Jerry Michael Bayles Jr., Or Mike As He Liked To Be Called, Was Working His Brother's Paper Route When He Was Murdered.

Jerry Michael “Mike” Bayles Jr.

"Time and time again I've searched for a way,

to reason out that fateful day.

I tell myself it was all a mistake 

It wasn't you God meant to take.

Your gravestone holds your name,

The day you were born and died.

But your gravestone can't reveal

The countless tears we've cried.

Some may think you are forgotten

Though you are no more,

But in memory you are with us

As you were before."

Mike was a good, sweet, shy boy who didn't say a whole lot. He was a hero to his cousin Lela. When she was in kindergarten she got beat up everyday on her way home from school. After Mike found out about it, he'd take his lunch break and walk Lela home everyday.

He was born on October 18th, 1959 to a self employed truck driver, Gerald B. Bayles and Fannie L. Strong Bayles. Mike was a 5th grader at Indianapolis Public School #50, Nathaniel Hawthorne at the corner of North Belleview and West Ohio. Mike was a Traffic Guard for his school with his guard post at West Washington Street and Warman Avenue, along with an adult guard “Miss Kelly”. He hung out sometimes at Laundry Center on West Washington Street, where he would ask help out by taking out the trash and empty coke bottles and given a few dollars for his work.

In August of 1970, Mike's 15-year-old brother, Gordon "Bud", began delivering papers for the Indianapolis Star with 10-year-old Mike tagging along.

On Friday, October 2nd, Bud had brought a partial collection from his route to the district manager of The Star for the west side area, John W. Nordholt and explained he would bring the rest on Saturday. Mike had finished the collection of $21.00 and was to turn it in in the morning.

At around 4:30 a.m. the next day, Mike left his house at 3028 West Jackson Street near the west side of Indianapolis, Indiana, known as Mount Jackson. He was on his neighbor's bike and headed to the circulation office the alley rear of the Clark Gas Station at 2504 West, Washington Street. Bud was sick so Mike was going to deliver papers for him. They were to meet up at their home during the route.

Mike collected forty eight papers and rode back to Washington and Harris Avenue to start the route. He had $21 in his pocket as he delivered two papers, one to the Indiana National Bank Branch at 2821 West Washington Street. He then delivered a paper to William H. Johnson at 12th South Harris Avenue.

Around 5 a.m, Mrs. Thomas P. Baker of 40 South Warman Avenue, heard a scream and saw a speeding car from her home on the alley that connects Warman Avenue and Harris Avenue. Another witness that lived at the corner of Washington and Harris Avenue (2901 West Washington Street) at the start of the route also heard a scream and saw a car's tail lights leaving.

Soon after, the Bayles family began receiving phone calls that their morning papers had not yet been delivered. Bud went to investigate and at about 6:30 a.m. he found the bike that Mike had been using. It had been abandoned, along with the rest of the papers, at 12 South Harris Avenue at the residents of William H. Johnson. Johnson said he found the bike, laying on the ground with the chain off and the rear fender bent in. Bud returned home and told his parents about the bike. They called the police and were told to look further and call back if Mike was not found. 

Bud then finished the route with the bike and then he went searching for Mike with his other two brothers 12-year-old John and 8-year-old James along with two of James' friends and Mr. Bayles.

At 8:55 a.m., Marion Adkins III, of Shirley, Indiana was driving his tractor east on West County Road 550 South in Knightstown. He was returning from feeding his livestock approximately one-fourth of a mile east of Indiana State Road 109 and 300 yards from his driveway in the southwest corner of Henry County. Mr. Adkins saw a body of a young boy in a drainage ditch in weeds four feet tall.

When Officer Glenn Cupp of the Knightstown Police Department arrived he saw the of a young boy laying face up alongside the road in the ditch.  He had only socks on and was still warm. There was a gash along his abdomen, possibly from a knife. Officer Cupp reported that the body was dragged leaving heel scrapes 15 feet from the center of the road to the ditch, south side of the road.

About 1:00 p.m., Mike’s parents heard a radio report of the discovery of the unidentified body of a boy in eastern Indiana. The description of the body found matched closely to that of Mike. The State Police were called and a Trooper was dispatched to the Bayles' residence. A photo of Mike was given to the Trooper. The Trooper later returned to the residence and said the identification was close, but the family needed come and positively identify the body, which they did.

Henry County Coroner David L. Estell estimated Mike's time death at 6:30 a.m. and that Mike died due to internal hemorrhaging. Although there were no signs of him being sexually molested, the possibility couldn't be ruled out. It was reported that Mike had received also 8 superficial wounds to his abdomen and one to the back of his neck with bruises to the neck and right arm.

On Sunday, October 4th, after seeing an article in the Indianapolis star about Mike's murder, Paul McDougall called police to report what he had seen the day before.

At about 5 a.m. on the day of Mike's murder,  Mr. McDougall was the gas station manager of the Star Service and Petroleum Station at 502 West 16th Street. He left his residence at 575 South Harris Avenue and was driving north on South Harris Avenue to work, when he noticed a light green or blue car pulling out of the alley way. It was a late 50's Rambler or Dodge with fins on the rear fenders and round tail lights along a chrome rimmed rear window. The rear license plate was recessed in the rear back bumper. The car then stopped and blocked the street at an angle. Mr. McDougall stopped his car to say something about the car blocking the road. When he was exiting his car, he heard a boy yell and he saw a man in his 20’s, wearing dark work jacket and pants, dragging a small boy. The man was holding the boy's arm with his left hand and pressing a long white handle knife against the back of the boy's neck with his right hand. 

Mr. McDougall asked "What the hell are you doing with the kid?"

The man turned toward McDougall and replied. "That's my kid and he's running away. I'm taking him home." 

Mr. McDougall told the man it was a terrible way to treat a child, then he stalled and pretended to light a cigarette in order to get the license plate number. The plate was dust covered and had the county number for Marion County prefix of 49 P, E or F and a combination of 5 and 8. There was a second man in the car with close cropped hair and the car was streaked with dust. 

On Monday, the 5th, a composite sketch was made from Mr. McDougall's account.

Also on that day, Mr. Bayles received a phone call from a woman at the Farley Funeral Home. The woman said "I can't give you my name Mr. Bayles, but I want to tell you, I know the man that saw your boy murdered and I'd like to talk to you, but I 'm afraid...The woman gave Mr. Bayles the first name of a man...I don't want to talk to the detectives; I don't want to give my number. Don't you understand? I 'm afraid!".

On Tuesday, the 6th, the sketch was circulated around Mike's neighborhood.

At 8:30 a.m., Mrs. Bayles received a second phone call from the same woman that had called once before. The woman said that she and a man are afraid to go to the police and that the man was "only" a witness to the murder. The woman then allegedly told Mrs. Bayles the address and the first name of the witness.  

"I 'm afraid, I want some protection, I don't want to talk to the detectives."  said the woman. Then she mumbled something about the man she named as having been with the killer but did not stay with him. The Bayles phone was listed in the city phone book under another another name, so they are not sure how this woman got their number.

Police checked out the address and found that the man left. The description given by the woman to the Bayles fitted that given by McDougall.

On Wednesday the 7th, McDougall underwent a polygraph test and passed.

A Clinton County man was questioned extensively for his car matched the general description and released after giving a supposedly "iron clad alibi".

On Thursday the 8th, Mike was laid to rest at the Summit Lawn Cemetery in Westfield. Before he was buried, a second autopsy had been performed.

Per Captain Gray, the first autopsy was "not complete enough". "The purpose of this autopsy is to be certain things that good common sense dictates should have been done at first."

The second autopsy conducted showed nothing new. A few superficial bruises found but were, stated as normal for Mike's age. Police work on the theory the killer quite possibly be from Indianapolis and knew the Henry County area well.

It was suspected that Mike was struck by a car and the killer may have stabbed him and left his body in the field to hide what actually happened.

Police never examined the bike was riding on the morning of the 3rd. Bud stated that it looked like somebody had stepped on it.

On Friday, the 9th, Robert E. Schmidt, a patient, that had escaped from the Central State Mental Hospital was cleared in the case.

Two sex offenders from Mike's neighborhood were questioned.

Saturday the 10th,  Albert Garcia was arrested in Bowling Green Kentucky, for sexuality molesting two Indianapolis Star paper boys, in January at his apartment at 1139 East Washington Street.
Garcia's ws a dusty gray 1962 Ford Thunderbird with tail fins, but had the Indiana County license plate prefix of 33 issued in Hendricks County, where he lived in Plainfield and disappeared from.

Robert E. Schmidt disappeared again from Central State Mental Hospital. Officers at Central State conceded that he could have been absent for as long as eight hours without being noticed.

On Sunday the 11th, detectives found abandoned car proximity one mile from Washington and Harris Avenue. There was a 1959 green Buick four door with the license plate prefix of 49P. A "tipster" reported the car used in the crime could be found at the intersection of Richland and Oliver Avenue. The car was taken to the Indiana State Police garage and examined. No blood stains were found.

Detectives searched records at Central State Mental Hospital for sex offenders on furlough on or around October 3rd.

Garcia gave "a pretty good alibi" for his whereabouts on October 3rd, but the Police did not rule him out as a suspect.

On Friday the 16th,  Albert Garcia passed a polygraph and was cleared as a suspect.

A knife was found in the neighborhood and another along Interstate 465, both tested and eliminated.

On Mike's 11th Birthday, the Indianapolis Star published an article that "Tipgiver's Identity Can be Secret." The article offered a reward of $6,000.

On Tuesday the 20th, the Indianapolis Star received a tip letter from a lady in Greenfield. She said that on the day of Mike's murder, she was driving north on State Road 9, south of Greenfield near the Park Cemetery, witnessed a car parked on the east side of the road facing south. As she approached the car, a man wearing dark blue pants and a work jacket crossed the road and went towards the passenger side of the car. She then saw the man  fumble with something and mumble. As she turned her head back towards the road, a second man crossed the road and went to the driver’s side door of the parked car. He too was dressed in dark blue pants and a work jacket. As she passed the car, she noticed that all the windows were up and a boy was sitting in the middle of the front seat, with a “wild frightful expression”.

On Monday, November 23rd,  Robert Schmidt was arrested in Phoenix, Arizona, at an apartment complex at 9450 North 17th Avenue where he had been living for a month. Schmidt also rented an office, and had a phone under the name of A-P Advertising Specialties.

On Wednesday, the 25th, Paul McDougall positively identified Schmidt from a photographic as the man he saw on the morning of October 3rd, holding Mike at knife point.

On Thursday, the 26th, Indiana State Police flew Schmidt from Phoenix to Indianapolis and was booked in Municipal Court Room 10 on a charge first-degree murder. The case was continued till December 8th.

On Tuesday, December 8th, Schmidt pleaded not guilty.

On Wednesday, February 17th, 1971, The Marion County grand jury said it had insufficient evidence to indict Schmidt.

Marion County officials ordered to hold Schmidt for the Beatty Hospital at Westfield, Indiana. (Now Westfield Correctional Facility)

On September 14th, Lucille Bayles received a letter stating she needed to be in the alley, which Mikes was taken; at 5:25 a.m. on Sunday October 3rd were she would find a package that would help solve Mike's murder. Mrs. Bayles withheld notifying the police in fear that the police wouldn't let her go, but notified the Indianapolis Star. Gerald Bayles notified police.

Sunday, October 3rd, Police were staking out the alley in unmarked cars. 

The letter was address to Mrs. Bayles using her first name and was addressed to her place or work. 

"Dear Mrs. Bayles,"

"Its all most been a year now."
"I guess it seems longer to you"
"You will never know who killed your boy, but I have something that will make you feel better. On the 3 day of Oct. you go to the ally by Harris Street where Mike left his bicycle and you will find a package. Come at 25 after 5 in the morning. You won’t see me but I will see you. Get the package and leave. Don’t be afraid I won’t hurt you. I did not kill Mike. But I know who did. If you knew you won’t believe it. I know your husband and all the boys. it won’t do any good to take this to the police. Some one else is writing this, not me. When you get the package go home before you open it please."

On Tuesday, January 11th, 1983, Gerald B. Bayles passed away at 65.

On Thursday, December 12th, 1996, Lucille Fannie (Strong) Bayles passed away at 64.

On October 9th, 1953, Mike's sister, Rhonda F. Bayles (Wise) passed away at 50.

On Tuesday, November 6th, 2012, Mike's younger brother James W. Bayles passed away at 50.

On Monday, July 29th, 2013, Mike's older brother Gordon A. "Bud" Bayles passed away at 58.

August 6th, 2013, Paul Thomas McDougall passed away at 77.

In 2015, the daughter of McDougall came forward to say that her father was the real killer and he had threatened her so she wouldn't come forward. 

"Family says the witness had a cup of coffee and Mike had came from the bank to 12 South Harris and rode out in front of him. The witness slams the brakes, spilling his coffee. According to the daughter, her father was very short-tempered and basically abducted Mike at that point," Will Ott explained.

McDougall's daughter actually saw the bloody knife that was used as the murder weapon. She said that her whole family lived in fear of McDougall. She also had tried to talk to police back on the day that Mike was murdered, but they wouldn't listen to her.

This is a really good website with a good man, Will Ott, dedicated to Mike's case. https://jerrymichaelbayles.weebly.com/ Most of this article that you are reading comes from his site.

If you have any information about Mike's case please contact the Indiana State Police District Investigative Commander at 9022 South SR 67 Pendleton, IN 46064. 1-765-778-2121 or 1-800-527-4752.