Drugs, a deadly family conspiracy and murder for hire have resulted in three men being charged with murder last Thursday in Scott Circuit Court in the shooting deaths of two Lexington residents more than a year ago.
Roger McIntosh
Roger D. McIntosh, 57, of Crothersville and Phillip McIntosh, 54, of North Vernon each face two counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and obstruction of justice while David McIntosh, 52, also of North Vernon, faces a murder charge and a conspiracy to commit murder charge in connection with the deaths of Michele R. Brewer, 45, and Jesse Willard Bowling, 51, according to a news release from the Scott County Sheriff’s Department.
Brewer and Bowling were found shot to death March 28, 2016, in a residence at 10133 E. State Road 356 in southeastern Scott County.
Phillip McIntosh
The arrests of the McIntoshes stem from a year-long investigation by detectives with the Scott County Sheriff’s department and the Indiana State Police.
Roger McIntosh is presently serving a 13-year prison term in the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility near Carlisle for dealing in a controlled substance. He received that sentence on July 13, 2016, in Jackson Circuit Court by Special Judge William Vance. McIntosh is a former Crothersville School Board member and former Republican party leader.
Phillip and David McIntosh are both being held without bond at the Scott County Jail. In addition to the current
David McIntosh
charges, David McIntosh is in jail for driving while suspended, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm, and fleeing law enforcement. Philip McIntosh is in Scott County Jail on a parole violation.
Phillip McIntosh and David McIntosh are brothers from North Vernon who are cousins to Roger D. McIntosh.
According to the 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 Scott County Detective Jeremy Arnold. “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 probable cause document, 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, he 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 Arnold, 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.
The state has filed a notice to seek life without the possibility of parole against both Roger and Phillip McIntosh.