Murders still sting 10 years afterward

On Aug. 17, 1998, Kim Galbraith experienced something that no parent ever wants or should have to experience.

That's the day the 45-year-old Seymour woman's 12-year-old daughter, Amanda Davis, failed to return home from a camping trip to southern Bartholomew County with family friend Jamie Engleking and Engleking's two children, Jessica Brown, 2, and Brandon Engleking, 1.

One month later to the day, police found the four Seymour residents buried in shallow graves along the banks of the East Fork of the White River in the Waynesville area between Seymour and Columbus.

Galbraith said the disappearance and murder of her daughter will haunt her the rest of her life.

It's also taught her one thing she wants to pass along to other parents.

"This is a tragedy that could happen to anybody," Galbraith said Thursday.

"Parents need to be more cautious with their children. I didn't think it could happen to me, but it did. I was wrong."

Galbraith said she didn't think anything about it when Engleking said the four were going camping with a man she knew only as Bob.

That man, Robert James Bassett Jr., 45, later was found guilty of murder during a trial in Dearborn Circuit Court in May 2006 and received four life sentences.
"I trusted her," Galbraith said of Engleking, whom she helped raise.

"She never gave me any reason not to trust her," Galbraith said. "I knew she would look after her (Davis) and take care of her."

Galbraith said looking back on the past 10 years has led her to believe you can't turn your back on anyone.

"I learned the hard way," Galbraith said.

She also said the world has changed greatly in the past 10 years.

"I don't like to watch the news anymore," she said. "It just depresses me."

Galbraith said her daughter was a sweet, lovable kid who was happy-go-lucky.

"She never complained," she said. "She loved school and was a very easy person to get along with."

She said her daughter, who would be 22 now, would likely have gone into some kind of profession where she could help people.

"She liked taking care of people," Galbraith said.

The trip that led to the murders began on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2008, when Engleking told Galbraith she was going camping. Engleking and the children left late that night. When they didn't return in time for Davis to get ready to go to school on Monday, Aug. 17, 1998, at Seymour Middle School, Galbraith said she knew something was wrong.

"It was the first day of school," Galbraith said.

At that point, Galbraith called police, initiating a search that eventually led to the discovery of the bodies.

Galbraith said police first told her Davis probably ran away from home.

"But I knew better," she said. "She didn't take anything with her, and people running away take their things with them. We had a very close relationship."
Bassett, who lived at Rosstown, was arrested on a parole violation shortly after the bodies were discovered.

In early July 2000, Bassett was charged with the murder of the four while serving time at the Pendleton Correctional Facility.

He was convicted of murder in the slayings in Bartholomew County in 2001, but that conviction was overturned by the Indiana Supreme Court in 2003 because of the use of hearsay evidence and improperly presented testimony about Bassett's previous criminal record.

In May 2006, a Dearborn County jury convicted Bassett a second time.

During the trial, the prosecution called witnesses who testified that Engleking may have been pregnant with Bassett's child. As a convicted child molester, Bassett was not supposed to have contact with any woman with children without notifying his parole office.

In May 2007, Bassett also received an 80-year prison term for a conspiracy to kill Bartholomew County Deputy Prosecutor Kathleen Burns while serving his sentences for the murder conviction. Burns was the lead prosecutor in the murder case. In June, the Indiana Supreme Court declined to hear Bassett's appeal of the conspiracy conviction.

Galbraith said she hopes and prays that Bassett will remain in jail for the rest of his life.

Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash said Friday that Bassett's case was appealed directly to the Indiana Supreme Court after the May 23, 2006, conviction.

"That's where it goes automatically," Nash said.

That court received the case on Oct. 18, 2007. The court, however, has yet to render a verdict.

Nash also said the supreme court's decision not to hear the conspiracy case earlier this year means Bassett has exhausted his direct appeals in that case.

Galbraith said she and her husband, Terry Galbraith, whom she married a couple of years before Amanda's murder, try to go to a memorial site set along Indiana 11 once a month in warm weather.

She said her husband had a good relationship with his stepdaughter.

"He took care of her and helped raise her," Galbraith said.

The state established the Amber Alert system shortly after Davis' murder, and Galbraith said that's something good.

"I want people to remember to try to protect their children as best they can," Galbraith said. "You can't protect them from everything."

Galbraith said she also wants people to remember her daughter, as well as Jamie Engleking, Brown and Brandon Engleking Jr.

Jamie's father died before her murder, and her mother last lived in Illinois. Brown's father, Bruce Brown, died in a car wreck this past winter in Jennings County, and Galbraith said she thinks Brandon Engleking's father now lives in Florida.