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37-year-old sentenced for one 2017 murder, faces trial for another

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A 37-year-old Indianapolis man was sentenced to 63 years in prison for the murder of a woman shot multiple times in the head and stabbed more than 30 times.

Karl Woodall was sentenced Wednesday for the murder of Stefanie Coulson, 37. Investigators said they found Coulson’s body just before noon March 27, 2017, in a bedroom in the 3700 block of East Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive. That’s west of South Sherman Drive. 

A jury found Woodall guilty Feb. 27 after a three-day trial. 

Woodall is also charged in connection to the March 2017 homicide of James Sapp. That case is set for a jury trial on Sept. 9 in Marion Superior Court, Criminal Division 4.

On the night of Coulson’s murder, Marion County prosecutors said, Woodall woke up to discover that Coulson had taken his van and was no longer at the residence. Police had earlier said Coulson took the van to go dumpster diving. According to witnesses, Woodall became enraged and walked to a neighbor’s house where he told the residents, “If my van’s not back in half an hour, someone’s going to die.”

After Coulson returned with the van, Woodall and the victim had a verbal altercation. Eventually, Woodall told someone else who was at the home, “You have 30 seconds to leave or you’re going to end up dead just like she’s going to be,” prosecutors said. As that person left the residence, he heard gunshots coming from inside the house.

Detectives located Woodall driving his van three days later. He was taken into custody without incident.

Woodall’s fingerprint was found on a fired cartridge that was located in Coulson’s bedroom. Additionally, Woodall’s DNA was found on the Styrofoam cup that was left inside the home where Coulson’s body was discovered.

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