Indiana man who claimed fiancée killed herself in 2014 confesses to her murder four years later, sentenced to 37 years in prison
Five years ago, 20-year-old Kaylyn Whitaker was found dead in the home she shared with her fiancé Connor Scott. At the time, he had claimed that she shot herself. However, more than four years later, he walked into a police station and confessed to killing her.
According to the police, Connor, 24, stunned authorities when he voluntarily appeared at the Danville, Indiana, Metropolitan Police Department on February 24 and confessed his crime on tape.
The revelation came as a big blow to the 2014 case that remained unsolved despite a coroner ruling 10 months later that she died by "homicide".
The couple was living together in the basement of Connor’s parents’ home in Martinsville, Illinois. On October 31, 2014, Connor claimed he was asleep when a gunshot woke him up, according to his 911 call and his statements to police. No one else was at home with the couple at that time.
However, authorities soon began to question Scott’s version of events. A 2017 review of her death gives a list of evidence that the family said shows Kaylyn was murdered. That list included interviews, forensic testing, photos and a crime scene recreation video.
Moreover, while Whitaker was right-handed, the wound was on the left side of her head. "It is my opinion that Kaylyn could not have shot herself in the location where the bullet entered her skull… The amended finding as a cause of death as a homicide best fits the situation in this case," Illinois Appellate Prosecutor Ed Parkinson wrote after reviewing the case, according to Indiana station WTWO.
The mother of the deceased, Leslie Roberts, wrote in her victim impact statement to People, "Think of what Connor Scott has stolen from us. Not only did he forever steal Kaylyn’s tomorrows, he stole ours. Not only did he steal Kaylyn’s possibilities, he has stolen ours.”
“I can truthfully say to him that I do forgive him,” her mother said. “I couldn’t before when it first happened but that’s what I would say to him.”
Calling her daughter a talented artist who led a "radiant life," Roberts also said, "It torments us greatly, the question of whether or not Kaylyn knew that her life was going to end. We pray that she knew not what had befallen her."
According to WTHI-TV, Scott was sentenced to 37 years and will not be eligible for early release. He will be required to serve three years of probation after his prison term.