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Another man is charged in the unsolved killing of a retired Indiana farmer who was found shot to death in his bedroom

A second man has been charged in the 2012 killing of a retired farmer who was found shot to death in his western Indiana home, authorities said Thursday. A judge issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for Richard D. Taft, 39, on murder and two counts of burglary with assault in connection with the killing of 85-year-old Lowell Badger, Indiana State Police said.

Taft is currently incarcerated at the Michigan City Correctional Facility on other drug charges. Online court records do not list an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

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Lowell Badger

Indiana State Police


Taft's arrest came after another inmate, William Ray Grimes, was charged in April with murder, burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary in Badger's killing. Grimes' trial is scheduled for October.

Badger, 85, was shot and killed in December 2012 during a break-in at his home in rural Sullivan County, about 30 miles south of Terre Haute. Badger was found dead on the bedroom floor, and a 46-inch television and safe were stolen from his home, Indiana State Police previously said.

Court records show that Grimes, Taft and a third person, who has not yet been charged, said they were going to break into a home and look for money during a party on Dec. 7, 2012, WTHI-TV reported.

According to the documents, Grimes, Taft and the other person later returned to the party with a flat-screen television in the back of a truck. A witness told police that during a later car ride, Taft began to cry and said he “didn't want to suffer like the old man,” the documents say.

The Sullivan County Sergeant's Office had previously stated that police searched the area with planes, ATVs, boats and scuba divers following Badger's murder.

A reward of around $30,000 was offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Badger's death.