Accused quad murderer no longer faces death penalty
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – A plea agreement was filed Monday morning for one of four people accused in a quadruple homicide in Indianapolis last year.
According to the agreement, 26-year-old Kenneth Rackemann has agreed to plead guilty to four counts of murder, each a felony, a count of robbery, a Class B felony, which is a lesser offense than the Class A felony previously filed, and a count of conspiracy to commit robbery, also a Class B felony and a lesser offense than the Class A felony that was filed.
As part of the agreement, the state agrees to forego prosecuting Rackemann on the four counts of felony murder. The state also agrees not to pursue the death penalty.
After the murders, Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said he would pursue the death penalty in Rackemann’s case because there were multiple victims, the homicides were committed during a robbery and the crimes happened while Rackemann was on parole.
According to the plea agreement, Rackemann will receive four life imprisonment without parole sentences for the four counts of murder and an additional 20 years for the counts of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.
The plea agreement goes on to say that Rackemann will acknowledge that the sentence is justified because the state is foregoing the death penalty, because there were aggravating circumstances including his criminal history and because of the nature of the killings, especially that he intentionally killed the four victims during the robbery during a time he was on parole.
The murders happened Feb. 20, 2014 in the 3400 block of South Parker Avenue. Samantha Bradley, Valencia Williams and Anthony Larussa were also arrested in connection to the crimes.
