Indiana Man Allegedly Tortured Couple Girlfriend Met On App In Rape-Murder Case Ending In Police Killing

An Indiana woman has been accused of murder after a man she met on a dating app was allegedly tortured and murdered by her boyfriend, who later died in a police shootout this week. 

Heidi Kathleen Carter, 36, is facing preliminary felony murder, rape, and an abuse of a corpse charges after a man and woman were tied up and violently beaten at her home in Evansville. 

On Oct. 19, Carter invited a couple she'd met online to her home for an alcohol and drug-fueled sexual encounter, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Oxygen.com. However, Carter's boyfriend, Carey Hammond, walked in on the trio unexpectedly, and in a fit of rage, allegedly clubbed the pair with a baseball bat, police wrote in charging documents. He later bound them with duct tape.

“Carey Hammond arrived home during their sexual activity,” police stated in an arrest affidavit. “Mr. Hammond became angry and began to beat [the victim] with a baseball bat.”

The surviving female victim told authorities that Carter, who she claimed brandished a firearm during the incident, helped her boyfriend restrain them. Carter, she alleged, held the couple at gunpoint while Hammond sexually assaulted her.

"Ms. Calter had a firearm in her hand and was making threats to kill them both," the affidavit said. "Ms. Carter told them that she 'knows someone in Indianapolis that knows how to get rid of a body.'"

Hammond later kicked the woman's boyfriend repeatedly with steel toed boots, and ultimately choked him to death with a belt after he tried escaping. Officials identified the deceased man as 50-year-old Timothy Scott Ivy. His autopsy is pending.

According to police, Carter later ordered pizza and invited a woman over to the home to help clean the murder scene prior to a “landlord inspection.” The witness, who told police she observed blood on Carter's boots, helped clean two rooms before discovering the captive woman — as well as Ivy's body, which was hidden in a pile of laundry.

"[She] went into another room and stated she heard a female asking for help and begging to use the restroom," the affidavit stated. "She then went to sit down on what she thought was a pile of pillows and blankets. She found after she sat down that under the blankets was a dead body."

After realizing the linens were covering the woman’s boyfriend’s corpse, the startled witness fled the home and tipped off a nearby Indiana State trooper.

"She then went to sit down on what she thought was a pile of pillows and blankets,” the affidavit added. “She found after she sat down that under the blankets was a dead body.”

Investigators swarmed the home shortly before midnight. Hammond was fatally shot in the chest after emerging from the property holding a metal or plastic object that resembled a weapon, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Authorities, who suggested Hammond intentionally provoked police, described his death as “suicide by cop,” according to the Evansville Courier and Press.

“The entire situation — from the first responding officer who was flagged down [and told] there was a dead body in this house … [to others] finding a victim who was tied up and beaten — it took officers by surprise,” Evansville Police Sgt. Anna Gray told the newspaper.

Carter was taken into custody outside her home. She was in possession of a black revolver handgun at the time of her arrest, police said. 

Under police questioning, Carter admitted to having a sexual encounter with Ivy and his girlfriend. She confessed to helping restrain the couple, however, she claimed she was only "pretending" to "appease" Hammond. 

The Evansville Police Department, the case’s lead investigative agency, didn’t immediately respond to questions surrounding the case on Friday.

Carter had a probable cause court hearing on Thursday and is being held without bond at a Vanderburgh County detention center, online jail records show. Her next court date is scheduled for Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. It’s unclear if she’s retained legal representation.

The 36-year-old has an extensive criminal history, according to court records obtained by Oxygen.com. She's racked up past arrests for battery, resisting arrest, giving false police statements, theft, disorderly conduct, and criminal mischief.