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THURSDAY WEATHER

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Sports Community

FOR MORE, SEE PAGE B1 FOR MORE, SEE PAGE A9

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL CIVIL WAR DAYSLa Porte’s Dickson named top area player Civil War re-enactment scheduled

$1@HeraldArgus herald.argus heraldargus.comWednesday, June 18, 2014

Shoffner charged with murderBy MATT FRITZ

Staff writer

1-219-326-3887

mfritz@heraldargus.com

La PORTE — A murder suspect said he was playing with his knife when he acci-dentally stabbed his girlfriend in the neck, chest and possibly the hand, before stuffi ng her into a freezer and leaving her

to freeze solid at her La Porte home last week.

At least that was the story he allegedly shared with in-vestigators when they took him into custody on Sunday in La Porte. Daniel Shoffner, 47, of La Porte, was formally charged with murder on Tues-day for allegedly stabbing Birdie Elder to death at 116 McClung Road.

According to the affi davit, Shoffner told Detective Jim Ferguson he killed Elder on either Thursday, June 12, or Friday, June 13, after the two

had an argument about Elder’s family and Shoffner started doing “knife moves.”

He initially said he only stabbed Elder in the neck by mistake, but then admitted to stabbing her in the chest. He said he also might have stabbed her in the hand when she tried to block him. He then allegedly held her after she collapsed, and remained holding her until she stopped breathing. She reportedly died after 10 or 20 minutes. Then she was stuffed in the freezer to keep cool.

The pocket knife used in the murder was allegedly gift-ed to Shoffner by Elder.

La Porte police offi cers responded to the residence on Sunday night after a 911 call tipped them off about the murder and the presence of a mental subject. The call was made by a relative of Shoffner after he allegedly admitted the murder to her and told her not to report it until Monday when he planned to kill himself.

Evidence technicians found a female body in the freezer and red stains on the carpet

upstairs. They also located the pocket knife in a garbage bag outside.

Shoffner said he took the victim’s Xanax pills, shot in-sulin into his stomach and slit his wrists in a failed attempt to kill himself immediately fol-lowing the murder. He ended up passing out for a few days, then woke up and went to the hospital where he had stitches. He said he thought the victim was in the freezer for three or four days.

He said he was having fun with the victim prior to killing

her, so he didn’t know why he did it. He admitted to drinking with the victim prior to the crime.

His relative said he con-tacted her about the murder on Sunday afternoon.

According to McClung Road residents Robert and Charlene Peals on Monday, Shoffner moved into Elder’s home after the death of her husband several months ago. They said Elder and Shoffner were boyfriend and girlfriend.

Family: Fort La PlayPorte has safety concernsBy GABRIELLE GONZALEZ

Staff writer

(219) 326-3870

ggonzalez@heraldargus.com

La PORTE — A local resi-dent has expressed concerns about the safety of play-ground equipment at Fort La PlayPorte in Kesling Park.

La Porte resident Karen Donah said she has made numerous attempts to share her concerns with the city over safety hazards at the playground. Her daughter Kara Donah and 6-year-old granddaughter have spe-cifi cally pointed out the sus-pended bridge in the middle of the playground as their major safety concern.

“The playground is dan-gerous to our children. As a person walks or runs on the suspended bridge, the large bolts could easily snap off a toe,” said Donah. “There are also many nails and screws sticking out. If a person was shoved up or ended up against them, they could be injured.”

Karen Donah said a main-tenance worker did replace a missing chain at the facility this year.

Parents who were with their children Monday as they played disagreed with the concerns.

“I feel like this is the saf-est park in La Porte,” said Sarah Spitzmesser. “I feel really comfortable having my children play here. Par-ents can be a little too over protective about their chil-dren these days.”

Spitzmesser has three children, ranging in age from 1 to 5 who all use various parts of the play-ground. She said other parks have needles, teenagers and places where her child could

fall over the top of a slide. Spitzmesser said the mainte-nance department keeps the playground nice and police sometimes patrol the area, making her feel safe about taking her kids there.

The sign posted at the playground for safety issues has the La Porte Parks De-partment number listed. The Donah family said they have tried calling the number list-ed three times last summer and twice since May. Donah said they have received no response. She called and left another message Monday evening after noticing a tod-dler running barefoot on the equipment.

“I think it will be more expensive to fi ght a lawsuit over an injured child than to fi x the problems,” said Do-nah in a letter written Mon-day to La Porte City Mayor Blair Milo. “I can’t imagine why the city does not main-tain the playground for the protection of the precious children who play there.”

Milo, who said she had no prior knowledge of the telephone messages left, she said she replied back imme-diately that the city will do their best in addressing the concerns.

“Safety is certainly a pri-ority,” said Milo on Tues-day.

She also contacted new Parks Department Supervi-sor Mark Schreiber on Tues-day morning and is looking to have the city maintenance department aware of the is-sues. She said the city main-tenance department takes care of the playground facil-ity at Kesling.

The playground was com-munity built in September 1999.

Jury selection delayed in Taylor trial

By KELLEY SMITHFor The Herald-Argus

MICHIGAN CITY — Jury selection in the case against 20-year-old murder suspect Brian Jordan “BJ” Taylor was delayed an-other day in order to allow prosecutors to respond to the judge’s Tuesday morn-ing ruling that many of the state’s key witnesses are barred from testifying.

J u d g e K a t h l e e n Lang told Deputy Pros-ecutor Patri-cia Bishop T u e s d a y that her of-fi ce had until 3:30 p.m. the same afternoon to respond to the ruling in writing. At that time, the state submit-ted a motion for the judge to reconsider her ruling.

The defense now has un-til 9 a.m. today to respond to the state’s motion; and the state has until 10:30 a.m. today to respond to the defense’s response.

Lang will conduct a hearing on the motion to reconsider at 10:30 a.m. today in La Porte Superior Court No. 1.; and the pool of about 70 potential jurors will reconvene there at 1 p.m.

The prosecution was dealt a major blow during a pretrial motions hearing Tuesday when Lang de-livered a signifi cant ruling on the defense’s motion to suppress much of the state’s evidence.

The judge ruled that all witnesses who in-tend to invoke their Fifth

Photos by Gabrielle GonzalezSome La Porte residents are concerned about safety hazards at Fort La PlayPorte, including large bolts sticking out of the suspended bridge in the middle of the playground. La Porte Mayor Blair Milo said she contacted new Parks Department Supervisor Mark Schreiber on Tuesday morning and is looking to have the city maintenance aware of any issues.

Community garden delayed by not meeting ADA accessibility standards

By MATT FRITZStaff writer

1-219-326-3887

mfritz@heraldargus.com

La PORTE — Issues with ADA accessibility has de-layed the construction of a community garden in down-town La Porte.

While some organizers are concerned the garden won’t be able to produce food for those in need this year, as originally planned, it is ex-pected to be up and running by the spring of 2015.

During a meeting of the La Porte City Council, Mo Meadows, one of the volun-teers heading up the garden project, questioned La Porte Mayor Blair Milo about why the project has been

delayed, saying it was in the planning stages for about a year before she raised con-cerns regarding the garden meeting Americans With Disabilities Act standards and effectively stopped the project and negated any planting this year.

Meadows noted that the dirt was in place and ready to go, and the city could have moved forward in a temporary capacity and worried about the ADA ac-cessibility at a later time.

”It’s presently an asphalt parking lot,” he said. “I’m sure a temporary solution could have been found to help people in need this year.”

In a previous interview, he

said organizers were hoping to use some of the fresh pro-duce to supplement offer-ings at such places as the La Porte Salvation Army.

But Milo said her con-cerns were brought up when the city fi rst got involved, and said organizers have to work their utmost to make sure the project is done right. She explained that a public entity constructing a non-ADA compliant project could be opening itself up to lawsuits.

On Tuesday, Dave Sisk, manager of community investment for the United Way, the organization head-ing up the project, said the

Reliving the thrills – and spills – of crushes

A couple of weeks ago, three of my old pals fl ew into town. After a forgettable round of golf, we settled into a local watering hole where drinks, cigars and stories of our sordid pasts were passed around.

We all agreed we were lucky to be alive, much less enjoy-ing such good health and comfort in our twilight years.

The sub-ject of what we missed most about our youth was brought up. A consensus was

reached that high on the list of what our aging bodies missed most was being able to be competitive in sports.

We all remembered rip-ping that rebound off the edge of the rim, racing down the fl oor on a fast break, run-ning down a fl y ball in cen-ter fi eld and the over-the-shoulder catch at full speed in a high school football game.

Needless to say, the old lions were on a roll. As the exhausted bar maid served yet another round, I pro-claimed a toast to what I missed the most.

That being the euphoric, stupefying, knee-buckling

BlaineHericGreetings from the Pasture

See GARDEN, Page A3See CRUSHES, Page A2

Suspect said he accidentally stabbed girlfriend

See SHOFFNER, Page A2

See TAYLOR, Page A3

TAYLOR

Obituaries

Kenneth E. Blevins, 65, of Valparaiso, Indi-ana, passed away

peacefully on Friday, June 13, 2014, at his home.

He was born on August 8, 1948, in Foster, Ohio, to William and Opal (Zeller) Blevins.

Ken joined the Army in 1966 where he served time in Vietnam before stationed in Germany. By 1969, Kenneth received Sgt. E-5 rank and was discharged honorably. Many of his friends remem-ber Ken because of his love for grandfather clocks. He opened his business “House of Chimes” after retiring from Bethlehem Steel and contin-

ued to run his business for 10 years before his illness.

He was preceded in death by his parents; fi ve broth-

ers William Estel, Gene, Sherman, Barney and Billy Blevins; and one sister Alma Johnson.

Surviving are his three brothers Dean, Hubert Jr. and Richard Blevins; one sister Barbara Sconce; and numer-ous nieces and nephews.

Services will be held at noon Friday, June 20, 2014, at the Chapel, Graceland Cemetery in Valparaiso.

Memorial contributions may be directed to The Amer-ican Cancer Society, 130 Red Coach Dr., Mishawaka, IN 46545.

Ronald Lee Patrick, 61, of La Porte passed away peace-fully at 2:45 a.m. Monday, June 16, 2014, at IU Health La Porte Hospital with his family by his side after a three-year battle with cancer.

He was born on Sept. 22, 1952, in Knox, Indiana, to Mat-thew and Essie Patrick.

After 22 years of service, he retired from Young Door. Ronald loved to fi sh and camp-

ing. He also enjoyed spend-ing time with his children, grandchildren, his good friend Dennis Long and his little dog Smoke.

On Jan. 15, 2000, in Salem Heights, he married Darlene (Harvey) Patrick who sur-vives.

Also surviving are eight chil-dren Ronnie Lee Patrick Jr.,

Racheal (Barney) Moyao, Mi-chael (Bailee) Klement, Jere-my Klement, Jeana (Jonathan) Ortiz, Eric (Kaitlyn) Donahue, Chad (Wendy) Donahue and Tonya Avila; three brothers Pat, Aaron and Mitch Patrick; 21 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and many close nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; siblings Gorman, Ernest Patrick, Christine Pat-rick, Pauline Lovins, Melvin Patrick, Ray Patrick, Eugene Patrick and Beecher Patrick.

A funeral celebrating his life will be at 3 p.m. Friday, June 20, 2014, at Lakeview Funeral Home and Crematory, 247 W. Johnson Road., La Porte, (219) 362-3100. Visitation and viewing will be from 1 p.m. until the time of service Friday at the funeral home.

Please send condolenc-es to the family at www.LakeviewFHC.com.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the family.

Cody Mittan, 24, of Three Oaks, passed away Fri-day, June 13, 2014, at his home. He was born May 5, 1990, to Vicky McCartey and Donald E. Mittan Jr. in Holland, Michigan.

He is survived by his mother Vicky McCartey (Jay Asch); brother Casey (Jodi) Mittan; nieces Zoe Mit-tan and Cloe Mittan; and nephew Skylar Mittan.

Cody was preceded in death by his father Donald E. Mittan Jr., who passed Jan. 7, 2014.

Funeral service for Cody will be at 3 p.m. Friday, June 20, 2014, at Hoven Funeral Home, Buchanan.

Visitation will be two hours prior from 1 to 3 p.m. Memorial con-tributions may be made to the family to help with funeral expenses. Online condolences may be made at www.hovenfunerals.com.

Harvey R. “Bud” Koepke Jr., 67, of Michigan City, Indi-ana, passed away at 6:05 a.m. Monday, June 16, 2014, in The Arbors of Michigan City.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, June 20, 2014, at the Ott/Haverstock Funeral Chapel, 418 Washing-ton St., Michigan City, with Dr. Lance Hilberg offi ciating.

Private burial will take place in Greenwood Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until service time Friday at Ott/Haverstock Funeral Chapel.

He was born April 4, 1947, in Michigan City to the late Harvey R. and Nettie (Richmond) Koepke Sr.

Surviving are a brother Dale (Susan) Koepke of Michigan City; sister Susan (Bob) Stolz of Warsaw, Indiana; two un-cles Jim (Judy) Richmond of Rolling Prairie, Indiana, and Levi Richmond of Arizona; several nieces and nephews; and his longtime friend and companion Janice White of The Pines, Indiana.

Bud retired as a mainte-nance man from the Westville

Correctional Facility.He enjoyed boating, fi shing,

a variety of music and was al-ways ready for a good time.

Bud liked going to the boat show, car shows and always had a joke or two.

Contributions may be made to the family of Harvey Koep-ke Jr. To sign a guestbook and leave condolences online, visit our website at www.otthaverstock.com.

Alf Djuvik, 87, of Long Beach, Indiana, died peaceful-ly at his home on Sunday, June 15, 2014 Father’s Day.

Alf was born in Bergen, Norway on June 28, 1926.

Alf was be-loved husband to: Barbara; devoted father to: Lars (Al-lison) Djuvik of Kenilworth, Illinois, Erinn (George) Con-nelly of Long Beach, Peter Djuvik of Chicago, Patrick (Chris Connolly) Djuvik of Hyannisport, Massachusetts, Linda Djuvik of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Evelyn Miller of San Francisco, California; and loving grandfather to: Grace, William, Patrick, Alf Henrik and Eva.

Alf came to the U.S. in 1953 to study in New York City. He worked globally for many years and retired from Jaymar Ruby in Michigan City. Alf was past president of Lions Club and Sons of Norway. He was active in the Norwe-gian Gardens at International Friendship Gardens. Alf intro-

duced soccer and cross coun-try skiing to the area, but his true passion was cross country skiing.

Friends may visit with the family on Thursday, June 19, 2014 from 4 to 8 p.m. at Gei-sen-Carlisle Funeral Home, 613 Washington St., Michigan City, Indiana. Lions Club Ser-vice will take place at 7 p.m.

Funeral Prayers will be said on Friday, June 20, 2014 at 9:30 a.m. at Geisen-Carlisle Funeral Home.

Funeral services will take place on Friday, June 20, 2014 at 10 a.m. at St. Paul Luther-an Church, 818 Franklin St. Michigan City, Indiana, with Pastor Mark Reshan of St. Paul Lutheran Church offi ciating.

Burial will follow in St. Stanislaus Cemetery, Michi-gan City, Indiana.

In lieu of fl owers, memorials

may be given to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Grand Cen-tral Station PO Box 4777, New York, NY, 10163 or Inter-national Friendship Gardens 2055 U.S. 12, Michigan City, IN 46360.

To sign guestbook or leave condolences, please visit www.Carlislefh.com (219) 874-4214.

Kenneth E. BlevinsAugust 8, 1948-June 13, 2014

Ronald Lee PatrickSept. 22, 1952-June 16, 2014

Cody MittanMay 5, 1990-June 13, 2014

Harvey Koepke Jr.April 4, 1947-June 16, 2014

Alf DjuvikJune 28, 1926-June 15, 2014

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Remember when ...!!!P"#$Today in History

Lottery

Contacts

INDIANA

Cash 5: 17-18-31-34-36Poker lotto: 3D-10D-QD-7H-AHQuick draw midday: 1-2-3-4-10-11-19-20-24-31-33-35-36-40-43-44-47-49-69-77Quick draw evening: 3-4-5-9-14-30-34-41-43-45-47-49-52-53-57-60-64-66-79-80Daily 3 midday: 4-3-4Daily 3 evening: 4-3-2Daily 4 midday: 4-8-6-6Daily 4 evening: 4-8-8-6Mega Millions jackpot: 10-14-24-47-60 MB: 3 MP: 4

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Poker Lotto: JC-JH-2D-9D-7SMidday Daily 3: 7-9-1Midday Daily 4: 3-0-5-8Daily 3: 7-6-1Daily 4: 5-2-9-8Fantasy 5: 03-06-24-34-39Keno: 02-07-08-09-10-11-14-16-18-24-28-29-36-37-47-55-57-67-69-72-73-75Powerball jackpot: $50 million

ILLINOIS

Hit or miss drive: 02-04-05-06-09-10-12-14-19-20-22-24 GLN: 4Hit or miss morning: 03-05-06-11-13-15-16-17-18-20-22-23 GLN: 2Hit or miss midday: 01-04-05-06-08-12-15-16-19-20-22-23 GLN: 4Hit or miss evening: 02-04-05-06-07-08-10-11-14-18-21-22 GLN: 1Lucky day lotto midday: 08-15-25-30-36Lucky day lotto evening: 02-05-07-15-24My 3 morning: 9-1-6My 3 evening: 6-7-9Pick 3 midday: 4-7-5 FB: 6Pick 3 evening: 9-3-9 FB: 6Pick 4 midday: 8-9-6-9 FB: 6Pick 4 evening: 6-8-1-9 FB: 0

1914: The Rumely company plant is busy in all its varied departments.

1964: The city decides not to bid on the old post of! ce building and the mayor an-nounces “city hall by January.”

1989: A Father’s Day plane crash injures a family of ! ve shortly after takeoff from the Michigan City Municipal Airport.

2004: High school smoking drops to its lowest level in ten years.

— Courtesy of the La Porte County Public Library, UFS Features

Correction policy: The Herald-Argus strives toward accuracy in all its stories and information. If you believe an error has been published, contact News Editor Kimberly King at (219) 326-3858 or kking@heraldargus.com.Contact the H-A: Phone — (219) 362-2161 or (219) 926-3559 (Michigan City); Email — circulation@heraldargus.com, display@heraldargus.com, newsroom@heraldargus.com, classi! ed@heraldargus.com, business@heraldargus.com, Mail — 701 State St., La Porte, IN 46350; Fax: (219) 362-2166.Of! ce hours: Weekdays 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1:30-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday closed.Missed deliveries: Call (219) 326-4777 until 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

THE LA PORTE COUNTY HERALD-ARGUS(USPS 299-860)Vol. 127 No. 169

Published daily except Sundays and holidays: New Years, Memorial Day, Fourth of July,

Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas at 701 State Street, La Porte, Indiana, 46350-3328

by La Porte County Herald-Argus. Periodical postage paid at La Porte, Indiana.

Cost by single copy is $1 daily and $1.25 Saturdays. Home delivery by carrier is $15.50 for four weeks, by motor route is $17

for four weeks, and by mail, $35 per month.Attention Postmaster

Please send address changes to:The La Porte County Herald-Argus

701 State StreetLa Porte, Indiana 46350

No mail subscriptions accepted in area where carrier service is maintained.

To start a subscription: call 219-326-4777Regular of! ce hours:

Weekdays 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1:30-4 p.m.Closed Saturdays

Customer service telephone hoursWeekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Closed Saturdays

Bill Hackney, PublisherKimberly King, Managing Editor

Brad Reisig, Advertising ManagerBarry Whitman, Circulation ManagerJennifer Mann, Business Manager

A2 LA PORTE COUNTY HERALD-ARGUS Wednesday, June 18, 2014 www.heraldargus.com

La Porte County Historical SocietyInterlaken School, Rumely Hall Pine Lake Aveenue, circa 1908.

KOEPKE

PATRICK

DJUVIK

MITTAN

madness better known as a CRUSH! I invite you to refl ect

on some of yours while I share with you some of mine.

Crushes can happen as early as grade school. For instance, when I was in third grade, there was a Shirley Temple look-alike that reduced me to a stammer-ing idiot whenever I was in her presence.

On Valentine’s Day, I mus-tered all my courage and even wore my trusty Davy Crockett coon-skin hat to present to my beloved a heart-shaped box of chocolates. As I was beaming my boyish, goofy grin, the box of chocolates was hurled at my feet as she screamed and ran away. Thus, ending my trip on the Good Ship Lollipop.

When I was 11 or 12, I was smitten by a bright-eyed bobby-

soxer with the most beautiful ponytail (remember them) I had ever seen. One look at her and I was immediately reduced to Silly Putty.

Unlike Shirley Temple, this Venus in blue jeans encour-aged my bumbling advances. She even gave me my fi rst kiss

during a rousing game of spin-the-bottle. Before I could pursue this budding romance any fur-ther, her family up and moved to Kentucky.

Ah well, so much for middle school fl irtations.

The granddaddy of all my crushes happened during my sophomore year in high school. I was a sucker for the wholesome, girl-next-door beauty and this one had it in spades. I fi rst laid

eyes on her at a YMCA dance. She was a blonde knockout with a smile and eyes that could in-toxicate your soul.

At fi rst she would have noth-

ing to do with me. After all, I

had a reputation among the girls who were brave enough to date me as an octopus on steroids. It took persistence on my part, but eventually we went out.

On our dates, I was mentally constipated, said all the wrong things and was never myself. On her doorstep, two dates later, she hit me with the uni-versally dreaded words, “Let’s be friends.” I would have rather heard St. Peter say, “Sorry, pal, it’s off to Hell with you.” I man-aged to repair my wounded ego and swore not to fall victim to this nonsense ever again.

Then KABOOOOM!!! The thunderbolt struck once more. This time in the form of an an-gelic brunette who worked at the Lido theatre. Her job was taking tickets and minding the concession stand. I would go to every cheesy horror fl ick just to

hold hands with her in the dark during her 15-minute break.

I remember walking her home

from school, sneaking into a St. Mary’s Halloween dance just to be with her and meeting up a few times at Teen Town. Our days were numbered. It didn’t take long for my awful repu-tation to get back to her mom, who promptly went berserk.

That certainly didn’t help our relationship but the real killer was that she had a boyfriend in the Air Force. So, once again, I heard that dreadful refrain, “Let’s be friends.”

There were others but, of course, they didn’t work out. In my early 20s, I had a prolonged relationship that also went ka-put. I guess I wasn’t very good in the romance department but fate works in wondrous ways. I’m certain that all those angels of my youth found happiness and, as for me, my soul-mate was awaiting me in San Fran-cisco.Heric can be reached at kingsif@comcast.net.

CRUSHESFrom Page A1

Elder’s age was estimated at about 70 years by the coroner.

La Porte County Prosecut-ing Attorney Robert Szilagyi

said cases like this one made him wonder where society was heading.

“Each case has its own thing where you look at it and scratch your head as to, ‘Why?’” he said. “With the lack of my hair, I’ve scratched my head quite a

bit.”According to La Porte County

Coroner John Sullivan, Elder’s body won’t be thawed enough for an autopsy until Thursday at the earliest. He said the doctor performing the autopsy will be traveling to La Porte to do the

work.Szilagyi said Shoffner faces

between 45 to 65 years in prison if convicted, with a recommend-ed sentence of 55 years.

No bond was given.Follow Matt Fritz on Twitter @matt_fritzHA.

SHOFFNERFrom Page A1