Roy Ward was sentenced to death by the State of Indiana for the sexual assault and murder of a fifteen year old girl
According to court documents Roy Ward would break into a home and would attack a fifteen year old girl with a knife. While she was being sexually assaulted the girl fourteen year old sister would call 911
Before police would arrive Roy Ward would stab the fifteen year old to death
Roy Ward would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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Roy Ward is incarcerated at Indiana State Prison
Roy Ward Case
The evening of July 10, 2001, ended for the family of Roger and Julie Payne and their three children–Melissa, Stacy and Brian–as might have been expected for them in early summer. Julie Payne and Stacy Payne, age 15, attended the softball game of Melissa Payne, who was age 14. They arrived home at around 10:00 p.m. Stacy and Melissa changed clothes and went to bed in a room they shared.
On the morning of July 11, 2001, Roger and Brian awoke early and left for work. Julie also had to work that morning. After Roger and Brian left, Julie checked on Stacy and Melissa through the bedroom door and saw them lying asleep on the bedroom floor, as was their habit in the summer. Julie then left for work.
On that morning, Melissa awoke at 8:30 a.m., and Stacy awoke about 30 minutes later. When Melissa woke up, she went downstairs, watched some television, and went on the Internet to chat with friends via Yahoo Messenger. Then, at about 10:00 a.m., Melissa went outside to feed, water, and play with the family’s Miniature Schnauzer. Afterwards, Melissa came back inside, watched more television, and at approximately noon went back upstairs to take a nap. Melissa saw Stacy on the telephone, on the Internet, and watching television that morning as well. Stacy was scheduled to work at Jenk’s Pizza later that afternoon.
Pretending he was searching for a lost dog, Roy Ward convinced Stacy to let him into the house. Melissa, who was upstairs sleeping, woke up to the sounds of Stacy’s screams. Hearing the screams, Melissa came out of the bedroom, went to the top of the stairs and looked down. She saw Stacy on the ground with a man on top of her. Stacy was screaming. Melissa saw her sister and the man struggling. The man was holding Stacy down and hitting her.
Melissa went to her parents’ room and dialed 911. Stacy was still screaming while Melissa was on the telephone. As she was screaming, Stacy pleaded with the man to “please stop, please stop,” to which he responded, “you better be quiet.” Police arrived within 10 minutes of Melissa’s phone call.
Dale Town Marshal Matt Keller arrived first. Keller saw a black Pontiac Bonneville with Perry County plates parked at the residence. Keller then entered the house and saw Ward standing five to six feet from the door with a closed-blade knife in his hand and sweating. Ward dropped the knife when commanded to do so and went to the floor after Keller’s second command to do so. Roy Ward was handcuffed and taken into custody.
Keller contacted dispatch, informing them that he “had one in custody.” He then moved Roy Ward outside, took a couple of steps inside the home, and saw Stacy lying in a huge pool of blood in the kitchen area.
Stacy was nude from the waist down, with her abdominal contents “outside of her body.” She was flailing her arms and legs and trying to speak. Keller positioned himself so that he could keep an eye on Ward and keep watch over Stacy while he waited for an ambulance.
Deputy Sheriff Dale Kessinger arrived at approximately the same time as the dispatched Emergency Medical Services crew. Roy Ward was placed in Marshal Keller’s car. Ward’s front pocket contained a white piece of twine evidencing a red stain. The twine had blond hair wrapped up in it. Meanwhile, 911 operator, Dara Harris, had kept Melissa on the telephone as Keller had entered the Payne residence. Operator Harris could hear Stacy screaming in the background while she spoke with Melissa. Operator Harris told Melissa that a man had been apprehended, and that an officer was coming up the steps to assist her. Detective Randy Cutrell then took Melissa out of the house and placed her into a police car. Melissa did not see Stacy nor Ward as she exited the house, but she did see an unfamiliar black car in the driveway.
When Emergency Medical Technician (“EMT”) Murray Stout approached Stacy at the scene to render emergency services, Stacy initially threw her arm at him several times as if she were trying to fight him off. At the same time, she was moving her legs as if she were trying to crawl. EMT Stout, concerned from this behavior that Stacy may have mistaken him as her attacker, explained to Stacy that he was there to help. Stout tried to place Stacy’s abdominal contents back inside her body through the use of wound dressings. While Stout and his partner attended to Stacy, she would open her eyes from time to time and she cried several times. Stacy grimaced and moaned with pain as the EMTs moved her. Stacy was able to nod in response to questions from Stout. Stacy was placed in the ambulance. Stout’s partner called for an emergency ambulance because the EMTs had determined that the local hospital did not have the capacity to deal with wounds of the severity inflicted upon Stacy.
EMTs tried to place a nasal airway in Stacy, but it caused her to gag. They then implemented a non-rebreather mask to provide Stacy with oxygen. Because Ward had cut Stacy’s throat and trachea open, EMTs had to wrap a plastic IV bag wrapper around Stacy’s neck to enable her to breath. Stacy remained conscious throughout all of these efforts. The EMTs were with Stacy for nine minutes at the Payne home, and for an additional 10 minutes in transport to the hospital.
Upon arrival at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Stacy was presented to emergency medicine physician Dr. Rodney Edwards. Stacy was prepared for transportation by helicopter to Louisville Hospital, which is a Level One trauma center. Stacy remained at St. Joseph’s for approximately 46 minutes before being air-lifted to the University of Louisville Hospital.
Stacy’s small intestines were outside of the abdominal cavity, and as she was lying on the backboard with her abdomen up, Dr. Edwards could see that the opening of her abdomen was “all the way from one side to the other.” Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that the wound to Stacy’s abdomen–a 24½ inch circumferential laceration around her waist–left only about five inches of her midsection unsevered. The backbone was exposed by this wound, which indicated to Dr. Edwards that there had been multiple attempts to cut through Stacy’s spine. Stacy also had a large gaping wound across her neck that revealed the back wall of her windpipe. Stacy also had an incision across her left hand that exposed bone.
While Stacy was being treated at the emergency room, a nurse instructed her to squeeze her hand if she could understand, and Stacy did so. After Stacy arrived at the University of Louisville Hospital, she was transported to the major resuscitation room where medical personnel tried in vain to save her life. Stacy was pronounced dead at 5:20 p.m. Eastern Time, on July 11, 2001, approximately five hours after the attack.
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