GOSHEN – An Elkhart County businessman known for helping homeless men get back on their feet was apparently murdered by one of the men he helped.
Police booked 54-year-old John T. Hawley into the Elkhart County Jail on preliminary charges of murder and robbery. He’s accused of killing Ken Patel, 51.
Elkhart County Coroner John White said Patel, who owned the old Goshen Inn and Conference Center building, died from multiple blunt force trauma to the head. He was beaten to death. Investigators aren’t saying what may have led Hawley to kill Patel.
The Elkhart County Prosecutor has until Sunday night to file formal charges or drop the case against Hawley.
The old Goshen Inn has been closed for a while, but Patel was in the middle of renovating it.
“Ken was doing his best to make it a good place again,” said Jim Aswegan, a contractor whose company was hired by Patel to refurbish the pool at the inn.
But things weren’t adding up for Aswegan, Patel’s employees or his wife Thursday.
“He had been gone for a long time and nobody could get a hold of him. Then his wife got concerned and she started calling friends,” Aswegan said.
A short time later, he found his boss dead with head injuries in one of the hotel rooms.
“I was in this part of the hallway all morning so I was right in here, probably when it happened,” he said.
“[I’m] going to miss him,” said another employee, James Pearcy. “He was a good man.”
Pearcy would know. Just three months ago, he was living at a homeless shelter in Kokomo, where Patel owned another hotel property. Patel gave Pearcy a chance when no one else would.
“He was a blessing in my life. I got this job and the way I got it was I had to arm wrestle him and I beat him. So he hired me,” Pearcy laughed.
In exchange for work, Patel gave his employees enough money for food and supplies. He also let them sleep at the hotel. Workers told WSBT Patel did the same for Hawley, the man accused of killing him.
“I still, for the life of me, can’t understand how somebody can get so angry to beat somebody to death,” Pearcy said.
Pearcy told WSBT Hawley stole Ken Patel's van and showed up covered in blood at a homeless shelter in Kokomo and someone there called police, but investigators have not confirmed that.
Now, Pearcy and others are mourning the loss of a friend and trying to figure out what’s next.
“It’s just a little rougher again. I’ll get through it. Always have,” he said.
