INDIANAPOLIS — Building number one sits among a group of apartments, right off of I-465 North and just to the left of the Springhill Apartments leasing office here on the westside of Indianapolis.
Building number one is a laundry room with a bay window that looks out onto part of the property. What’s unique about the building is the secret it holds.
On April 7, 1986, 19-year-old Trisha Meredith was doing laundry on her afternoon off. She had moved into Springhill Apartments just two weeks prior.
Someone came in behind her, stabbed her 24 times and cut her throat. The killer then apparently walked out of the laundry room undetected and disappeared.
Her boyfriend later discovered her body stuffed into a narrow closet in the laundry room.
Police at the time questioned neighbors, but no one seemed to have seen anyone or anything unusual, despite the bay window.
Trisha’s brother Brandon, who was 12 at the time, said that to his knowledge people were right outside in the parking lot at the time of the murder.
Yet in 25 years, no one has come forward with any information on the crime or the killer.
“As much blood that was around, we don’t see how somebody got out without being noticed,” Brandon Meredith said.
He said his sister was buried on his 13th birthday.
“It wrecked my whole family,” he said.
Just a year later, he said his mother died of a heart attack. He believes that was fueled by a broken heart.
Meredith is frustrated that his sister’s killer is still out there and is hoping that after all these years someone will finally come forward.
“Somebody saw something,” he said. “I think back then somebody was afraid to say something.”
The cold case unit within the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) has re-opened Trisha’s case and said it is an active and ongoing investigation.
“Basically, we’re interested in all cases,” IMPD Sgt. Mark Albert said. “Murder’s wrong no matter who the victim is. Here’s a case that stuck out because she’s an innocent victim.”
Meredith said his sister was known for being assertive. He believes her killer made a pass at her and when rebuffed, became angry and killed her.
“I can’t see anybody who knew her wanting to hurt her,” he said.
Detectives working the case have remained tight-lipped and refuse to disclose whether any new suspects or physical evidence have turned up. Albert said old suspects will be revisited and old paths will be retraced.
“Sometimes if you go and re-contact someone, there’s a chance you’ll learn more,” he said. “Allegiances change. Sometimes people just don’t come forward. You have to go and ask them.”
Meredith says he doesn’t know what’s going on with the case.
“I don’t know what they have,” he said. “I don’t know if I have anything to look forward to.”
Meredith said detectives did tell him that advances in fingerprint technology and DNA testing lend hope to this case. He’s counting on that to help catch his sister’s killer.
He has created a Facebook page dedicated to helping locate the killer. For now, he and older sister Dena wait for the call that will once again change their lives. They also try to shield their children from the tragedy.
“It breaks your heart when you hear about it,” Meredith said. “Especially when it’s your own family.”
Anyone with information on the homicide of Trisha Meredith is asked to call the IMPD Cold Case Unit at 327-3475 or 327-3068.
courtney.essett@flyergroup.com
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