Woman Charged In Connection With Laurel Five

A 2011 mugshot of Amanda Napier.

file photo

(Brookville, Ind.) - Laurel Five killer David Ison’s girlfriend allegedly helped him set up the drug deal that led to the worst massacre in Franklin County history.

Amanda Napier, 35, has been charged in Franklin County with Conspiracy to Commit Armed Robbery and Conspiracy to Deal in a Schedule II Controlled Substance, both Class B felonies. The charges were filed October 16 by Indiana State Police Det. Tracy Rohlfing.

According to a probable cause affidavit detailing the charges, Rohlfing spoke with Ison last July 25 at the Wabash Correctional Facility in Carlisle, Indiana, where he is serving out his five life sentences without parole.

Ison told Rohlfing that Napier used his mother’s cell phone to send text messages setting up a drug deal for Oxycontin pills at Roy Napier’s home on Stipps Hill Road in western Franklin County the day of September 25, 2011. Despite sharing a last name with four of the five murder victims - Roy Napier, his ex-wife Angela, their two grown children Melissa and Jacob, and family friend Henry X. Smith - Amanda Napier is not related to them.

“David Ison explained that Amanda Napier did the texting because he was not very good at texting,” Rohlfing said in the affidavit.

Ison told investigators that Amanda Napier drove them to the Roy Napier’s home. Ison would then shoot and beat five people to death after learning that Roy Napier had raised the price of the pills he was selling by $2.

Detectives also allege Napier was driving Ison to commit an armed robbery at the CVS Pharmacy in Batesville when the murderer was caught two days after the slayings. Ison said Napier knew what was going on, because she helped him with supplies for his disquise.

“Ison explained that Amanda Napier knew if he put his disguise on that he was planning on doing something illegal as this was customary as they had robbed other drug stores, and robbed a bank when he had applied his disguise,” the affidavit stated.

When questioned by police, Amanda Napier admitted to being Ison’s getaway driver during several robberies including the Triplett Drug Store in Osgood; the Medicine Shoppe Drug Store in Greensburg; a bank in Oxford, Ohio; and a residential burglary in Rush County.

Napier is currently on probation for her role in the Osgood drug store robbery.

Franklin County Prosecutor Melvin Wilhelm told The Brookville American-Democrat newspaper that a possible charge of Conspiracy to Commit Murder is not being ruled out for Amanda Napier.

As of Wednesday morning, Napier had not yet been arrested in Franklin County. 

Should David Ison Have Been In Prison?

Laurel Five Murderer's Mother Faces Gun Charge

“Life Over Death”: Ison Receives Life In Prison

David Ison To Be Sentenced Wednesday

David Ison Pleads Guilty To “Laurel Five” Murders

Does Cost Factor Into Death Penalty Cases?

David Ison Won't Face Death Penalty

Murder Suspect Granted Change of Venue

Murder Suspect Wants Trial Moved

Ison Pleads Not Guilty To Franklin Co. Murders

Ison Charged With Five Murders

Laurel Five Laid To Rest

Services Set For Metamora Massacre Victims

Ison Held On $5M Bond

Person of Interest Held In Murder Case

Killer Not Among Five Dead

ISP: No Persons Of Interest In Five Deaths

Questions Abound In Franklin Co. Deaths

Five Found Dead In Two Metamora Homes

Multiple Homicides Investigated In Franklin Co.