{{Short description|American mass murderer (1956–1981)}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox criminal | name = Steven Judy | image = Steven Judy.jpg | birth_name = Steven Timothy Judy | birth_date = {{birth date|1956|5|24}} | birth_place = Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1981|3|9|1956|5|24}} | death_place = Indiana State Prison, Michigan City, Indiana, U.S. | cause = Execution by electrocution | resting_place = Floral Park Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana | conviction = Murder (4 counts) | conviction_penalty = Death (February 25, 1980) | victims = 4 confirmed, 7 confessed, 10+ suspected | date = April 28, 1979 (Chasteen murders) | beginyear = 1973 | endyear = 1979 }} '''Steven Timothy Judy''' (May 24, 1956 – March 9, 1981) was an American mass murderer and suspected serial killer who was convicted of murdering Terry Lee Chasteen and her three children Misty Ann, Steve, and Mark, on April 28, 1979.<ref name="morbidology1">{{cite web |url=https://morbidology.com/indianas-most-brutal-killer-steven-judy/#easy-footnote-1-1285 |title=Indiana's Most Brutal Killer - Steven Judy |website=morbidology.com |first=Emily |last=Thompson |date=February 18, 2018 |access-date=August 17, 2019}}</ref> He was executed for the murders on March 9, 1981, via electrocution, becoming the first person to be executed in Indiana since 1961.<ref>{{cite news|last=Sheppard Jr.|first=Nathaniel|date=March 9, 1981|title=Indiana murderer executed at prison|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/09/us/indiana-murderer-executed-at-prison.html|access-date=September 12, 2021}}</ref>

==Early life== Steven Judy was born on May 24, 1956, the son of Myrtle and Vernon Judy.<ref name="nunn">{{cite book|last=Bette|first=Nunn|title=Burn, Judy, Burn|year=1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Nunn|first=Bette|title=Judy says some crimes excite him|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85375757/judy-says-some-crimes-excite-him/|work=Reporter Times|date=January 29, 1980|pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85375757/judy-says-some-crimes-excite-him/ 1], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85375994/judy-says-some-crimes-excite-him/ 9]|access-date=September 15, 2021|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> As a child, he grew up in an environment where there was violence, pornography, alcohol, and crime.<ref name="morbidology1"/> His father had a history of being arrested for assaulting his mother. One afternoon, his father caught his mother cheating on him and responded to the incident by killing the family's dog.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hirsley|first=Michael|title=Steven Judy: A childhood, adolescence of anger|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85325725/steven-judy-a-childhood-adolescence/|work=Kingsport Times-News|date=March 9, 1981|page=3|access-date=September 15, 2021|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> As a result, Steven Judy's defense attorney, Steven L. Harris, stated, "that's all he's known since the day he was born." Judy recalled, "There [are] times when I can remember my mother pulling a gun{{nbs}}[...] on my dad and trying to shoot him."<ref name="morbidology1"/> As a child, Judy was caught burning down a neighbor's garage and stabbing a classmate with a compass. When he was 10 years old, he started to pursue high school females. He would push them to the ground and molest them.<ref name="morbidology1"/>

At the age of 13, Judy pretended to be a Boy Scout, forced himself into a woman's home, raped her, and then tried to kill her with a pocketknife. The pocketknife broke before he could kill the woman. However, he fractured her skull and cut off one of her fingers.<ref name="Judy, Steven IN">{{cite web |url=http://www.thedarksideofamerica.com/judy-steven-in.html |title=Judy, Steven (IN) |website=thedarksideofamerica.com |date= |accessdate=2019-08-17}}</ref> At the trial, Judy initially claimed he had nothing to do with the assault. Once the investigators brought up his past incidents, he pleaded insanity.<ref name="clark"/> He was found guilty and sentenced to six months in a juvenile detention center and was then sent to a mental hospital. At the hospital he received treatment for his diagnosis as a "sexual psychopath".<ref name="historicalcrimedetective1979">{{cite web |url=http://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/steven-t-judy-indiana-killer-1979/ |title=Steven T. Judy, Indiana's Most Hated Killer, 1979 |work=HistoricalCrimeDetective.com |date= |access-date=August 17, 2019}}</ref> Once released, Judy was placed into foster care and sent to live with Robert and Mary Carr, who were not informed about Judy's record.<ref name="historicalcrimedetective1979"/>

==Murders== On Saturday, April 28, 1979, Terry Lee Chasteen was on her way to drop her children off at a babysitter's house before going to work. While on the road, Judy passed her car and gave her a sign that indicated that she needed to pull over. She eventually did and accepted help from Judy, whom she thought was just being a good samaritan. He told her that something was wrong with her tire and offered to fix it. While examining her tire, he disabled the car and offered Chasteen and her three children a ride.<ref name="Judy, Steven IN"/> He then drove them to White Lick Creek.<ref name="historicalcrimedetective1979"/>

Once at the Creek, Judy directed the three children to a path, having them walk ahead of him and Chasteen. Once the children were ahead of them, Judy raped Chasteen, tied her hands and feet, and began choking her.<ref name="Judy, Steven IN"/> Chasteen began screaming for help and her children ran back to them.<ref name="clark"/> Later that day, police officers discovered the bodies of Chasteen and her three children: Misty (5 years old), Stephen (4 years old), and Mark (2 years old). Evidence was found that Chasteen had died from being strangled, while the children were drowned.<ref>{{cite news|last=Knapp|first=Cathy|date=March 9, 2015|title=Retro Indy: 4 killed in chilling case|work=The Indianapolis Star|url=https://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2015/03/09/steven-judy-4-killed-in-chilling-case/24654597/|access-date=September 12, 2021}}</ref> Several witnesses eventually came forward to help the police piece together who the murderer was.<ref name="clark">{{cite web |url=http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/judy004.htm |title=Steven Timothy Judy #004 |work=Clarkprosecutor.org |date= |access-date=August 17, 2019}}</ref>

==Trial== The arrest of Judy triggered an emotional outcry that lasted two years. He pleaded insanity and confessed to committing the murders. While in the punishment phase of the trial, Judy wanted it to be fast-paced, so he threatened the judge and jury and promised to kill again unless they sentenced him to death.<ref name="historicalcrimedetective1979"/> On February 2, 1980, Judy was convicted on four counts of murder. On February 25, he was sentenced to death. Before he was sentenced, Judy told the judge, "I honestly want you to give me the death penalty. Because someday, somehow, I might get out. I think I've already shown that."<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last=Carroll |first=Jan |date=February 26, 1980 |title=Judge gives convicted killer of 4 the death penalty he had requested |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112957943/judge-gives-convicted-killer-of-4-the/ |access-date=November 12, 2022 |work=The Courier-Journal |page=11 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

==Execution== After waiving his appeals,<ref name="clark" /> Judy was executed on March 9, 1981, at the age of 24, at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City in the electric chair.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article250672201|title=Murderer Executed|newspaper=Papua New Guinea Post-courier|location=International, Australia|date=March 10, 1981|access-date=January 26, 2023|page=7|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name="sarasota">{{cite news|title=Killer says he's sorry before execution; blames parents|newspaper=Sarasota Journal|location=Sarasota, Florida|page=4A|publisher=Lindsay Newspapers, Inc.|date=March 9, 1981|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1798&dat=19810309&id=VeQcAAAAIBAJ&pg=6533,998254|accessdate=February 2, 2012}}</ref> His last meal consisted of prime rib, lobster tails, potatoes with sour cream, chef salad with French dressing and a dinner roll. He also requested four cans of beer but they were denied.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kreiter|first=Marcella S.|date=March 9, 1981|title=Steven T. Judy says he's sorry before dying|work=United Press International|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/03/09/Steven-T-Judy-says-hes-sorry-before-dying/5782352962000/|access-date=September 12, 2021}}</ref> Judy became the first person to be executed in Indiana since Richard Kiefer was executed on June 15, 1961.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mitchell|first=Dawn|date=December 11, 2019|title=A history of executions in Indiana|work=The Indianapolis Star|url=https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2019/12/11/indiana-executions-full-list-people-executed-since-1897/4357164002/|access-date=September 12, 2021}}</ref><ref name="star2">{{cite web|title=History of Capital Punishment in Indiana|work=The Indianapolis Star|publisher=Gannett|date=December 15, 2009|url=http://www.indystar.com/article/99999999/NEWS06/80416050/History-capital-punishment-Indiana|accessdate=February 2, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924114706/http://www.indystar.com/article/99999999/NEWS06/80416050/History-capital-punishment-Indiana|archive-date=September 24, 2015}}</ref>

==Other possible murders== In the week before he was executed, Judy confessed to his foster mother, Mary Carr, that he had raped and murdered other women in multiple states. He told Carr that he had killed more women than he could recall. The first murders Judy confessed to were the 1973 slayings of two women in Louisiana, which occurred while he was staying in New Orleans.<ref>{{cite news|title=Judy confessed to 3 other slayings: foster mother|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85379504/judy-confessed-to-3-others-slayings/|work=The Daily News|date=March 25, 1981|page=25|access-date=September 15, 2021|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He also confessed to the November 1978 murder of Linda Unverzagt, a disco dance instructor in Indianapolis.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hess|first=Skip|title=Detective Thinks Judy Killed Dancer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85379577/detective-thinks-judy-killed-dancer/|work=Indianapolis News|date=March 23, 1981|pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85379577/detective-thinks-judy-killed-dancer/ 1], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85379705/more-about-judy/ 4]|access-date=September 15, 2021|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He confessed to another possible murder of a woman in Louisiana, whom he kidnapped and raped. After raping her, he threw her into a swamp, and did not know if she survived. There were two other possible murders he committed in Indianapolis. Judy raped two women in separate incidents. After raping one of the victims in 1978, he left her tied to a tree in a heavily wooded area, and did not know if she survived the ordeal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Caleca|first=Linda G.|date=March 25, 1981|title=Steven Judy's last confession: 'I left a string of bodies'|work=United Press International|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/03/25/Steven-Judys-last-confession-I-left-a-string-of-bodies/6999354344400/|access-date=September 12, 2021}}</ref>

In 2002, author Bette Nunn theorized that Judy could have been responsible for the 1977 murder of Ann Harmeier, a 20-year-old student who attended Indiana University.<ref>{{cite news|last=Nunn|first=Bette|title=Is it possible Steven Judy killed Ann Harmeier?|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112952756/is-it-possible-steven-judy-killed-ann/|work=Reporter Times|date=November 7, 2002|page=4|access-date=November 12, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Nunn|first=Bette|title=Why is Steven Judy becoming a suspect after his death?|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112952866/why-is-steven-judy-becoming-a-suspect/|work=Reporter Times|date=November 14, 2002|page=4|access-date=November 12, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Harmeier disappeared on September 12, 1977, and her body was found five weeks later in a cornfield, approximately five miles from where her car was found. She had been raped and strangled. Her death was similar to Terry Chasteen's: both women were kidnapped from highways by someone who offered them help, both were raped and strangled with items they had on them, and both were dumped in isolated areas in Morgan County. However, an Indiana State Police review of jail records showed that Judy was imprisoned in the Marion County Jail on the day Harmeier disappeared. It has been theorized that the information about Judy's incarceration could have been wrong, however. Harmeier's mother, who died in 1983, believed Judy murdered her daughter.<ref>{{cite news|last=Evans|first=Tim|date=September 15, 2022|title=Could Steven Judy have killed IU student Ann Harmeier in 1977? Investigators aren't sure|work=The Indianapolis Star|url=https://www.indystar.com/story/news/investigations/2022/09/15/did-steven-judy-kill-ann-harmeier-or-was-he-in-jail-when-she-died/65388627007/|access-date=November 12, 2022}}</ref> Harmeier's murder remains unsolved and is still being investigated by cold case detectives.<ref>{{cite news|last=Evans|first=Tim|date=September 16, 2022|title=5 things to know about the unsolved murder of Indiana University student Ann Harmeier|work=The Indianapolis Star|url=https://www.indystar.com/story/news/investigations/2022/09/16/who-killed-iu-student-ann-harmeier-5-things-to-know-about-1977-murder/67922139007/|access-date=November 12, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Evans|first=Tim|date=September 12, 2022|title=Who killed Ann Harmeier? A distant cousin pushes for answers in 45-year-old murder mystery|work=The Indianapolis Star|url=https://www.indystar.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2022/09/12/the-indiana-cold-case-murder-of-ann-harmeier-cousin-wants-answers/65388604007/|access-date=November 12, 2022|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230912133229/https://www.indystar.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2022/09/12/the-indiana-cold-case-murder-of-ann-harmeier-cousin-wants-answers/65388604007/|archive-date=September 12, 2023|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also== * Capital punishment in Indiana * Capital punishment in the United States * List of people executed in Indiana * List of people executed in the United States, 1976–1983 * Volunteer (capital punishment) * List of people executed by electrocution

==References== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} ! colspan="3" | Executions carried out in Indiana {{s-bef|before=Richard Kiefer|before2=<div style="font-weight: normal">June 15, 1961</div>}} {{s-ttl|title=Steven Judy|years=March 9, 1981}} {{s-aft|after=William Vandiver|after2=<div style="font-weight: normal">October 16, 1985</div>}} |- ! colspan="3" | Executions carried out in the United States {{s-bef|before=Jesse Bishop – Nevada|before2=<div style="font-weight: normal">October 22, 1979</div>}} {{s-ttl|title=Steven Judy – Indiana|years=March 9, 1981}} {{s-aft|after=Frank J. Coppola – Virginia|after2=<div style="font-weight: normal">August 10, 1982</div>}} {{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Judy, Steven}} Category:1956 births Category:1981 deaths Category:20th-century executions by Indiana Category:20th-century executions of American people Category:20th-century American murderers Category:American male criminals Category:American murderers of children Category:American people convicted of rape Category:Executed American mass murderers Category:Executed people from Indiana Category:Executed suspected serial killers Category:People convicted of murder by Indiana Category:People executed by Indiana by electric chair Category:People from Indianapolis Category:People with antisocial personality disorder Category:Violence against women in Indiana