The murder of Jill Behrman
Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana · 2000
Overview
Jill Behrman, a 19-year-old Indiana University sophomore, left her parents' house in Bloomington on the morning of May 31, 2000 for a bike ride before a noon shift at the campus recreation center, and did not come back. Her bicycle was found less than a mile from the home of John R. Myers II, a local man detectives interviewed that June. In 2002 a woman facing unrelated felony charges falsely confessed, and searchers drained part of Salt Creek before her story collapsed. In March 2003 hunters found Jill's skeletal remains in woods in Morgan County. The breakthrough came in 2004, when Myers's own grandmother and an aunt told state police about things he had said, and others, including a former girlfriend and a man who shared his jail cell, came forward. A grand jury indicted Myers in April 2006. There was no murder weapon, eyewitness or physical evidence, and the October 2006 trial turned on what witnesses said he had told them. A jury convicted him in about 50 minutes, and he was sentenced to 65 years. A federal judge overturned the conviction in 2019 over his lawyer's performance, the Seventh Circuit reinstated it in 2020, the Supreme Court declined review in 2021, and in October 2023 the same federal judge again denied relief. The latest reporting found lists his earliest release as June 2037.
How it was solved
No forensic breakthrough solved this case; people did. For about three years the investigation pointed in the wrong direction. In 2002 a Bloomington woman facing up to 86 years on unrelated felony charges told police that she and two friends had hit Jill Behrman with a vehicle and dumped her in Salt Creek. Police and the FBI built two dams and drained a 7,000-foot section of the creek, and found a knife, a tarp and bungee cords, but no body. When hunters found Behrman's remains in Morgan County in March 2003, far from the creek, the woman recanted. She told Myers's jury she had lied because of the felony charges hanging over her. The case reopened, but the Seventh Circuit wrote that no meaningful breakthrough came until 2004, when Indiana State Police Detective Rick Lang turned his focus to Myers "based on unexpected information provided by Myers's own family." His grandmother came forward and told investigators about a series of incriminating comments; an aunt did too; a news report said family members told police he was distraught over a break-up. Others reported similar remarks, a man who shared a jail cell with him for two days in May 2005 said he kept raising the case, and a former girlfriend told police about a time he had driven her to a clearing in the woods near where the remains were later found. A grand jury heard more than 90 witnesses over four weeks and indicted Myers in April 2006. At trial prosecutors admitted the evidence was largely circumstantial and had no weapon or eyewitness; jurors told the Indiana Daily Student the most convincing witnesses were the former girlfriend, the aunt and the grandmother. The Seventh Circuit later called Myers's many self-incriminating statements "among the most convincing evidence" and ruled that his lawyer's errors did not change the outcome.
Sources
- Myers v. Neal, No. 19-3158, opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (decided August 4, 2020, amended September 16, 2020), Appendix A to the petition for certiorari in No. 20-1134
“It was then that Detective Rick Lang turned his focus to Myers based on unexpected information provided by Myers's own family.”
- Trial date set for accused man (April 12, 2006)
“However, Indiana State Police Detective Rick Lang said his investigation pointed to Myers since December 2004.”
- Update: IU Cyclist Shot In The Head (trial coverage, October 2006)
“Myers became a suspect after his parents and other family members became suspicious and told police he was distraught because of a break-up with his girlfriend.”
- Woman who once confessed testifies (October 25, 2006)
“involved building two dams to drain a 7,000-foot section of Salt Creek.”
- Behrman case continues (March 24, 2003)
“Skeletal remains discovered by hunters weeks ago were identified as those of Behrman, an IU student missing since May 2000.”
- MYERS GUILTY: Jury takes less than an hour to return verdict in Behrman trial (October 31, 2006)
“It took a jury of his peers 50 minutes to find John R. Myers II guilty of the 2000 murder of IU sophomore Jill Behrman.”
- Man convicted of murdering Jill Behrman sentenced to max 65 years (December 1, 2006)
“A judge on Friday sentenced a man convicted of murdering Indiana University student Jill Behrman to 65 years in prison, the maximum allowed.”
- Court orders man convicted in Indiana University student's 2000 murder to be released from prison (October 1, 2019)
“The ruling means Myers must be released from prison unless the Morgan County Prosecutor's Office decides to retry him within 120 days.”
- Ruling Upholds Conviction Of John Myers In Death Of Jill Behrman (August 4, 2020)
“The three-judge panel said though the district court was right about his representation, the jury's verdict was the proper outcome based on the state's case against Myers.”
- Man convicted of killing IU student Behrman denied SCOTUS review (April 2021)
“The justices denied John Myers’ petition for writ of certiorari in their Monday orders”
- On remand, federal judge denies habeas relief for man convicted of killing IU student Behrman (October 19, 2023)
“Judge James Sweeney issued the order Tuesday denying Myers’ habeas petition as well as a certificate of appealability.”
- Court denies request for new trial in Jill Behrman murder case
“Therefore, a certificate of appealability is denied.”