Accused Serial Killer Due in Court Today

Darren D. Vann
Darren D. Vann

The Gary man police there say confessed to killing seven women, including a Knox native, is due in court today to face charges in two of those deaths. Darren Vann, 43, led police to the bodies of six of those women on Sunday, Oct. 19th after his arrest the previous day in connection with the strangulation death of a woman at a Hammond motel. All six were found in abandoned buildings in Gary.

Kristine WilliamsSo far Vann has only been formally charged in two of the seven deaths, as investigations into the others are continuing. Kristine Williams, 36, of Gary, is among the women Vann is accused of killing. She grew up in Knox and would have graduated in 1997 from Knox High School. A memorial service is planned for her Saturday at M.C. Smith Funeral Home.

The Lake County Coroner’s Office is working with outside investigators to determine how and when the other women died. They have determined Williams death to be a homicide caused by strangulation, according to the “Times of Northwest Indiana.” The time frame of her death is still unclear.