MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: Sherese Walker Bingham Part 1

And I'm Britt.

And we have a special episode for you guys today that was made possible because of our listeners. Whether you're in the fan club or you listen with ads, you made this episode possible. And listen. I hear some of you who leave reviews or make comments about ads in the show, but our sponsors are the way that we're able to make a real difference. Not only did I start a nonprofit fit with that funding that does advanced dna testing to solve cold cases, but back in May, Audiochuk decided to set aside money from ads and fan club each month to hire a reporter so we can tell the stories that don't get nearly enough attention. This is the first one of those stories, so thank you to everyone who supports us and our sponsors. And just a reminder, if you ever get tired of ads, you can still support our work and listen ad free. By joining the fan club. You get every episode ad free that we've ever done, and you get up to three extra episodes a month, depending on which level you sign up for. So the very first case our reporter Nina dug into is from right here in Indianapolis. It's a case of a woman who died nearly a decade ago while out on a walk with her dogs. But there still hasn't been justice. Our team spent months tracking down public records, researching and interviewing people so we could bring you this story in a whole new, meaningful way. This is the story of the mysterious death of Sharice Walker Bingham.

It.

In the early evening of Wednesday, December 12, 2012, a bicyclist is out on White river trail here in Indianapolis, and it's in the heart of downtown and is usually a popular spot to walk or jog or ride bikes. But the trail is pretty quiet on this particular evening at around 06:40 p.m. The bicyclist sees something so out of place that they think their mind must be playing tricks on them. Except it's not. They see the body of a woman lying on the asphalt trail, and she's not moving. The cyclist calls 911 right away, and EMs and Indiana state police respond. They see the woman, just as the 911 caller had described. She's on the ground, face down in a pool of blood. And around her body, standing guard, are two big german shepherds. They're not wearing leashes, and they won't let anyone near the victim, including first responders. But if they're being aggressive, it's because all they want to do is protect this woman on the ground.

Oh my God. That is so sad.

Indianapolis animal care is called to the scene to help get the shepherds out of the first responder's way. And in order to do that, they have to sedate both of them with tranquilizer darts and then take them away from the trail. That's like, again, how fiercely they are guarding this woman. Only then is it safe for medics to check the unresponsive woman for signs of life, which they quickly determine aren't there. She's fully clothed and wearing sneakers. So medics roll her onto her back, and they see blood on her face. But according to court records, they can't figure out what's causing the bleeding because they can't even tell what her injuries are.

Why not? Because all of the blood.

I'm not sure. There aren't many details about that in the record I just mentioned, which is an affidavit for probable cause. It might be because the woman is wearing several layers of clothing, including a pair of coveralls. I mean, again, this is like Indiana in the winter. She's out for a walk, so maybe they can't determine where the bleeding is coming from because of that.

Right.

But there is a big clue on the ground right near her body. A 25 caliber handgun. And that's not all. There's also a driver's license, an Indiana firearm open carry permit, a pair of black winter gloves, and an open flip style cell phone, which has a low battery alert going off. So, thankfully, at least one task is really easy, identifying the victim. The driver's license belongs to 51 year old Indianapolis resident Charice Walker Bingham. According to the coroner's report, charice is officially declared dead at 07:15 p.m. Emergency medics now have a potential crime scene to secure, and they don't want to disturb it any more than they already have. They also don't want to move cherise again, so they leave her laying on her back. So that's how Indiana State Police detective Lester Norvell finds her. When he gets to the trail at around 08:30 p.m. He sees the blood and a white, foamy substance around Charice's face and mouth, and he can't help but feel somewhat overwhelmed as he takes in the scene. Normally, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department would handle a death investigation like this in the city, but the trail is actually part of the White River State park, which means that the investigation falls onto the Indiana State police's jurisdiction. And as Detective Mervell told Nina, this sort of thing happening on state property is not like an everyday thing. So he tries to take everything in as he's brought up to speed by other law enforcement. Police process the area around Sharice's body and canvas for witnesses, but unfortunately, they don't find any eyewitnesses to interview. Even the cyclist who found Cherise didn't actually see anything happen. They just rode up and found her like that. And despite there being lights in different spots along the trail, it was still fairly dark in the area where Charisse had been walking. And Charisse's body was found far enough down the path that anyone driving on nearby New York street probably wouldn't have been able to see her.

So does Sharice live downtown, or did she just, like, going there just for walks or what?

Well, so she didn't live downtown, but her house, which was on Kessler Boulevard North Drive, is really close to downtown. It's about maybe an eight minute drive from her home to the part of the trail that she was on, which is like, right next to IUPUI, which is like a university campus. And in fact, police actually found her Ford Explorer park nearby alongside North White River Parkway West Drive. Now, the parkway and the trail are parallel to each other, separated by the river that runs through downtown Indy. So to get from her parking spot to the trail, Cherise would have walked across the New York street bridge. And that takes five or six minutes, depending on how fast you're going. And listen, it's kind of hard to understand the layout without seeing it. So we actually have some photos and maps on our blog post for this website or in the app if you're listening there, to help you kind of get a better sense of it. Now, obviously, police have an address for cherise, and they know that they're going to have to go to her house and notify her next of kin. But as it turns out, they don't need to make the trip. Just before 11:30 p.m. Another ISP detective named Wayne Billings is securing the area around Charice's car when a man in a pickup truck pulls up near the spot and announces that he's looking for his wife. He says that his name is Eugene Bingham Jr. And he's worried because his wife, Charisse, never came home from walking their dogs. Right then and there, police break the news to Eugene that Charice is gone, and they immediately ask if he can help them retrace Charice's last movements. So Eugene tells detectives that he last saw Cherise when she left the house with her german shepherds Mayday and tsunami at 07:30 p.m. He says he stayed home and dozed off while watching a basketball game on tv. And then when he woke up around 09:30 p.m. He realized Charice and the dogs weren't there. And Eugene says that that was unusual because she should have been home by then getting ready for work because Cherise actually worked an overnight shift at the Pepsico Gatorade plant, and she had to clock in by 10:30 p.m. So Eugene says that he tried to call her cell phone right away, and when she didn't answer, he left the house to go look for her. He goes on to tell detectives that there are really only three places that they ever walk, the dogs, and all of them are close by. So he checked all three, and White River State park was his last stop. Now, right away, Eugene's story seems off to investigators, not so much because of what he said, but when he said things happened. Right.

I mean, I was just thinking, didn't you say that her body was found by the cyclist at, like, 06:40 p.m.. Yeah.

How could she? Exactly.

Okay.

Eugene is saying that she left the house almost a full hour after we know her body was found and 15 minutes after she was officially declared dead.

Right. Which is a little bit bizarre. But to be fair, he had just gotten some really traumatic news about his wife, and maybe it was shock or the details of the night were kind of all mixed up in his head.

Fair.

So was there anyone at the house with him that could back up or, I don't know, maybe correct his story? I guess what I'm asking is, does he have an alibi?

No. So he and Charice didn't have any kids. And Eugene says that he was home alone and no friends came over or anything like that. But really, police aren't looking for an alibi just yet. According to the affidavit, which was written by Detective Norvell in the early stages of this investigation, based on everything found at the scene, especially the gun right near cherise, police were actually under the impression that she might have intentionally shot herself.

I mean, a killer could have just dropped the gun, which I realize is not super likely.

Well, that's not the only thing, though. Detective Norvell told Nina that another huge reason that they thought it might be self inflicted