MICHIANA SHORES, Ind. (WXIN) — Court documents reveal that in the last hour of his life, Denis Earley called his wife and told her that his nephew was trying to stab and kill him.
A frantic struggle occurred and Denis Earley lost control of his cellphone. For the next 48 minutes, his wife listened helplessly on the open line as her husband and his brother were chased around an Indiana residence by a knife-wielding suspect — later identified by police as 42-year-old Kyle Earley — leaving rooms splattered with blood.
On Sept. 1 at 9:21 a.m., Long Beach police and La Porte County Sheriff’s Department deputies were dispatched to Michiana Shores. There, inside a house on a quiet, wooded street in a neighborhood near the shores of Lake Michigan, deputies and officers found a grisly scene.
Despite the peaceful exterior, the inside of the home was in disarray, court documents said. Blood was seen throughout several rooms, including both bathrooms. Brothers Denis Earley, 64, and John Earley, 73, were found to have been stabbed and slashed numerous times throughout the house.
The suspect, Kyle Earley, is John Earley’s son.
Denis Earley was declared dead at the scene by the La Porte County Coroner, court documents reveal, while John Earley was rushed to a Michigan City hospital, then flown to South Bend Memorial Hospital.
Denis Earley’s wife was out of state when her husband called her. She arranged to quickly return and told police about her horrific phone call and the 48 minutes during which she could do nothing but listen to the attack.
Long Beach Marshall Mark Swistek was the first to respond to the scene, according to the court documents. When Swistek arrived, Kyle Earley had been trying to leave the residence with a backpack in hand, the documents state, and his clothing was said to be saturated with blood and a knife was found on his person.
After being taken to the Michigan City Police Department, blood was collected from Kyle Earley’s hands, legs and even his ears.
Court documents reveal that detectives tried to speak to Kyle Earley at the Michigan City Police Department, but he refused to do so without an attorney. Officers noted a visible cut on his right hand, scratches on his face and dried blood on various parts of his body.
Detectives said Kyle Earley had made multiple threats in the past to harm both his uncle and father. According to the documents, detectives were told that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and that he was schizophrenic.
Kyle Earley was being held in the La Porte County Jail on a $1 million bond and is charged with one count of murder and another count of attempted murder.