The murder of Robert Reed
Elkhart, Elkhart County, Indiana · 2002
Overview
Robert Reed was found beaten to death on May 22, 2002, inside his home in the 600 block of South Third Street in Elkhart, Indiana, after a neighbor noticed his front door standing open and went to check on him. An autopsy ruled the death a homicide, the result of multiple injuries to his head and neck. Investigators recovered blood at several points in the home, but for nearly two decades the case went unsolved. The break came not from a genealogy database but from the marriage of old physical evidence and new witness information: blood collected from the kitchen floor, the bathroom floor, and the inside deadbolt of the front door was found to match the DNA profile of an acquaintance of Reed named Marcus J. Love, and in 2021 a witness told police that Love had admitted beating Reed to death shortly after the killing. In 2021 an Elkhart investigator, Sgt. Greg Harder, re-examined the file and noticed a bloodstain on the back of Reed's shirt that had been overlooked; 2022 testing produced a partial DNA profile that was a mixture of Reed and Love. Love, who was already serving time at the Westville Correctional Facility on unrelated matters, was charged with murder in August 2022. On November 14, 2024, he pleaded guilty to robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, a Class A felony, and was sentenced to 35 years in the Indiana Department of Correction plus five years of probation; the murder count was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
How it was solved
The Robert Reed case was solved through DNA evidence matched directly to a named suspect, combined with witness information, rather than through any genetic-genealogy or family-tree work. When Reed was found beaten to death in his Elkhart home on May 22, 2002, investigators collected blood from several locations: the kitchen floor, the bathroom floor, and the inside of the front-door deadbolt. That blood was eventually determined to match the DNA profile of Marcus J. Love, an acquaintance who, witnesses said, frequented Reed's residence. The case nonetheless went cold for years. The decisive movement came in 2021, when a witness contacted police and reported that, soon after the killing, Love had admitted beating Reed to death; the witness recalled seeing cuts on Love's fingers and blood on his clothing at the time, and a second witness placed Love at the home around the period of the killing. Also in 2021, Elkhart County investigator Sgt. Greg Harder reviewed the evidence and noticed a bloodstain on the back of Reed's shirt that appeared to have dripped downward onto him as he lay on the floor and that had not previously been tested. In 2022, laboratory testing of that shirt stain produced a partial DNA profile that was a mixture of two people, identified as contributions from both Reed and Love. Love, by then incarcerated at the Westville Correctional Facility on unrelated charges, was charged with one count of murder in August 2022. On November 14, 2024, in Elkhart, the 51-year-old Love pleaded guilty to robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, a Class A felony, and was sentenced to 35 years at the Indiana Department of Correction with five additional years of reporting probation. The murder charge was dismissed as part of the negotiated plea. Before sentencing, Love apologized to the court.
Sources
- Cold case murder from 2002 solved with DNA, suspect charged
“In 2021, Sergeant Greg Harder reviewed the evidence and noticed there was an area of blood stain on the back of Reed's shirt that appeared to have dropped onto the shirt from above while Reed was on the floor; in 2022 a partial DNA profile from the shirt was a mixture of two people, with Love and Reed as contributors.”
- DNA evidence solves cold case in Elkhart
“A witness told police that Reed's neighbor, Marcus Love, admitted to beating Reed to death after it happened; Love was charged with one count of murder.”
- Man charged in 2002 murder sentenced for robbery
“Blood samples taken from the kitchen floor, bathroom floor and deadbolt were consistent with the DNA of Marcus Love; Love pleaded guilty to Robbery Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury and was sentenced to 35 years at the Indiana Department of Corrections and 5 years to be served on probation.”
- Elkhart man sentenced to 35 years in prison
“Marcus J. Love, 51, pleaded guilty to robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, a Class A felony, in the May 22, 2002 death of Robert Reed; the murder charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement, and Love apologized to the court before being sentenced.”
- Elkhart man sentenced to 35 years in prison
“Love was sentenced to 35 years at the Indiana Department of Corrections and 5 years to be served on reporting probation for robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, a Class A felony, in the 2002 homicide of Robert Reed.”
- Man charged in 20-year-old homicide
“Reed was found dead on the floor at the 600 block of South Third Street on May 22, 2002; an autopsy determined his death was a homicide caused by multiple injuries to his head and neck, and in 2021 a witness told police that Marcus Love admitted to beating Reed to death.”
- 10 Cold Case Murders Solved with DNA
“On May 22, 2002, in Elkhart County, Indiana, Robert Reed was found savagely beaten to death in his home; police located blood stains on the kitchen and bathroom floors and on the inside deadbolt of the front door, and the case was later solved when DNA tied Marcus Love to the scene.”