An Indiana man is charged with the murder of his girlfriend, whose body was found by a friend who tracked her ringing cell phone.
An autopsy said Kimberly Stewart died from multiple blunt force trauma injuries apparently caused by the blunt side of an axe, WXIN reported.
The friend told Indianapolis Police that Stewart bought cars at auction and fixed them up for resale. He said he texted her Tuesday afternoon that he was coming by to pick up a vehicle that had sold, but he never heard back. He said he arrived at about 4:30 p.m. but saw no signs of her, and her vehicle wasn’t there. He ran some errands and went back home, then texted against just after 10 p.m. to say he was coming by.
Stewart again didn’t answer, and when he arrived, he found her dog outside — a dog that was usually not allowed out alone. He also found the backdoor unlocked and Travis Wolfe, Stewart’s 45-year-old boyfriend, also not at home. The friend told police that was also unusual since Wolfe “doesn’t leave here ever.”
The friend then called Stewart’s phone and followed the ringtone to her body between a fence and and outdoor spa in the backyard. Police arrived on the scene about 11 p.m.
The friend further told investigators that Wolfe was a “psychopath maniac” who had been “threatening to kill people yesterday,” court documentes said. Wolfe frequently carried an axe and often did “crazy stuff” in the backyard and thought everyone was “out to get him,” he said. Wolfe and Stewart, he said, argued “all the time.”
The affidavit said that police were “familiar” with Wolfe.
Police later found Wolfe driving a BMW registered to Stewart. They found traces of blood on the passenger seat and floorboard — and an axe on the back seat.
Wolfe told investigators he had argued with Stewart on Tuesday but denied hitting her with his axe.
But police spoke with a neighbor who provided crucial information. That witness said he was loading a car in his driveway when he heard a woman scream and saw a man he later identified as Wolfe swinging a “club or hammer” toward the ground. He also said the man kept yelling at a dog to “shut up.”
The witness “specifically noted that the male was between the spa and the wooden fence,” the affidavit said. “This is the same place where police found Kimberly Stewart’s body.”
Wolfe was arrested on a preliminary murder charge as well as an outstanding warrant for unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon case.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office will make the final charging decision.
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[Featured image: Travis Wolfe/Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and Kimberly Stewart/family handout]
