Docs: Connersville man charged for two 2022 murders; man implies he killed 4 people
CONNERSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — A Connersville man on Monday was formally charged for the murders of two men in 2022, where one man was found dead in a cemetery.
Indiana State Police announced the charges Monday morning.
Joshua Farmer, 28, was facing charges for the Aug. 17, 2022, murder of Thomas Combs, and the Sept. 10, 2022, murder of Joshua Durham.
A probable cause affidavit obtained by News 8 says that on Aug. 17, 2022, Combs was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds to his head and neck in the roadway at Dale Cemetery in Connersville.
While investigating the scene, Connersville Police Department officers found a crushed Natural Ice can by Combs’ body. The coroner later found a .41-caliber bullet jacket lodged in his shoulder.
On Sept. 10, 2022, police were dispatched to a home in the 1300 block of Grand Avenue on a report of an unconscious person. An officer then found Durham lying dead on a sidewalk between two houses.
Court documents say that Durham also had multiple gunshot wounds to his face and body. Investigators later determined that the bullet fragments found during Durham’s autopsy were also .41-caliber.
The affidavit included that in October 2022, Farmer was being treated at a hospital. He agreed to a search by staff for safety, in which a spent .41-caliber casing was found in his pocket. Officers later searched Farmer’s home and found other .41-caliber bullets.
In the following February, investigators determined that a DNA sample pulled from the Natural Ice can belonged to Joshua Farmer. A firearm analysis by state police detectives in December 2023 also connected the .41-caliber bullet fragments and casings found during autopsies to similar ammunition found during a previous search of Farmer’s home.
Police spoke with Farmer in October 2023 regarding the shootings. Court documents say before the interview, Farmer was recorded saying “I didn’t kill no one on purpose” and “I don’t want to get myself in more trouble than I’m already in.”
During his interview, Farmer implied he killed four people. “There’s four: Dale Cemetery, Liberty, and (I) shot at two people by the graveyard,” he said. He also admitted to owning a .41-caliber firearm.
Court documents say police are currently investigating the shooting that happened in Liberty.
Farmer was arrested on Wednesday and was being held at the Fayette County jail without bond.
A jury trial for Farmer was set for June 10.
Connersville is in eastern Indiana, a little over an hour’s drive from downtown Indianapolis.