Florida man charged in ’97 Indiana slaying-bank robbery case

Author: the associated press
Published: Updated:
MGN

KEWANNA, Ind. (AP) – State police have filed charges against a Florida man accused of gunning down a northern Indiana man and stealing his car to rob a bank.

State police say DNA evidence initially collected in 1997 was submitted recently to the Indiana State Police Laboratory and was matched last month to William Stinemetz, 52, of Palm City, Florida. Police say with that evidence and previous evidence they were able to develop enough probable cause to obtain an arrest warrant for Stinemetz on charges of murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and theft.

Stinemetz was being held in the Martin County Jail in Florida, on charges of grand theft and other charges. A woman answering the clerk of court’s office said there was no attorney listed for Stinemetz.

Police allege Stinemetz killed 69-year-old Lawrence Pfeiffer of Kewanna, 55 miles south of South Bend.

Police say someone broke into the Pfeifer’s mobile home about 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 26, 1997, and took his car. About 25 minutes later, a man wearing a Lone Ranger-style mask walked into the Indiana Lawrence Bank about a mile from Pfeifer’s home with a large handgun and demanded money.

Police say the gunman returned Pfeifer’s car to his home on an isolated piece of land northeast of the town of about 600 people and fled in another vehicle.

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