David James Roberts:Indiana Serial Killer

    


   David James Roberts was born in January of 1944. Very little documentation is available on the Ancestry website for him. I usually start these posts by discussing where the subject grew up and their background. I have almost nothing here. What I do have is a trail of newspaper articles mentioning his crimes. 


   David James Roberts commuted a 1966 kidnapping and rape of a woman in Kokomo. The victim, thankfully survived. Roberts was convicted but I have not found the length of his sentence.


   He was still incarcerated in 1969 and 1971 at Pendleton as he is mentioned in a 1971 article as a plaintiff in a lawsuit over a 1969 incident in which prisoners were fired upon. Roberts and other inmates attempted to sue for damages after they were injured and one inmate was killed. When did that sentence end? 


   An armed robbery charge in Crown Point, Indiana is mentioned in a 1974 article but no date is given. When was he in Crown Point? Did he live near there for awhile? 


   In January 1974, He murdered a family of three because he thought they would testify against him over the theft of some tires. Bill Patrick had already been deposed by the court about the tire theft. Bill and his wife, Elizabeth Ann Patrick and their infant daughter all died in the fire. The Patrick family lived south of Greenwood in New Whiteland, Indiana.  


   Roberts was charged with their murders but was released on bond after two witnesses failed to definitively identify him to the court’s satisfaction. 


   While he was out on bond awaiting trial for the triple murder of the Patrick family; David James Roberts carjacks, kidnaps and rapes Paula Utterback in November of 1974. Her baby son, Jason, was also in the car. Roberts raped Paula Utterback twice and then forced her into the trunk of her car. He drove around for quite awhile. At one point Roberts set the infant out in the cold in front of a house and drove away.  Tiny Jason Utterback died of exposure. This crime had similarities to his 1966 conviction for kidnapping and raping a woman in Kokomo. 

 

   He spent most of 1975 in courtrooms for the Patrick Family and the Jason Utterback murders. Roberts was sentenced to die in the electric chair but his sentence was commuted to life in prison. 


   In 1986, he escaped from the custody of the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. Roberts and a group of other inmates had been taken to an Indianapolis hospital for medical care. Roberts had somehow acquired a .357 Derringer style gun. He made his escape as the vehicle neared the Michigan City/East Chicago area. 



   He was on the run for quite some time and made it to Staten Island, New York. He had gotten a job at a homeless shelter. (Never skip the background checks if you are hiring.) He was caught because of a segment on America’s Most Wanted. He was the first fugitive to be caught because of that show. 


   David James Roberts is still incarcerated in Indiana as I write this in 2025. 


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