Thursday, June 2, 2016 | Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
Murder trial of Hannah Wilson set for Aug. 1 From IDS reports
Judge Judith Stewart decided to keep the decision on whether or not to have Daniel Messel’s murder trial, now set for Aug. 1, in Brown County under advisement Wednesday. Stewart, along with Prosecutor Ted Adams and Defense Attorney
Dorie Maryan, examined a pool of test jurors today to check for potential bias. Almost a year ago, Maryan requested a change of venue in fear Brown County would not be able to produce an impartial jury. She cited media coverage that connected Messel to Lauren Spierer and Jill Behrman despite there
being no evidence as a reason why jurors might be prejudiced against Messel. Today, Stewart’s decision still stands to wait and see how the actual jury turns out to be before deciding a change of venue. However, she said the test jurors didn’t give her any reason to believe Brown County won’t be able to produce a
fair jury. “The change of venue is not granted at this point,” Stewart said. “It will be held under advisement until we get our actual jury. I heard nothing here today that makes me think we will not be able to hold it here” Stewart said only about 50 percent had any hints of bias and
many of them understood that even though they had heard of connections between Messel and Spierer that they were only speculation. To close out, Stewart thanked both parties for their patience during a process she described as a difficult and rare process. Suzanne Grossman
IDS
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Lauren Spierer, who has been missing since June 3, 2011, is pictured with her parents Charlene and Robert. This June marks the fifth anniversary of her disappearance, with no current leads on the case.
Still searching Five years ago, Lauren Spierer disappeared, sparking an exhaustive search that gained national attention. Today the police claim Lauren isn’t a ‘cold case,’ but there are still no leads as to where she might be. By Anicka Slachta aslachta@indiana.edu | @ajslacta
Charlene Spierer said the same four words to her daughter every time they said goodbye, no matter what. “I miss you already.” She wrote the phrase on her Twitter account in December 2014, in between pleas to the person, or people, who know where her daughter is. “I always told Lauren ‘I miss you already,’” she wrote. “I still do and always will.” Lauren Spierer, the subject of an infamous Bloomington missing person case, has now been missing for five years. She disappeared in the early hours of June 3, 2011. Her case was picked up by social media within two days of her disappearance and word
Key Events in the Spierer Case
June 3, 2011 Lauren Spierer is last seen at 4:30 a.m. walking south on College Avenue from 11th Street on her way back to her apartment at Smallwood Plaza.
spread fast. Search teams scoured Bloomington and its surrounding areas three times a day, every day. Soon, the searches were reduced to twice daily. People stopped showing up by the hundreds. But Bloomington never forgot Lauren. The unsolved case hangs heavy over IU, a campus that has seen missing girls both before and after Lauren. Posters from the year she disappeared are still plastered on the insides of shop windows and on the occasional bulletin board. Her blue eyes stare from the photo that accompanies the list of attributes that describe her. She’s 4’11, 90 pounds, blonde hair. The posters say she’s 20 years old. She would be 25 this year. Despite thousands of tips and no leads, the Bloomington Police Department said in a statement Lauren disappearance “has never been
June 4 Lauren’s parents fly to Indianapolis from their home in New York and drive to Bloomington. They search the several blocks around her apartment for clues, but none are found. Missing person flyers start being distributed.
considered or labeled a ‘cold case’ by the Department.” Lauren’s parents, her IU community and the town of Bloomington all deserve to know what happened to her, the release reads. The police have put an innumerable amount of hours into the Spierer case, and the department has dedicated more than 2,505 hours of overtime to her, the release said. And BPD isn’t alone: the FBI, Indiana State Police, Indiana Conservation Officers, Monroe County Sheriff ’s Office, IU Police Department, the Indiana National Guard and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children have also aided in the investigation. “Even though it has been over 4.5 years since
June 5 Social media picks up the story; Twitter and Facebook accounts are created for information distribution. The first search team of around 20 meets at Smallwood Plaza and branch out to search the areas around local lakes.
SEE SPIERER, PAGE 6 June 6 Regular searches begin three times a day, starting at 10 a.m. and ending at 5:30 p.m. Among the hundreds of volunteers are IU men’s basketball Coach Tom Crean and IU Hillel’s Rabbi Sue Silberberg. The IU Dean of Students sends faculty and students an alert of Lauren’s disappearance.
Timeline continued on page 6
Nicholas Belle appointed new director of the FNECC From IDS reports
Nicholas Belle has been selected as the new director of IU-Bloomington’s First Nations Educational and Cultural Center, a division of the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs. Belle succeeds Brian Gilley, who had served as director since 2010.
Gilley renounced his position to concentrate on his duty as a faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Anthropology, according to an IU press release. “I’m thrilled to have Nicky lead FNECC,” said Yolanda Treviño, assistant vice president of strategy, planning and assessment in a press release. “His background and im-
pressive set of accomplishments make him an excellent match for the position.” Belle received a bachelor’s degree from Villanova University and a master’s degree in anthropology from Florida State University, specializing in powwow culture, dance clothing and musical performance. He received his Ph.D. in anthro-
pology at IU, in part because of the American Indian Studies Research Institute’s educational focus on Lakota language and culture, according to a press release. Belle earned his doctoral degree in anthropology from IU last month and started as director May 9. As director of the First Nations Educational and Cultural Center,
he is responsible for advancing the University’s strategic plan and commitment to the success of Native American and indigenous students by managing First Nations operations, projects, events and staff. “With my connections in the powwow world, I tried to bring SEE FNECC, PAGE 6
Public to get a look inside Bloomington artists’ studios By Kordi Schild kschild@indiana.edu
Bloomington artists will be opening their studios to the public this weekend for the fifth annual Bloomington Open Studios Tour. BOST begins this Friday with an evening reception and group show at the I Fell Gallery. During the day Saturday and Sunday, 35 local artists will open their studios to the community, give demonstrations and provide hands-on opportunities. The BOST website, www.BloomingtonOpenStudiosTour.com, offers information on each artist and links to their websites, so participants can choose the studios they are most interested in. Here, one can find a collective map of the studios.
BIKE BOST is also new this year. It provides a scenic biking map which connects all of the studios and offers five geographically defined tours. BOST Media Coordinator and contributing artist Michal Ann Carley explained BIKE BOST was created for those who want to experience the landscape along with the tour. “Not only is being nestled in nature my inspiration, it has proven to be a big draw for a number of tour visitors,” she said. Carley herself has a studio further off the beaten path. There, she works in metal and glass alongside her woodworker husband. Carley will be showing torchworked and kiln-formed glass jewelry and objects, hand plasma-cut
steel garden whimsies, traditionally forged utilitarian objects, and iron and glass sculptures this weekend. She also plans to demonstrate basic glass bead-making on a torch, which will take place Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in her glass shop. “Our tour is as much about introducing the public to the methods, materials, processes and conceptions about creating a work of art as it’s about showing a large body of work,” she said. “This year we are all demonstrating aspects of the processes we use or display visuals that illuminate the process.” Carley explained that while the tour focuses on teaching the community more about the artistic process, she also learns a lot from the experience.
“People not only came to see my work and to explore the mysteries of an ancient blacksmithing tradition, they shared with me their lives and pursuits, and the reasons why they were compelled to go out and wander through a stranger’s space, look at and think about the reasons and the passions that compels artists and artisans to create such stuff,” she said. Project coordinator and participating printmaker Elizabeth Bussey also spoke about what she gains from the tour. ”I find that the Open Studios event provides me with a different way to connect with the art-loving public,” she said. Bussey will open her 1970’s
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An example of Michal Ann Carley’s metal SEE STUDIO, PAGE 6 pieces.