The Brown County Prosecutor's office has filed a murder charge against Daniel Messel of Bloomington, who has been accused in the murder of IU senior Hannah Wilson. Messel appeared by video in a hearing this afternoon at the Brown County Circuit Court.
Messel's trial is set for July 22.
Wilson's body was found in an empty lot in Brown County on the morning of April 24. Messel was arrested hours later, as a probable cause affidavit from the Brown County prosecutor's office confirms that Messel's cell phone was found next to Wilson's body.
The night of April 23, Wilson and friends had been drinking at the Hilton Garden Inn prior to making their way to Kilroy's Sports Bar at 1 a.m., according to the affidavit. Her friends decided she was too drunk to go to the bar, so they wanted to send her home. When a white and green cab pulled up to the curb, they put her in the car alone and paid the fare. Witnesses claimed they heard Hannah give the driver her address.
That was the last time Hannah was seen alive.
According the affidavit, Messel didn't show up to work at Fine Print Printing the following Friday morning, which co-workers said was unusual behavior for him. That Thursday night, Messel and his stepfather ate dinner at Cheddars around 6 p.m., according to an interview. Afterwards, Messel went to trivia night at Yogi's Bar and Grill around 8 p.m. but did not return home at the usual 11 p.m. or 12 a.m., which Messel's stepfather described as "unusual behavior."
When Messel returned home on Friday, he was met by police. Messel allegedly had claw marks on his arms and was carrying a plastic bag full of clothes. Court documents stated that Messel's car, a 2012 silver Kia Sportage, had blood splatter on the driver's side as well as blood stains and black hair on the console.
Wilson's cause of death was blunt force trauma to the back of the head. Investigators say she was struck four times and that she received "significant trauma to her head." They also said she "had a substantial amount of blood pooled beneath her head."
While we can only hope that Hannah's case is one in a million, the reality is, it could have happened to anyone. Please take a moment and donate to the Hannah Wilson Memorial Fund.
This story will be updated.
