Second man charged in killing of retired Indiana farmer shot in his home in 2012

SULLIVAN, Ind. (AP) — 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 charges of 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.

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 (48 kilometers) south of Terre Haute. A safe and a 46-inch (117-centimeter) television were stolen from his home.

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.