Delphi homicides tip leads to 2007 cold case arrest
LOGANSPORT, Ind. (WLFI) – The Cass County prosecutor said a tip in the Delphi double homicide investigation has resulted in a confession in a 10-year-old murder case.
A probable cause affidavit was filed along with a murder charge against 39-year-old Kevin Sellers on Thursday. Sellers is accused of shooting his uncle, 50-year-old David Sellers, at the home they shared on Nov. 8, 2007.
“I am devastated,” Marvin Shelpler said. “I just can’t believe it.”
“We never dreamed that it would be him,” added Marvin’s wife, Lucille Shepler.
That’s the reaction of the Sheplers when they learned someone they knew and trusted was charged with murder.
David Sellers was found with a single gunshot wound to the head in his bed at the home in the 1100 block of North County Road 600 East.
Kevin Sellers was interviewed at the time, but no charges were filed.
“Kevin would come over and visit with us and talk to us on the phone, and a couple of weeks ago he came over and dragged a big limb out of my yard,” Marvin Shepler said.
The investigation went cold, but officers from Indiana State Police and the Cass County Sheriff’s Office continued meeting monthly about it for several years.
In June 2016, members of the multi-agency Sellers Cold Case Team presented their findings to the Cass County prosecutor, who then obtained subpoenas for additional evidence.
On Aug. 2, Kevin Sellers was asked to come to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office for investigation of a tip received about the murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German in Carroll County on Feb. 13.
That tip referred to Sellers “having killed his uncle some years before and had gotten away with it.”
Prosecutors said Sellers was first questioned about the Delphi killings, but was then confronted with evidence gathered in the ongoing investigation into the death of David Sellers, after which he said, “I surrender.”
Prosecutors said Kevin Sellers then spoke at length about how he shot his uncle, confirming details that the previous investigation had revealed.
Prosecutors said Kevin Sellers told investigators that he shot David Sellers in the forehead “at David’s request.”
David Sellers’ 2007 obituary stated he was survived by “a special nephew, Kevin Sellers, Logansport.”
“They were like brothers because they lived up there together,” Lucille Shepler said.
“He grew up with my grandsons and went to church down there with them, and was a very intelligent kid,” said Lucille and Marvin’s son, Tom Shepler. “I just never would have thought he would have done something like that.”
The affidavit said investigators established that Kevin Sellers was the sole beneficiary of David Sellers’ estate.
“Evidently, you can’t trust any body,” Lucille Shepler said.
Kevin Sellers was being held without bond and is expected to appear in court on Friday.