ADAMS CO. – After nearly half a century, the investigation into the 1977 murder of 84-year-old Everett Armstrong has been resolved with the identification of his killer, who has since passed away. Armstrong, a World War I veteran and well-known banjo player from rural Geneva, Indiana, was found deceased in his mobile home on County Road 30 West in Adams County on August 19, 1977. His death was ruled a murder due to a gunshot wound.
The Indiana State Police and the Adams County Sheriff’s Department launched an investigation into the crime. Initial findings revealed that witnesses heard a single gunshot the evening prior, on August 18, 1977. While the initial investigation yielded no suspects, four witnesses came forward in October 1977, identifying James A. McBride II as a potential person of interest.
However, the case went cold for three years. In 1981, three individuals were arrested by the Adams County Sheriff’s Department, but charges against them were dropped six months later due to a lack of evidence. The case remained unsolved for decades.
In 2013, the Indiana State Police Cold Case Unit reopened the investigation. Over the following years, they corroborated the information received in October 1977. This involved four individuals to whom James A. McBride II had allegedly confessed within 24 hours of the crime, and one witness to whom McBride reportedly showed the gun used. These witnesses described McBride exhibiting extremely erratic behavior immediately after the murder.
According to investigators, McBride provided specific details of the crime to these four witnesses, which aligned with the evidence found at the crime scene – information that only the perpetrator and law enforcement knew. Notably, McBride’s confessions to friends occurred before a Bluffton Banner newspaper article on August 20, 1977, detailed the crime.
James McBride II passed away in Adams County, Indiana on June 3, 2024. He was born in Decatur, Indiana, in 1954.
In 2025, the Indiana State Police Cold Case Team presented the compiled evidence to Adams County Prosecutor Jeremy Brown. The prosecutor determined that the overwhelming circumstantial evidence indicated that James A. McBride II murdered Everett Armstrong in 1977. Prosecutor Brown stated that if James McBride II were still alive, he would have been charged with the Murder of Everett Armstrong.
The 48-year investigation involved the collaborative efforts of the Indiana State Police, the Adams County Sheriff’s Department, the Adams County Coroner’s Office, and the Adams County Prosecutor’s Office, finally resolving this decades-old cold case.
