Published: June 12, 2009 01:00 pm      

Trial dates set in Avon murder case

DANVILLE — John Gary Cooper of Danville entered a plea of not guilty during his initial hearing held yesterday at an Indianapolis hospital.

Cooper, 58, is being charged with murder in the death of Avon resident Michael Gelinas, 49, and will face an Aug. 3 pre-trial date, with a jury trial commencing on Sept. 21. His charge was entered in Hendricks Superior Court 3.

Hendricks County Prosecutor Patricia Baldwin said she and a team of prosecutors are working on the case against Cooper.

“You want to make very sure that you have everything prepared and available ahead of time,” she said. “You don’t want to have a situation where you waited to get a report or to be scrambling. We aim to get everything to the defense as soon as possible. We don’t want to hold this up.”

Gelinas was shot May 27 in the driveway of his home in the Harvest Ridge subdivision in Avon, where he lived with his mother.

Though officers first thought it was a suicide, after an investigation of Gelinas’ home and no recovery of a weapon, they determined the case to be a homicide. Police also said there was no evidence of a break-in to his car or his home.

Avon Police Chief Jack Miller said during the initial investigation that he believes this is the first homicide case in Avon since the town was incorporated almost 13 years ago.

Cooper’s wife, Angela Cooper, was serving as Gelinas’ mother’s caregiver at the time of the shooting and through an interview with her, officers learned there had been a verbal altercation between Cooper and Gelinas the week before the shooting.

Police at that time were unsuccessful at locating Cooper. They issued an alert to other law enforcement agencies with his physical and vehicle description and determined his location when he called his wife via cell phone.

Authorities found Cooper in Henry County after he wrecked his vehicle.

Baldwin said the wreck was not a result of a police chase, as was initially reported.

“His injuries were not due to a police chase,” she said. “He flipped his car and crashed. The police were looking for him, but were not chasing him. It was an accident. There were not police behind him with their sirens going off.”

Cooper was taken to the Henry County Hospital and then moved to an Indianapolis hospital. Baldwin said he will eventually be taken to the Hendricks County Jail in Danville, though she is not sure when he will be transferred.

Baldwin said a murder conviction carries anywhere from 45 to 65 years in prison, along with a $10,000 fine.



charlee.beasor@flyergroup.com