By Nathan Ryder - bio | email | Twitter
Posted by Sarah Harlan - email
EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) - The suspect in the robbery-murder of a convenience store clerk makes his first court appearance Wednesday.
Less than 24 hours after the shooting, the suspect, 27-year-old Brock Antonio Hanley, was arrested in Louisville and he's been returned to Daviess County, charged with robbing and killing 46-year-old Suba Singh early Monday morning.
The holdup happened at the Bon Harbor Shell Station. Investigators believe Hanley drove to Evansville after the shooting and ditched a stolen van in the river.
Authorities said that van was pulled out of the Ohio at Dress Plaza Tuesday evening.
Investigators with the Daviess County Sheriff's office said they received information that Brock Antonio Hanley might have ditched the maroon minivan he used as a getaway car into the Ohio River.
It was a search that took an entire afternoon and a full dive operation into the Ohio's murky, frigid water to confirm.
Evansville's Ohio riverfront Dress Plaza was shut down to the public Tuesday afternoon as investigators searched for Brock Hanley's getaway vehicle.
"We established what we call a 'last seen point' or an 'entry point' to where the vehicle went into the water," Evansville Fire Department Dist. Chief Tim Krack said. "Damage to the Plaza confirmed that it went in on the lower level of the Plaza and took one of the barrier balls out with it."
Perry Township brought in their rescue boat, equipped with a high-tech device called side-scanning sonar to look at the river bottom.
"They went back and forth in front of the Plaza for about two hours before finding a location about 100 yards down from where the vehicle originally went into the water," Krack said. "It ended up being the spot where the vehicle had come to rest."
Swift river currents, stiff wind, rain and dropping temperatures made the dive operation difficult, limiting each diver to just 15-minutes in the water.
"We're basically diving with zero visibility, especially at 11 foot deep," Krack said. "Everything was done by hand. The water is at 57-degrees. It's cold."
In the end, a maroon minivan was hauled out of the river. It was exactly what investigators said they were looking for.
"The plate matches up with the information that we had from Daviess County," Detective Jack Spencer with the Evansville Police Department said. "Daviess County has requested we store the vehicle in our crime scene garage. They'll get the paperwork they need and then I understand they'll be here tomorrow to deal with their end of it."
The Commonwealth's attorney said Hanley will have the opportunity to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty Wednesday.
Prosecutors said additional robbery charges are likely to follow.
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