I’ve often heard the term “fell through the cracks” in reference to children who get into trouble, and never quite manage to get out of trouble. But then I come across some individuals who didn’t simply fall through the cracks. The cracks embraced them, and made them one of their own. Steven Timothy Judy was one such individual.
Judy was born on May 25th, 1956 in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father, Vernon, had a history of being arrested for assaulting his mother, Myrtle. Vernon was often in and out prison during Judy’s childhood. During his periods of incarceration, Judy’s mother would bring home ‘boyfriends’. Judy had a front-row seat to his mother’s method of making ends meet through sex work. All in all, Judy grew up knowing very little other than violence, abuse, and alcohol. Judy was a child who had truly been taken in by the cracks, and claimed them as his home.
As a child, Judy found fun in dangerous hobbies. He was caught once burning down the neighbour’s garage – after being reported for stabbing a classmate with a compass at school. By the time he was 10 years old, he would routinely push down high school girls walking down the street and assault them. His behaviour would routinely be left unchecked. And his behaviour continued to escalate.
At 12, Judy was experimenting with alcohol, sex, and shoplifting. He would often get caught, but he’d be let go. And every time he’d promise not to get in trouble again, he’d turn around and scope out his next victim. Judy was uncontrollable and on the loose. Until he was 13.
Judy thought this would be a simple in and out. It was anything but. Pretending to be a Boy Scout, Judy forced his way into the home of Carol Emig. He pushed her into the bedroom and rape her. He then proceeded to try to kill her with a pocket knife. However, the knife broke off in Carol’s sternum before he could complete his mission.
Lacking a weapon, Judy rushed to the kitchen looking for something else. In the meantime, Carol managed to grab a hatchet from a drawer in the bedroom. Judy returned to the bedroom with a butcher knife. Realizing Carol had a better weapon, he lunged for it, knocking her around in the process. He knocked her in the back of the head with the hatchet, fracturing her skull. As she attempted to defend herself, Judy cut off her thumb and left a deep gash in her index finger.
Carol ultimately survived. She fought for her life, suffering over 40 stab wounds and undergoing brain surgery. But she survived. Judy’s easy ‘in and out’ had turned into a disaster.
Judy returned home, covered in blood. His sister was concerned. He told her some bullshit story. She called the police. With Carol’s testimony, it was an open and shut conviction. Judy was sentenced to six months at a juvenile detention centre, followed by a transfer to Central State Hospital where he received psychiatric care. It was here that Judy was formally diagnosed as a “sexual psychopath”.
In January 1972, at 15 years old, 2 years after the attack on Carol, Judy was released to the care of Robert and Mary Carr, his foster family. The Carrs, somehow, were left completely in the dark about Judy’s extremely violent history.
There’s no telling what all Judy got up to over the years he was with the Carrs. But the next account of his actions occurred in 1975, when Judy attacked another woman – Susan McFadgen. Thankfully, passersby heard her cries before he could do anything. He served 20 months in prison, and then was once again released to the care of the Carrs.
Judy attacked once again in April 1977. He got into the car of Pamela Barger, hid in the backseat, and then threatened her with a knife as he kidnapped her. Thankfully, Pamela was able to escape and managed to give a detailed description of her kidnapper to police. Judy was arrested shortly thereafter, and jailed until the time of his trial. It ended in a hung jury.
In November of 1978, Judy proceeded to rob a market cashier at gun point. The Carrs bonded him out of jail. Somewhere between his neglectful birth parents, and his overly doting foster parents, Judy had made himself a cozy home in the cracks.
It was a beautiful Saturday on April 28th, 1979, when 23-year-old Judy got his hands on his last victims.
Terry Lee Chasteen (21) was driving on the I-465 in Indiana. She was bringing her kids – Misty (5), Steven (4), and Mark (2) – to the babysitter’s before going to work. Judy saw her from his own car. He followed her. Then he motioned for her to pull over. Terry did. Judy proceeded to tell Terry that her rear tire looked faulty. He offered to fix it. Instead, he disabled her car so that it wouldn’t start. Alone on the Interstate with three kids, Terry jumped at Judy’s offer for a ride to the sitter’s.
Insteady, Judy drove them up a deserted road along Whitelick Creek. Terry knew something was wrong when Judy ordered all four of them out of the car. He ordered the children to go play down by the creek bed, and then ordered Terry to lie down on the ground and take off her clothes.
Judy gagged Terry to stop her from screaming. He then bound her with the material from her own dress. He raped her. When the gag proved not to silence her, Judy strangled Terry to stop her screams. However, the children were alerted by the noise and came to investigate. Judy three all three of them in the creek, drowning them, followed by Terry.
Three men hunting for wild mushrooms discovered Terry near State Road 67 and Moresville in Morgan County, Indiana. They immediately called the police. Investigators found the children nearby shortly thereafter.
Police also discovered Terry’s bankbook, making the identification process simple. They found out that she lived with her boyfriend, Jack Lane, in Indianapolis. Police contacted him in order to officially ID the bodies.
He was absolutely horrified. But he told police that he’d found Terry’s car abandoned on the Interstate. Police made quick work of picking it up and towing it away, hoping for more clues.
Those clues would prove to be unnecessary. Police found multiple witnesses who could positively identify Judy as being the man they saw with Terry and her kids. Within 36 hours of the murders, he was arrested.
The trial started on January 1st, 1980 at the Morgan County Superior Court with Special Judge Jeffrey V. Boles presiding. The prosecution did not want to waste time. Judy plead not guilty by reason of insanity. The prosecution was ready to tear his defence apart.
No fewer than 56 witnesses testified for the prosecution. Most damning of all, and probably most nonsensical, was Judy himself acting as the prosecution’s star witness. He went into excruciating and vivid detail about the murders of Terry Lee Chasteen and her three children.
Carol Emig was called to testify to Judy’s character – telling the court about how, 10 years earlier, she could have died from the injuries Judy inflicted on her. If Judy thought his insanity plea would do him any favours, those hopes were obliterated by Carol’s testimony.
Two court appointed psychiatrists diagnosed Judy with antisocial personality disorder, and said he’d been sane at the time of the murders.
The defence put forward psychologist Dr. Cathy Spath Widom, who steadfastly defended Judy as being insane at the time of the murders.
The jury favoured the prosecution, finding Judy guilty on four counts of first-degree murder on February 2nd, 1980. Judy took it upon himself to threaten the court: “I honestly want you to give me the death penalty because one day I may get out. If you don’t want another death hanging over your head, I think that’s the only think you can do.”
The jury gave him what he wanted and recommended death. Judy was formally sentenced by Judge Boles on February 25th, 1980. He was transferred to death row at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana.
So set on his punishment, Judy managed to persuade the Indiana Supreme Court to allow him to waive his mandatory appeal. He repeatedly told his lawyers that he would rather die than spend the rest of his life in prison.
At 24-years-old, at 12:12 AM on March 9th, 1981, Steven Timothy Judy was executed. He was the first execution in Indiana since 1961, and the fourth in the US after the Supreme Court lifted the ban on capital punishment in 1976.
Steven Timothy Judy lived a life of crime involving quick and easy ins and outs. His last crime, however, was anything but.
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Sources:
Indiana Murderer Executed at Prison – Nathaniel Sheppard Jr. for The New York Times
“You’d better put me to death” – Richard Clark – Capital Punishment UK
Indiana’s Most Brutal Killer – Emily Thompson – Morbidology
Steven Timothy Judy Wikipedia page