to say it was much smaller. Even still I found it extremely odd that by early afternoon of November 15^th, just a few hours of Julia Zink being missing authorities were at the door of twenty-five year old Arthur Lindsey.

Lindsey was taken to the local police station for an interrogation. About forty-five minutes into it he had admitted to murdering and sexually assaulting Julia Zink. He told authorities where he dumped her body in the Ohio River. He was arrested and then taken to the area along the banks of the river. A few hours later Julia's nude body was recovered from the area he had specified. A medical examiner determined that Julia suffered from blows to the head and there had been an attempt to strangle her but neither of these things were her cause of death. It was believed that when Julia was put in the river she was likely unconscious, but still breathing. Her official cause of death was drowning.

Lindsey was indicated and then charged with first degree murder and first degree murder in perpetration of rape. His trial would take place in Pike County Indiana, a few counties over from Mount Vernon due to the publicity in Posey County. The prosecution was asking for the death penalty. While I have few details about what was said or how the trial was conducted it does appear that Lindsey's confession was entered into evidence. I was also able to find an article that stated that at the time of the murder Arthur was married and despite defense objections his wife testified against him in court. She told the court that on the night Julia disappeared Arthur had taken a babysitter home around 11:30 and had not returned until around two in the morning. She claimed his pants and shoes were wet when he returned. On March 5, 1965 Arthur Lindsey was convicted on both counts in which he was charged. On March 29^th he was given two life sentences as the jury apparently refuted the death penalty.

Arthur was taken to the Indiana State Prison where he remained for about a year until he escaped on March 21, 1966. It was said that they were not completely certain how he escaped but it was suspected that he had hidden in an “x-ray machine” that was shipped to a doctor in Ohio. For eight months no one knew where he was and it was said that not only did Julia's family fear for their own lives while he was on the run, his own family stated the same. In early November of 1966 a man was arrested in Fort Wayne on forgery charges. He was fingerprinted and given a bond. Two days later it was discovered that this man, who had obviously given a false name was none other than Arthur Lindsey. The FBI was given a tip and on November 5^th they surrounded a home in Fort Wayne and although initially armed with a .38 caliber weapon Arthur Lindsey emerged from the basement of the home and peacefully surrendered to authorities. He had been on the run for nearly eight months. I never found any evidence that he faced additional charges for the escape or the forgery charge that had gotten him arrested.

As is typical in cases appeals would follow. In 1976 Lindsey was able to have one of the life sentences dismissed but the appeal courts upheld the other, as well as the confession that was made to authorities. I could not determine which life sentence they dismissed but I think I can safely assume that it was from the charge of first degree murder in perpetration of rape. It was only said that it was reversed on “technical, legal grounds.”

I cannot say for certain if 1986 was the first year that Lindsey was eligible for parole, I can only say that is the first year that I found a notation about it. It seems that both Julia's family, including her husband, Arthur Lindsey's family spoke at the hearing against his release. Her family spoke of how they had feared for their lives when he had escaped and were certain that if he were released, despite being behind bars for over twenty years, he would re-offend. His former brother in law said his own family was scared also when he had escaped and that they wanted nothing to do with him which would indicate to the parole board that he had no family support, at least not in Indiana. His parole was denied.

The next indication that I got that Lindsey was up for parole was in 1989. Once again all of the families attended. This time it was said that his mother did ask for his release. Julia's husband stated, apparently at the hearing, “If they can't keep him confined for life then I'll take care of it myself... And I think I'm capable of doing it.” Others were less forward in their speeches and talked about the fact that the entire community of Mount Vernon was fearful of his release and stated that if he were to be released they would be “locking down” a town as people would not want to leave their homes. I understood the thinking here but in the same respect it would have to be more than that considering the fact that Julia Zink was in her own home when she was attacked and abducted. His parole was once again denied.

I was able to determine that from at least 1989 to 1994 there was a parole hearing every year and each year he was denied. Finally in 1998, after serving thirty-four years of a life sentence Arthur Lindsey was paroled. However he was paroled back to the state of California and not back to the Mount Vernon area. I suspect, although I cannot confirm that the condition to be paroled at all likely hindered on him going back to California.

Arthur Lindsey's troubles did not end in California. While I plan to relate to several incidences that took place I would gander to guess that these were just the ones that he was caught doing, just as I suspect that Julia Zink was far from his first victim even if it was possible that she was the first person he murdered. In 2002 Lindsey was arrested and charged with assault and attempted forcible rape against a seventeen year old girl. I have no details on this other than the fact he was acquitted after a jury trial. In 2004 he was arrested for smuggling three women across the Mexico/United States border. Those charges would later be dropped by the Department of Homeland Security. In 2005 Arthur Lindsey did receive a four year sentence in the California State prison for failure to file a change of address as a sex offender. He was paroled sometime in 2009. Sometime between his release from prison in 2009 and June of 2013 he was required to wear a GPS monitor as part of his release as a sex offender. He was also subject to surprise visits by any probation officer. On June 5, 2013 a probation officer showed up at Lindsey's home in Lancaster California to find a young disoriented women there. The probation officer attempted to question the woman but when he did Lindsey, now in his early seventies, would answer for her. The probation officer took the woman outside to speak to her but he had trouble getting some straight answers out of her. She had admitted that she had consumed some alcohol but at that point told the parole officer that she had not had sex with Lindsey. There was an indication that she may have been there for a few days and the officer advised her that she should no longer stay there.

The parole officer left without making sure the woman had left the home and I suspect that at that point he was unsure how much authority or power he had in the situation. The parole officer called his supervisor and the supervisor, along with another officer met up with the first parole officer and they returned to Lindsey's home. As they went into the home, apparently entering without waiting to be let in, they literally caught Lindsey in the act of performing “oral copulation” on the woman who did not appear to be fully conscious. Lindsey was promptly arrested after the police were called and charged with nine felony counts that included rape, oral copulation of an unconscious person, sexual penetration by a foreign object and possession of a firearm by a felon. He was taken to jail and the woman was taken to the hospital.

Authorities had discovered “numerous” photos on Lindsey's cell phone of the woman naked and unconscious. Lindsey had admitted to authorities to using a “penis pump” and engaging in “multiple sexual acts with the woman over a two day period.” In February of 2015 Arthur Lindsey, now seventy-five years old, was convicted on all nine felony counts. In April he was sentenced to 102 years to life in prison.

Since Arthur Lindsey spent time in two different state prisons I did search the websites for the Department of Corrections in both Indiana and California just to see if there was any information available. I was confused with the Indiana site. It showed he was given a life sentence without a release date which is odd for that site. It also stated that he was currently in the “Central Parole District.” Neither of these things seem to be true considering that he is currently housed in the California Health Care Facility (a prison) in Stockton. It appears that his first chance at parole was in August of 2021 and it was denied. Not that I disagree with the decision by any stretch of the imagination I still find it a bit odd considering he is eighty-two years old and obviously would be at extremely high risk for COVID-19 that has ran rampant throughout prisons. I did not see a date for his next eligibility but something tells me if they did not let an eighty-two year old man who was eligible for parole out during COVID then the odds of him ever living outside of prison is unlikely. This is probably a wise decision on their part as he has shown that age was not likely to slow him down.