Homes used by Indiana serial killer to be demolished

GARY, Ind. (AP) — Officials in a northwest Indiana city say they plan to demolish five abandoned homes where a former Marine strangled and hid the bodies of seven women.

The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports that Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson says the razing of the homes in Gary should provide “solace” for the families of Darren Vann’s victims.

Vann was arrested in 2014 and pleaded guilty last year. He’s serving life in prison without parole after accepting a plea deal that spared him the death sentence.

Freeman-Wilson says the demolitions also address blight, and that the city will work with the victims’ families to create memorial gardens at the properties.

City Demolition Coordinator Cedric Kuykendall says Gary Sanitary District and Stormwater Management will provide the $47,600 needed to tear down the homes.

___

Information from: The Times, http://www.nwitimes.com