Indiana man faces more charges in freezer slaying

KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) - A central Indiana man who prosecutors say killed his friend and stuffed the body inside an unplugged freezer faces additional charges.

Howard County Deputy Prosecutor Jeremy Peelle filed additional charges of murder while attempting deviate conduct, reckless homicide and confinement last week against Walter Logan, 52, of Kokomo.

Logan was being held without bond Saturday in the county jail in Kokomo, about 50 miles north of Indianapolis. A jail officer told The Associated Press she didn't know the name of Logan's attorney.

Logan's trial had been scheduled to begin Wednesday, but the Kokomo Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/15myYG3 ) the new charges prompted Logan's defense attorney to request a continuance. A judge reset the trial for Oct. 7.

Prosecutors have not said whether they will seek the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Police were looking for 29-year-old Alex Shipp in early December after his mother told them she hadn't heard from her son in nearly a month. Officers who went to Logan's house found Shipp's badly decomposed but intact body in a freezer that was not plugged in.

Court documents say Logan told investigators that he and Shipp had known each other for about two years and had a sexual relationship. He said that one night about four weeks earlier, the men got drunk, did drugs and had sex. Afterward, Logan said Shipp became belligerent and wanted to fight, but Logan bound Shipp's hands and feet and placed duct tape over his nose and mouth.

Logan told investigators he tried to kill himself with pills and wrote a suicide note, but he fell asleep before he could finish writing it. When Logan woke up, Shipp appeared to be dead. Logan removed the tape from Shipp's face before going back to sleep, court documents say.

After he awoke again, Logan allegedly waited about six hours and then carried Shipp's body to the basement, where he stuffed it inside the freezer, documents say. When police came to Logan's home, documents say, he led them through the stinking house to the freezer.

Investigators said even if Logan hadn't intended to kill Shipp, he should have realized that sealing his mouth and nose so he couldn't breathe would cause his death.