By Stan Maddux
For The Herald-Argus
Published: Saturday, May 14, 2011 5:06 PM CDT
A Mill Creek area man has agreed to a 75-year prison sentence for the shooting death of his estranged wife and her male companion.
Clayton Lindsey, 44, pleaded guilty Friday in La Porte Circuit Court to two counts of murder.
He was scheduled to stand trial starting May 23 but, in exchange for the plea, he will not face a potential maximum 65-year sentence on each count.
The plea also calls for 25 years probation upon his release from incarceration.
Lindsey admitted that he killed 39-year-old Christine Lindsey and Chad Zolman, 38.
The Ohio man and Christine Lindsey were in her Kingsford Heights residence when Clayton Lindsey crashed into his estranged wife’s parked vehicle and went inside, where he killed both victims with shotgun blasts, according to officials with the La Porte County Sheriff’s Department.
In 2005, court records showed Clayton Lindsey filed for divorce but it never went through and Christine Lindsey filed for divorce about a month prior to the killings.
Clayton Lindsey, at one point during Friday’s hearing, began crying and paused about 15 seconds between responses to questions from the court.
Judge Tom Alevizos took the guilty plea under advisement.
La Porte County Deputy Prosecutor Chris Fronk said family members of the victims opted not to speak.
Instead, they preferred to wait until sentencing to voice whatever they might want to say.
“We advised them they would have an opportunity at sentencing to address the court,” said Fronk.
Defense attorney David Jones said he anticipated a lot of testimony at the sentencing hearing, which was scheduled for July 18.
With the permission of the defense, the sentencing date was extended past the 30-day deadline for sentencing after a plea is submitted due to congestion in the court calendar.
“There are going to be a lot of witnesses. We understand that,” Jones said.
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