Who killed Marlys Harper: part 2

 

We continue this story back in 1993 at Middlebury apartments in the city of Elkhart.

Marlys Harper, a resident at the time was hosting a party with her cousin Kizzy Harper and some friends.

The group was drinking when they heard a knock at the door.

A man, unfamiliar to Marlys and Kizzy at the door was asking to buy drugs.

An argument broke out between members of the party and this stranger.

"He ended up getting beat up and next thing you know, they throw him in a dumpster. Next thing you know you hear shots and so he ends up getting shot," according to Kizzy.

The victim survived, but police launched an investigation into the shooting.

This prompted them to interview both Kizzy and Marlys.

Chuck vividly remembers how that went down.

"The police had picked her up, they're threatening to lock her up, unless she told him what she knew and testified against this guy," according to Chuck.

This guy has never been charged with the death of Marlys Harper.

What happened after that incident?

"Well, he went to prison," said Kizzy.

Kizzy believes that when "this guy" got out of prison, he wanted revenge.

A day before Marlys was killed, Kizzy Marlys cousin, received a message from a woman. She called the number back.

"I'm like, hello, and then he like, hello. And I'm like, who is this? And he's like, who is this and we're just going back and forth. I'm like, forget this Kizzy, you know, he was like this **beep**.  He was like, we got some unfinished business to take care of. I knew right then, because I knew we had testified against him in court," remembers Kizzy.

"you called the police?" I asked.

"I called the police that day of the funeral, when I told you I call that number back," Kizzy said.

Did the police ever interview "this guy?"

Kizzy told me that she passed the information to the detective and she never got a call back.

"And they wonder why to this day, people don't cooperate? Why people don't tell them nothing. Because you don't care. They don't care. They really don't care, black on black crime, they really don't care kill each other," states Kizzy.

The case has since switched hands from Elkhart's City Police Department to the County's Cold Case Division.

I reached out to their department asking if they ever interviewed this person of interest and other questions about the case, they never responded to my request for comment.

This unnamed person of interest is currently serving time in prison until at least 2056 on unrelated charges.

Over two decades later---Marlys family still searching for closure.

"If you had something to say to the person that did murder your mother, what would you say?" I asked.

"I would have to say, coming from the life I've lived because of this. I've been looking for you for a long time I've been chasing a ghost really. It's kind of ate me up.  I just know I'm willing to forgive you. And so, i can move on my life. I just wanna know why you did it."

If you can help Marlys's family find closure tonight and catch her killer, deputies at the Elkhart County Sheriff's Office want to hear from you.

Call crime stoppers tonight.

That number is on your screen right now---1-800-288-stop.