Convicted killer seeks new trial
- A Muncie man convicted of killing a local woman in 2011 is seeking a new trial.
- Terry Rutledge, serving a 65-year sentence, alleges he received ineffective legal representation.
- Charges are still pending against co-defendants accused of helping Rutledge move the victim’s body.
MUNCIE – A Muncie man serving a 65-year prison term for killing a local woman, then setting her body on fire, wants to stand trial a second time.
Terry D. Rutledge, now 27, in December 2012 was found guilty of murder and obstruction of justice in the murder, a year earlier, of 40-year-old Tonia Ingram.
In a petition for post-conviction relief filed last week in Delaware Circuit Court 3, Rutledge alleges his attorneys — both at his trial and in a later appeal — were “ineffective.”
The petition is largely focused on the trial testimony of Antowyn T. Warren, now 37, one of two co-defendants accused of helping Warren move the slaying victim’s remains.
Rutledge said his legal counsel failed to bring out that Warren “made a deal” with prosecutors before taking the stand.
Warren — and Regina Nicole Miller, now 39 — have yet to stand trial on charges stemming from the 2011 slaying.
Warren is scheduled to enter a guilty plea on Oct. 12. Miller — like Warren, charged with obstruction of justice and assisting a criminal — is set to stand trial Sept. 21.
At his trial, Rutledge’s attorneys tried to persuade jurors that Miller, not their client, killed Ingram.
On Monday, Judge Linda Ralu Wolf — who imposed Rutledge’s 65-year sentence— gave the Delaware County prosecutor’s office 30 days to respond to the convicted killer’s petition.
The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld Rutledge’s convictions in December 2013.
Rutledge is incarcerated at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. According to a Department of Correction website, he has a projected release date in 2045, when he would be 57 years old.
Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.