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Last updated on Monday, January 13, 2014
(BLOOMFIELD) - Tamera D. Crosley, wife of accused murderer Randal Crosley, was taken into custody Friday evening after warrants for were issued for her arrest in two separate cases.
She is accused of not telling the truth and attempting to mislead officers investigating the death of Katelyn Wolfe last June.
In another case, Crosley is accused of an attempted plot to steal items and return them to get cash to put in Randal Crosley's account at the jail. The plot unraveled when an off-duty officer witnessed the theft and offered to pay for the items being stolen, allegedly for a baby.
Crosley was arrested in the Worthington area around 8:30 p.m. Friday.
In the first case, Crosley is accused of obstruction of justice, a class D felony, and two counts of false informing, both class B misdemeanors.
In the second case, she is accused of conspiracy to commit theft, a class D felony.
Crosley's husband, 25-year-old Randal Crosley, of Jasonville, was one of two men charged with the murder of Katelyn Wolfe in June 2013. His case is set to go to trial by jury in May.
The other man charged with Wolfe's murder, 26-year-old Jordan Buskirk, also from Jasonville, has admitted guilt, signed a negotiated plea agreement and agreed to testify truthfully against Randal Crosley during Randal Crosley's trial. Buskirk will be sentenced sometime after the trial.
According to new information released when charges were filed against Tamera Crosley, Randal Crosley admitted during the interview that he had recently sold six Valium (diazepam) pills to Wolfe and that he had additional pills that he had planned to sell to her later. He said the additional pills were at his home.
On the same day, Det. Sgt. Goodman also conducted an interview with Tamera Crosley at the Linton Police Department. During this interview, she allegedly admitted that while officers were at her residence earlier that morning, she had flushed the pills, and she threw the plastic bag they were in into the trash. She said she disposed of the pills because she had a child and didn't want to get in trouble, and she said she did not know that her husband was involved in drugs.
In a probable cause affidavit, Det. Sgt. Goodman states, "As part of the ongoing investigation, officers learned from information obtained from phone records, phone data and interviews, that Tamera was previously aware of, and involved in, illegal drug activity."
On June 10, Wolfe's body was located and Randal Crosley was a primary suspect. Tamera Crosley was interviewed again later that evening at the Jasonville Police Department by JPD Officer Ryan Van Horn and ISP Detective Paul Suding. At the time this interview was conducted, the details regarding the condition of Wolfe's body had not been disclosed to anyone outside law enforcement, including the fact that Wolfe's hands were handcuffed behind her back.
During Tamera Crosley's interview, she was asked if there was anything unique about her sexual relationship with Randal Crosley and she advised it was normal and that they did not get into "freaky things." She allegedly said they had never used bondage, handcuffs or toys.
Later that week, more details about the case were released in probable cause affidavits filed in Buskirk and Crosley's cases, including details about Wolfe's body and the fact that Buskirk and Crosley had purchased handcuffs and other items at a Terre Haute store.
Then when Tamera Crosley was interviewed again after this information had become known, on June 24, Tamera Crosley allegedly said the items that the two men purchased were things she wanted, advising that she was into weird things and that she'd been begging her husband for a week (before Wolfe's murder) that she wanted to go get those items. According to the affidavit, Tamera Crosley went into details and talked about the handcuffs.
Crosley was asked if she would be willing to take a polygraph examination and she refused. Several weeks later, she was asked again and she agreed, an appointment was made but she failed to follow through with the exam.
According to police, Crosley gave completely different statements in the interviews on June 10 (before details were released) and June 24 (after details were released).
Goodman stated, "I believe the statement given to law enforcement on June 24 was a dishonest statement intended to mislead law enforcement and to attempt to cover for husband Randal Crosley's involvement in the murder of Katelyn Wolfe." He added that he believed she made an attempt to provide an explanation for Crosley as to why he and Buskirk purchased the handcuffs and other items prior to Wolfe's murder.
In the second case filed against Tamera Crosley for alleged conspiracy to commit theft, Crosley is accused of being involved in an attempted theft of items from the Wal-Mart store in Linton.
Goodman was called to the store on Dec. 7 because another officer was requesting assistance.
When Goodman arrived at the front service desk, Greene County Sheriff's Detective James O'Malley was waiting with suspects.
O'Malley said he was in the store off-duty on personal business when he saw someone, a 14-year-old juvenile, concealing items on their person so he approached and identified himself as a law enforcement officer.
O'Malley said the suspect told him he was taking the items for a sibling's baby and he told the officer about their financial situation.
Det. O'Malley decided to take the young suspect to a checkout where the officer paid for the items the suspect was attempting to steal, and he also gave the suspect $20 in cash. He did however keep the receipt for the items he just purchased to prevent anyone from attempting to return them for cash.
The suspect left the store. A short time later, O'Malley went to the service desk and saw a male subject attempting to return the items O'Malley had just purchased. The man did not have a receipt. Upon questioning, the man said another person had asked him to return the items for cash. O'Malley then found the 14-year-old suspect sitting in a car in the parking lot with their sibling who turned out to be Tamera D. Crosley.
When the man was questioned further, he advised Tamera Crosley had asked him to go with her to Wal-Mart to return some items. He said the plan was to return the items for cash then go to the Greene County Jail to put the money on Randal Crosley's account.
Tamera Crosley drove the 14-year-old suspect and the man to Wal-Mart then while Crosley and the man waited in the car, she sent the 14-year-old in with Crosley's food stamp card to buy some drinks. The man said he did not know the 14-year-old went in to steal baby items.
When the 14-year-old was interviewed, he allegedly said Crosley had asked him to go to the store with her to steal baby items. He said they picked the man up on the way and did not discuss their plan with him. The suspect said O'Malley caught him before he made it out. He also said he thought Crosley needed the baby items for her child and did not know she planned on returning the items in order to get cash to put on Randal Crosley's books at the jail.
Det. Sgt. Goodman wrote in the probable cause affidavit that he believed Crosley had an agreement with the 14-year-old to commit theft and if Det. O'Malley had not intervened, the two would have completed their plan to steal the baby items.
The warrants issued for Tamera Crosley's arrest specified that her bond in both cases will be set according to the standard bond schedule.
Following her arrest, Crosley was transported to the Greene County Jail where she was interviewed by Goodman prior to being booked in.
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