4 arrested in connection to slaying

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The search of a residence just north of Austin on Monday yielded items tied to a coin and jewelry store where a shopkeeper was found shot to death over the weekend, police reported.

Four Austin residents, James Matthew Caudill, 21; his brother, Christopher M. Caudill, 31; Ginger Lee Cox, 23; and Patricia A. Caudill, 50, were arrested on a variety of criminal charges following that search at the residence at 5221 Water Tower Road, according to a news release from Sgt. Jerry Goodin with the Indiana State Police Sellersburg Post.

John M. Turner, 78, was found slain Saturday at his store on Main Street in Austin.

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Goodin said officers went to the residence with two objectives — to arrest James Matthew Caudill and Cox, who were wanted on auto theft charges in Scott County and to search for items tied to the incident that led to the robbery and shooting death of Turner.

He declined to talk about what led police to conduct that search, which wound up leading to the discovery of money, jewelry and other items allegedly associated with the robbery and shooting death.

James and Christopher M. Caudill were arrested in a wooded area near the home. Ginger Cox, who is James Caudill’s girlfriend, was found hiding in the residence and was arrested.

James Caudill faces charges of robbery, auto theft and unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle. Cox faces charges of auto theft and unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle. Goodin said the robbery charge is connected to an incident involving a holdup of a store in Austin earlier this year.

Christopher Caudill faces charges of resisting law enforcement, possession of methamphetamine and dealing in methamphetamine, and Patricia Caudill, who is the mother of the two Caudills, faces a charge of assisting a criminal. The four were being held Tuesday afternoon at the Scott County Jail pending initial hearings.

The arrests of the four occurred after state troopers and officers with Austin Police Department and Scott County Sheriff’s Department went to the residence at 2:30 p.m. Monday to execute the search warrant.

Police said they believe that shortly after 3:30 p.m. Saturday someone entered John’s Coin and Jewelry Shop at 61 W. Main St. in Austin and robbed and fatally shot Turner.

Turner was found in his shop by a family member who called 911. The Austin City Police Department and Scott County EMS responded to what they initially thought was a medical emergency.

When a doctor and an official with the Scott County Coroner’s Office examined Turner at the hospital, they noticed a wound on the victim’s head that was not consistent with the medical issue responders first thought the case to concern and that was more consistent with foul play. The investigation immediately turned into a death investigation with the Austin Police Department requesting the assistance from Indiana State Police. ISP crime scene technicians and detectives processed the scene and began following leads, Goodin said.

On Monday, an autopsy was performed on Turner at the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office in Louisville. The autopsy revealed the preliminary cause of death was a gunshot wound, Goodin said.

The official cause of death will not be determined until all of the autopsy results are complete, which usually takes up to six weeks, he added.

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