Prosecutors charged 24-year-old Kelly Patterson (left) with the murder of 57-year-old Brad Fulford. Denise Culp (right), 33, is charged with assisting a criminal. (Photos provided)
Story Created:
Nov 20, 2007 at 6:04 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Nov 20, 2007 at 6:35 PM EDT
(WSBT) Prosecutors filed charges Tuesday against two women for their alleged roles in the murder of a Mishawaka man.
Kelly Patterson, 24, is charged with murder, and 33-year old Denise Culp is charged with assisting a criminal.
In court documents filed Tuesday afternoon, prosecutors say Kelly Patterson was upset with Brad Fulford because of the way he was treating Denise Culp, so she walked into the kitchen with Fulford's own handgun and shot him in the head.
Authorities say Culp had been living with Fulford inside a home on Hoosier Avenue.
Police say it was Culp's mother who came to them with what happened. According to court documents, her mother walked into the Mishawaka Police Department Saturday night to tell them Brad Fulford was dead. She said her daughter called her and told her about it.
That's how police were able to find Culp and Kelly Patterson at a hotel on South Bend's west side Saturday night. They found Fulford's car in the parking lot.
Prosecutors say they also have talked with Denise Culp, who told them she was in the kitchen of the home Friday night with Fulford when her friend, Kelly Patterson, walked into the room with a gun.
She said Patterson ordered Fulford around and then shot him in the head because she didn't like the way Fulford was treating Culp.
This has been hard on neighbors — especially for a husband a wife who live next door and were friends with Fulford.
They say Denise Culp's mother called them and asked them to go next door and check things out.
“And she kept saying, 'There's been a fight and I know something is wrong over there,'” said Sheryl Gerald. “And my husband looked in the window and said, ‘I don't see anything,' and here his best friend is laying in the kitchen dead and we didn't know it.”
Investigators also say Denise Culp told them she drove Patterson to the Logan Street Bridge to get rid of the gun.
Both women also face theft charges for allegedly taking some items from Fulford's home.
They're now both at the St. Joseph County Jail. Patterson is being held without bond, and Culp is being held on a $5,000 cash bond. Both will be arraigned in court Wednesday.
Thursday, Jul 10 at 10:25 AM Bonny - Brad's sister wrote ...
Brad WASN'T handing around with a 24 year old! He was trying to help Denise, a 33 year old and the daughter of a lifetime friend, get off drugs. Her 24 year old female lover was jealous! I wish Kelly would get the death sentence!! Denise needs to go to jail for a long time too. She's a horrible example for her 9 year old son.