A former Crothersville School Board member and Republican party official was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Scott Circuit Court for his part in a March 2016 murder for hire scheme which also involved family members and drugs.
Roger D. McIntosh, 60, formerly of Crothersville, pled guilty last month in Scott Circuit Court to conspiracy to commit murder. He is currently serving a 10 year prison sentence at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Carlisle for dealing drugs. In July 2016, Jackson Circuit Court Judge Richard Poynter sentenced McIntosh to 10 years with the Department of Corrections.
The Scott County plea agreement will add another 20 years onto his sentence leaving him incarcerated until 2044.
Special Judge Vicki Carmichael of Clark Circuit Court sentenced McIntosh Dec. 9 to 20 years in prison to run consecutively with the current drug sentence he is serving. Additionally, when he gets out of prison, McIntosh has agreed to register as a violent offender, the court document reads.
“The Scott County Prosecutor’s Office worked alongside the victims’ families throughout this entire case and entered into this agreement with their approval,” said Scott County Prosecutor Chris Owens. “Given the age and health of Mr. McIntosh and the length of his combined sentences, it is believed that he is unlikely to outlive the prison portion of his sentence.”
As part of this plea agreement, McIntosh waived his right to appeal, thus allowing the families to avoid many more days in court, Owens said.
McIntosh, along with his two cousins, brothers Phillip McIntosh and David T. McIntosh, both of North Vernon, were charged in connection with the shooting deaths of Michele R. Brewer, 45, and Jesse Willard Bowling, 51, of Lexington.
Brewer and Bowling were found shot to death March 28, 2016, in a residence at 10133 E. State Road 356 in southeastern Scott County.
David T. McIntosh pled guilty to aggravated battery in May 2018 and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Phillip McIntosh pled guilty to two counts of murder in July 2019 and was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
According to the April 2017 probable cause affidavit, a criminal drug case was scheduled to go to trial in Jackson County in April 2016 against Roger McIntosh. Michele Brewer was a confidential informant in the matter and was expected to testify against McIntosh.
“I discovered that Roger McIntosh had been telling people that Michele Brewer had purchased drugs from him for the police,” said former Scott County Detective Jeremy Arnold in the 2017 probable cause affidavit. “And there was another criminal case pending (against McIntosh) in Jackson County in which Jesse Willard Bowling was a witness.”
Arnold said during the course of the investigation, Roger McIntosh had threatened to kill Brewer and Bowling “and had approached individuals about killing Brewer.”
According to the court document, Phillip McIntosh told police the trio met several times to discuss a plan to kill Brewer to prevent her from testifying against Roger McIntosh. The McIntoshes “had multiple meetings to plan and discuss the murder and how to carry it out” according to Phillip McIntosh.
During the meetings Roger McIntosh would supply his cousins with drugs and money, according to the court document.
According to the probable cause, Roger McIntosh never promised Phillip or David an exact amount of money to commit the murder. But according to Phillip McIntosh, “He did tell him that they would be taken care of, their mom would be taken care of, and he would give them a house and property he owned in Blocher.”
Phillip said in the court documents that he knew Roger had money and “Roger was good for what he was telling them therefore they did not need an exact agreement.”
Phillip McIntosh told authorities that Roger McIntosh had supplied him with a car, .22 handgun and rifle. Det. Arnold reported in the court document that “in the days leading up to the murders, Phillip McIntosh had some hesitation and had not carried out the act. However, Roger McIntosh began hounding him about not having committed the murder yet, and told him that if he was not going to do it, that he needed to bring back the car and his tools.”
Phillip McIntosh said that he knew Roger meant guns when he said “tools”.
Phillip McIntosh told police that he acted alone in carrying out the murders.
Court documents reveal that he drove to a lane off Horner Road near the Brewer residence and walked “a beaten path that leads to the backyard” of the Brewer residence.
According to court documents, Phillip McIntosh said he used both a rifle and a revolver to commit the murders. He told authorities that after committing the murders he threw the guns out of the car down the road from the murder scene.
Police had earlier recovered the weapons.
According to Phillip McIntosh in the court document, after throwing out the guns, he traveled to his residence in North Vernon where he burned his clothes and other accessories that had been used in the murders. “He also advised that he called Roger and told him the he had killed Michele and Jesse and that Roger told him that Roger would get him some money,” Det. Arnold reported in the court document.