Indianapolis News and Headlines

Actions

Wife finds evidence tying husband to hit-and-run

Posted at 10:39 PM, Oct 01, 2015
and last updated 2015-10-01 22:39:22-04

A fatal 2011 hit-and-run was solved four years later by a wife going through a divorce who found the evidence her husband built against himself.

In March 2011, a hit-and-run driver killed 13-year-old Hadleigh Cave in the 5100 block of South Franklin Road.

The force of the impact broke off the passenger side mirror and did extensive damage to the Toyota Camry that struck Cave, but the car was never found.

Fast-forward to 2015: In June, Christopher Stimac and his wife Lisa were going through a divorce. In the process, she stumbled upon paperwork that could send her soon-to-be ex-husband to prison for years for Cave's death.

According to court records, Lisa Stimac claims her husband threatened her, saying, "If you tell anybody you will go to jail with me, and you will lose the kids and they will be in foster care."

Police believe Stimac immediately began covering his tracks by intentionally wrecking his car the day after he hit Cave.

The recently discovered paperwork instructs his wife on how to hide their money if he was arrested, how to work with his co-workers on an alibi, and, perhaps the most bizarre note of all, laid out with letters cut from magazines was a message that read: "U have the wrong guy, franklin rd., plate #xb3570, mirror stolen, greenwood mall, Kate, 3.5.11."

Lisa Stimac told police her husband found another Camry at the Greenwood Mall and broke the glass to throw police off his trail.

During an extensive interview this week, Christopher Stimac repeatedly denied he had anything to do with killing Cave. But, police said, he eventually broke down and told police he was, "Trying to figure out if I could find a way for this to not be me."

Stimac faces three felony counts. His first court appearance was scheduled for Friday.