John Jefferson
Left: Anthony Castleman (Huntington County Sheriff’s Office). Right: Bernice Eubank (Thoma/Rich, Lemler Funeral Home).
An Indiana man convicted of stabbing his grandmother to death and hiding her body under carpet and lattice in the backyard of her home has been sentenced to 85 years in prison.
Anthony Castleman, 37, learned his fate on Wednesday for the murder of Bernice Eubank, 72. He was sentenced to 65 years in prison plus 20 years for being a habitual offender.
A jury took minutes to convict him of murder on Oct. 31 after hearing testimony that he stabbed her 36 times, local CBS affiliate WANE reported.
“We’ll never have complete closure, but this helps knowing he will not see the light of day again,” said John Chaney, one of Eubank’s sons, the outlet reported.
The murder came to light on Nov. 12, 2023, when authorities found Eubank dead outside her home in Markle, about 30 miles south of Fort Wayne. Her family had called deputies after she hadn’t been heard from in several days. Investigators believe she had been dead for “a period of time” before her discovery.
“In all my years of law enforcement, this may be one of the most brutal scenes I’ve ever seen or been part of. I think it kind of shook our own folks seeing something like that, especially when you realize it’s an elderly woman and the perpetrator in this was her own grandson,” Huntington County Sheriff Chris Newton told WANE.
Citing an arrest report, local news station WPTA said Castleman had been living with his grandmother. Eubank’s daughter went to the home and found a rug with a piece cut out. The daughter called deputies, who found her mother’s body outside near a barn under a carpet and lattice.
The Huntington County Coroner determined her cause of death to be from multiple sharp force injuries and the manner as a homicide. Detectives quickly identified Castleman as the suspect.
An investigation revealed Castleman went to his cousin’s house the day before the body was found and asked for bleach to clean up a mess, saying he was “going to prison for a long time,” the documents reportedly said. He arrived at the cousin’s house in Eubank’s car and was using her cellphone, police said.
“Throughout the early part of the investigation, officers learned that he had fled Huntington County and trying to get out of the state,” the agency said in a press release.
He was arrested in December in Georgia.
According to her obituary, Eubank graduated from Wabash High School in 1969 and worked as a receptionist for over 30 years at the Caylor-Nickel Clinic, a medical center in nearby Bluffton.
Law&Crime’s David Harris contributed to this report.
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