LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. -- One Indiana inmate is looking at a longer stay behind bars after authorities said he threatened to chop up a sitting judge and shoot the Dillsboro police chief
Police said it began in 2012 when Billy Luke repeatedly exposed himself to female employees of a Dillsboro drug store.
Dearborn County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard said at first the victims didn't report it, hoping Luke would stop. But he didn't stop, and a surveillance operation caught him. He was arrested, but took it to court.
"He knew he was guilty, he knew he would be found guilty, but he wanted the come into court and describe what happened," Negangard said. "He wanted to embarrass them, and this is the type of behavior the man has engaged in continuously."
That crime was only a misdemeanor, but police said he doubled and tripled down when he went on a spree of vandalism, breaking windows at the police station, the drug store and elsewhere.
Most recently, Negangard said, Luke sent a letter to his attorney threatening to chop up Judge Sally McLaughlin, writing "chop that despicable [expletive] Sally into about 10 pieces and throw her in a dumpster where she belongs."
"I take his threats very seriously," Negangard said. "I believe he is a dangerous person."
Luke also wrote Dillsboro Police Chief Ryan Brandt would "get acquainted with a .50 cal," according to Negangard.
"I've been doing this for 17 years, and this is by far probably the worst criminal that we've had to deal with, especially her in our small community," Brandt said.
Luke is still in prison, where Negangard said he was also charged with intimidating a prison guard. There will be more charges to come.
"He's a very dangerous individual, and so he needs to stay incarcerated, and we're going to do everything we can to make sure he stays incarcerated, because these women deserve to live in peace," Negangard said.
