By David Lohr
September 19, 2007
CENTERVILLE, Ind. (Crime Library) — Last week we brought you the story of Erin and Kelly Stanley, two sisters who recently died under mysterious circumstances fewer than six days apart. From the beginning both police and Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Shipman have kept the media in the dark, refusing to release public records regarding the case, including tapes of the 911 emergency calls and other records pertaining to the sisters' deaths.
According to Stephen Key, general counsel of the Hoosier State Press Association, county officials violated state law by refusing to release the reports.
"By definition, an investigative record is a record created in the course of the investigation," Key told the Associated Press. "Our opinion is that the investigation doesn't begin until the officer gets on the scene."
In response to growing media pressure, Shipman finally relented and on Friday he announced that a tape of the 911 emergency call from September 1 would be available to the public Monday morning.
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Erin Stanley |
When the tape was released it revealed that 19-year-old Erin Stanley's boyfriend, a man who has yet to be named, found her unresponsive in her bed at approximately 5:15 A.M.
Lonny Stanley told the 911 operator her daughter was "unresponsive, her eyes are halfway open and she's blue."
"Is she breathing?" the operator asked.
"I don't know. Is she breathing, Dad? She's trying," Mrs. Stanley said.
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Deaths of Erin and Kelly Stanley Mystify Residents of Centerville, Indiana
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