Evansville court unseals documents in Louisiana Street killing

EVANSVILLE — Records unsealed Monday in the murder of 37-year-old Joshua A. Seymour, who was found dead from a gunshot wound last week inside an East Louisiana Street home, raised questions about how a supposed heated argument escalated into deadly gunfire.

A U.S. Marshals Service Task Force on Saturday apprehended the man accused of shooting Seymour, 54-year-old Martin K. Miniard, during an operation in Posey County .

Miniard was charged with felony murder, Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers told the Courier & Press on Saturday, but documents describing Miniard's alleged involvement in Seymour's killing were under seal through the weekend and not publicly accessible.

Magistrate Judge Ryan C. Reed, of Vanderburgh County's circuit court, granted prosecutors' request to unseal the records Monday morning. The evidence and eyewitness testimony cited in a sworn affidavit presents a gruesome and at times confounding narrative about what happened inside 302 E. Louisiana Street just after a woman, Miniard's alleged girlfriend, dialed 911 around 8 p.m. Tuesday.

A bloody scene and a shotgun blast

Miniard's supposed girlfriend, whom the Courier & Press is not naming because she has not been charged with a crime, told Evansville Police Department Detective Kayleigh Hastings that Seymour was homeless and that she let him stay at her home "off and on," Hastings wrote in an affidavit filed in support of Miniard's charging.

The woman told Evansville-Vanderburgh Central Dispatch that she arrived home Tuesday evening and found Seymour suffering from a gunshot wound. When responding officers got to the small, shotgun-style house in central Evansville, they encountered a bewildering scene.

"(Seymour) was between the stove and the set wall of the kitchen," Hastings wrote. "There was a large amount of blood covering the stove. There was what appeared to be blood splattered across the kitchen floor, on the back door, and on the set wall."

Seymour, who was lying in the kitchen near the home's back door, "had a large amount of blood on his body and the area surrounding his body," Hastings added. Seymour appeared to missing one of his thumbs, and investigators attributed his wounds to a shotgun blast.

Woman tells police shooting came after heated argument

During an interview at the EPD's downtown headquarters, Miniard's alleged girlfriend appeared to present a rambling narrative in response to detectives' questions, with Hastings noting in the affidavit that her interviewee "would often lower her head and close her eyes," prompting admonishments to stay awake.

But when asked to recount what happened that day and night, the witness reportedly said she was in a relationship with Miniard, whom she claimed was a married man. After the pair ate dinner on Tuesday, the woman said they retired to their bedroom to discuss their relationship.

"She had been tired of Marty (Miniard) dating her while still married to his wife," the affidavit states. "(She) reported she began to throw his things away while they were both in the room. She then became upset and decided to take a walk."

As Miniard's girlfriend exited the home, she reportedly spotted Seymour entering through the residence's backdoor: "She explained that Joshua (Seymour) was staying with her off-and-on and that it was not unusual for him to just enter her home," Hastings wrote.

As she continued to walk away, the woman claimed she heard a "boom" and then saw Miniard approaching and telling her to call an ambulance. Detectives wrote that Miniard allegedly fled the area in a Dodge Caravan, a vehicle whose make and model were later allegedly observed by the police at an address linked to Miniard.

Male witness claims Miniard shot Seymour at close range

On Thursday, detectives interviewed a man whose name was listed on a debit card crime scene technicians had earlier recovered from 302 E. Louisiana St., according to the affidavit. The man reportedly told the police that Miniard's girlfriend was the father of his son.

And, according to Hastings, the man claimed he was inside the home Tuesday night and saw Seymour get shot and knew who shot him. It all came after the argument described to police earlier, the man reportedly said.

"He stated he heard some yelling from downstairs but did not come down until (Miniard's girlfriend) yelled for him to do so about four times," Hastings wrote.

When the man came downstairs, he claimed to have observed "Stump" - an alias for Miniard - sitting at the kitchen table staring squarely at Seymour, who was seated in another kitchen chair near the home's back door.

"(The man) reported that 'Stump' was holding and pointing a shotgun straight at (Seymour)," the affidavit states. "(The man stated he put himself between 'Stump' and (Seymour)."

During a brief conversation in which the man said he attempted to convince Seymour to leave, Miniard allegedly opened fire, striking Seymour. Hastings wrote that the man claimed Miniard said the words, "I shot him," moments later, but the affidavit has little to say about any possible motive.

As the man, Miniard's girlfriend and at least one other person began walking toward a nearby gas station to dial 911, Hastings wrote that the man observed Miniard exiting the East Louisiana Street home "with the shotgun and belt of shotgun shells" before driving off in the Dodge minivan.

A "sawed-off" shotgun and a photo lineup

A search of 302 E. Louisiana Street turned up useful evidence, according to the affidavit: There were two "pieces" of a shotgun recovered from a kitchen chair, including the weapon's barrel and a "handle." Hastings wrote that the "action part" of the shotgun was missing.

All legally manufactured and commercially sold firearms in the United States are stamped with a serial number, according to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. The organization Forensic Resources wrote in a 2019 report that shotguns commonly feature a serial number inscription "on the left side of the frame above the trigger guard."

Public court records do not state whether investigators were able to track and trace the shotgun components recovered from the home. But detectives believe the weapon could have been altered.

The male witness reportedly told investigators that the pieces, when assembled with the missing part, appeared to comprise a "sawed-off shotgun that looked like a pistol," with the witness adding that he believed the weapon was "illegal," Hastings wrote.

Before securing a warrant for Miniard's arrest, which a U.S. Marshals Service Task Force executed Saturday in Posey County, Hastings said he asked the male witness if he knew "Stump's" real name, to which the man reportedly said it was "Martin Miniard."

"I then presented him with a photo lineup where he was able to positively identify Martin Miniard as the person who shot Joshua Seymour," Hastings concluded in their sworn affidavit.

Douglas Brown, a deputy prosecuting attorney for the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's Office, told the Courier & Press Miniard would appear in court by video at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Houston Harwood can be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville court unseals documents in Louisiana Street killing