Greene County man appeals sentence in 1995 murder of Pam Foddrill

It was a 22-year-old man out target shooting in the woods near the Indiana-Illinois state line who discovered Pamela Foddrill's remains in December 1995.

Jeremy Joe Hill thought the skull on the ground was part of a Halloween hayride prop. A closer look revealed it was instead part of a decayed human body wrapped in a sleeping bag.

Authorities had been searching for the Linton woman, who had the cognitive abilities of an elementary school student. She disappeared months earlier while walking home from the IGA store in the neighborhood where she lived with her mother.

Family members feared the worst but held out hope until that winter day more than a quarter century ago.

Trial testimony four years later, after the perpetrators were arrested, revealed Foddrill was tied up and held in the attic of one of the convicted men's homes. She was repeatedly sexually assaulted by her captors.

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After two weeks, she was hit in the head with a baseball bat and stabbed, her lifeless body stored in a shed until the killers moved it to the wooded area in southeastern Illinois, about 45 miles from the Greene County town.

Four serve time for what happened to Foddrill

Four people, including a woman, were convicted of felony charges related to Foddrill's abduction, sexual assault and murder.

One was released from prison in 2018 after serving most of a 20-year sentence, one is incarcerated at Michigan City's Indiana State Prison for the rest of his life and one died behind bars in 2019.

The fourth is a 61-year-old former Linton man serving life without parole plus 73 years at the Pendelton Correctional Facility for his part in the torture and killing of Pam Foddrill.

Jerry Russell has been trying, so far unsuccessfully, to have that longer-than-life sentence reduced.

Russell's appeal heard by Supreme Court

This week, the case landed before the Indiana Supreme Court, where Russell's lawyer argued her client cannot legally be punished by life without parole, as jurors in the case recommended, because of intellectual disabilities not considered when Russell was twice sentenced.

In November 1999, then-Greene County Superior Court Judge David Holt sentenced Russell to life without parole plus 120 years for murder, criminal confinement and criminal deviate conduct.

"I don't ever intend for you to be on the streets and cause anyone to be afraid," the judge told Russell, who maintained his innocence.

After Russell appealed, he was granted a resentencing. Former Monroe Circuit Judge Marc Kellams was assigned to the case, heard evidence in March of 2020 and issued a new sentence that summer: life without parole plus 73 years.

State public defender Lisa Johnson got the case and filed another appeal on Russell's behalf in October 2021. She and Megan Smith, a deputy attorney general representing the state, argued their positions Tuesday before the state's highest court.

Arguments relate to Russell's intellectual disability claim

Johnson said Russell's resentencing was imposed without a review of evidence documenting Russell's intellectual disabilities dating back to when he was a child.

"No matter how heinous the crime, our General Assembly prohibits a sentence of life without parole for any person who is intellectually disabled," Johnson said. "The resentencing court didn't follow standards determining if a person is intellectually disabled."

Smith said there was no error and no need for another sentence review.

"He is not intellectually disabled. He has not met that burden," she said about Russell. "He can read and write, manage money, problem solve, travel, follow rules, provide care, prepare meals, have interpersonal relationships and advocate for his own interests. 'Substantial impairment' must be shown."

Johnson said the evidence of Russell's disability is there. "This is a matter of simple justice and human decency," she said, asking for reconsideration.

Chief Justice Loretta Rush said she and the other judges will discuss the case and issue a ruling later.

Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Appeal for Greene County murder sentence heard by Supreme Court