Darlene Hulse: 1984 Argos Indiana

    

   Darlene Renee Jolly was born on October 15th, 1955 to Joyce and Oscar Jolly Jr.  She graduated from Portage High School in 1973. 

   Darlene met Ronald Glen Hulse at church.  She played piano and he played the organ.  They married in June of 1974. It seemed like a match made in Heaven. 

   Darlene was very bright.  She finished a 4 year program in medical technology in only 3 years. Ronald completed steel worker’s training and they moved from Portage to Argos not long after they married. Ronald worked at a door factory in Plymouth. Darlene and Ronald had three little girls over the next 8 years. They were very religious but did not stay at one church. They had attended many different churches in the area. They celebrated their ten year anniversary just a few weeks before tragedy struck.

 

   The couple had a dog. The dog was away that week being bred.  

   Darlene was at home with her three daughters on August 17th 1984. Her father in law dropped off some bananas around 9 a.m.  A witness saw a car parked out front on the road; not in the drive. At around 9:30 a man entered the home saying that he had a delivery to make. He abducted Darlene, dragging her out of the house while her daughters watched helplessly. He did not harm her daughters who had been in the bathtub.  The two older daughters ran naked to their grandparents home nearby and called for help.  The one year old was found splattered with her mother’s blood but unharmed.

   That 30 minute window of time bugs me. The fact that this seems planned but also not *well* planned bugs me. Witnesses saw the perpetrator and they were not eliminated. This isn’t a professional job.  But it could still be someone who was not a professional but who was also paid or compensated. 

   Darlene’s clothed body was found a day later in a nearby wooded area. She had been beaten. She died of severe head injuries from blunt force trauma. A fireplace tool might have been the weapon used. She lost a lot of blood as she was dragged from the house. She was not sexually assaulted.  Nothing was taken from the home. The naked little girls were not harmed. That is remarkable.  

   It’s like the perpetrator had to murder THIS woman. It had to be this house, with the in-laws right across the road. It had to be today. No other woman in any other house would do. Despite the difficulties and the extreme possibility that he would be caught.  It had to be this woman at this moment.

    Before I had children I sometimes had nightmares of being chased and not being able to get away.  After I had children I had nightmares of being chased and not being able to carry them all-not being able to save my babies. To this day; those nightmares are the worst ones I have ever had. The terror that Darlene must have felt is something I cannot imagine.  

    A sketch of a suspect was produced. A description of a car was also circulated. Suspects were tracked down as far away as Texas. Calls and tips came in. A suspect, Danny Bender, was interviewed and even given a polygraph.  He showed deception in the polygraph. Darlene’s daughters did not recognize him as the man who killed their mother. 

 

    Marie, the oldest daughter, got a good look at him.  He seemed clean cut and dressed neatly, she said. Melissa, the second oldest, also got a pretty good look at him. 

    A full autopsy with fingernail clippings and other fiber and hair evidence was conducted. 

    9 days after the murder an article appeared in the paper in which her husband says that his faith helped him cope. He was glad he wasn’t going through this alone.  He was glad he was “saved”.  He said his wife had been ready to die. 

    On the same day a note of thanks was published in the paper by Ron Hulse. He thanked law enforcement, pastors, and everyone involved. 

    

    He certainly had pulled himself together quickly after this incredibly traumatic abduction and murder. In the article published 10 days after his wife’s murder he says that his daughters “don’t even want to go to the cemetery. They know their mother isn’t there.” 

  He spoke at length about the crime. He mentioned that rape and robbery weren’t motives. He mentions that she was fully dressed.  He mentions that there was cash on the piano and their checkbooks were also visible. He theorized that it was just random. He seems to be trying to control the narrative here. He seems to be trying to put out an official version of the crime. 

  He said Darlene was ready to die and that this was God’s will. He also says that “time will heal the scars”.  He says he would like to hire an Amish woman to care for his daughters. He really rallied in only ten days.  

    He also said she had no enemies and that no obscene or threatening phone calls had occurred before this incident. 

    He consoled his daughters by saying this could never happen again.  He also cheered them up by telling them that they would get new carpet now. (From recorded interviews with Marie Hulse as an adult from The Deck Podcast.) 

    Ronald passed a polygraph. He was interviewed. He mentioned being annoyed that his wife never closed the curtains. He felt someone could be looking in at her.  That bothered him before her murder. 

   I am not accusing anyone.  I am just putting thoughts out there. I research and write about murders. I give my own personal impressions about these cases.  I could be completely wrong. I hope that whoever is responsible is brought to Justice and the murder is solved. 

   Ronald Hulse and his daughters cleaned the house after investigators had finished with it.  He let his daughters see and help clean the blood on the walls, floors, porch and driveway. Why not pay someone?  Why not let some kind people from church or work help out with that?  

   Time did heal Ronald Hulse’ wounds.  He remarried just a little over a year after his wife was buried. Darlene was murdered on August 17th 1984 and Ronald remarried on October 11th 1985. 

   

   By 1993 the family had moved on to a new state and a new life. That’s only natural.  People should move on after a tragedy.  It’s important to keep going. 

   I do wonder about a life insurance policy.  I also wonder if there were unusual financial transactions or withdrawals in the weeks before Darlene was murdered. Was someone paid to murder Darlene?  

   

   40 years after the murder; the owner of the funeral home who buried her spoke of the need to solve the crime in a media release. Her youngest daughter also made a statement hoping for a break in the case. That seemed significant. The two people involved most heavily in this Anniversary story were the youngest daughter and the man who buried her. That struck me as odd.  But, again, sometimes a spouse has to close off a tragic event and move on completely in order to cope. 

   Her oldest daughters participated in interviews on a podcast called “The Deck”.  (Ronald Hulse’s voice is not heard on the podcast.  An actor reads his words from police interviews.) 

   

   Darlene is buried in Argos, Indiana. 

   

    

   Darlene certainly does deserve Justice.  She deserved to raise her daughters and live out her life.  She would be 70 now if she was still here.  She would be enjoying her grandchildren. 

   In December 1986 a little girl, Brandie Peltz, was murdered nearby.  She was home sick all week and was killed on a Thursday. Her house was closer to Argos than the Hulse home. Her house would have been an earlier bus stop than the Hulse home.  They are about a mile apart.  The Peltz family had received obscene phone calls in the weeks leading up to the murder. The caller never spoke; only breathed heavily. 

   A passerby saw smoke and found that Brandie’s house was on fire and found her body in a tub of water.  She had been raped and strangled. The papers did not say who that passerby was. 

   “The Deck Investigates” reports that it was a teacher driving by. 

     

    Darlene Hulse’s murder could be just a random violent act for no reason. No robbery. No rape. It could be a story of a man who rallied and moved on with life and love after a truly random event for his daughters’ sake.  

    

    It’s a terrible tragedy. It’s terrible to suspect a murder for hire. It’s terrible to consider a random murder. 

    

    The unanswered questions for me are: Did Darlene Hulse have an insurance policy?  Was their marriage truly happy?  What would Darlene’s closest confidants say?  

    Someone knows something.  They should definitely submit their tips.  Little things that did not seem important then could mean a lot today. 

    Someone might have felt loyal and kept a secret or a suspicion to themselves. Maybe they don’t feel so loyal anymore. 

     Rest in Peace, Darlene Renee Jolly Hulse.  

If you have a tip; please call the Indiana State Police at 

1-800-552-2959 or 1-574-546-2959.