While in the Porter County Jail, a Valparaiso man facing felony drug charges thought that he had hired a fellow inmate to arrange for the killing of a potential witness.
But Robert Matthew Garner was unaware that the inmate was also communicating with Porter County Sheriff’s investigators, a probable cause statement says.
Now Garner, 44, faces a conspiracy to commit murder charge, a Level 2 felony, to go along with pending Level 2 felony dealing in fentanyl cases stemming from two separate arrests on Feb. 23 and Feb. 28 in Porter County.
Porter County Prosecutor Gary Germann’s office filed the conspiracy charges against Garner on Thursday. A probable cause statement signed by Porter County Sheriff’s Detective William Marshall outlines the scheme.
Garner, who entered the jail on March 1, had become friendly with a fellow inmate and learned that he had connections with a Chicago criminal gang.
During their conversations, Garner stated that he wanted to send some people to scare a female witness, whom he believed was a key informant in his drug case troubles, into not cooperating with police. Garner later said that “he needed her gone.”
The man who became the informant asked questions about the woman witness and learned that she was caring for two children with disabilities. Garner said he has known the woman for years.
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“Garner began making statements that he did not care what happened to the children and made mention of possibly having someone throw pipe bombs into the victim’s residence to scare them,” the probable cause statement says.
The informant then advised Garner that he may have someone who could do the job. He contacted the Porter County Jail supervisors and then made multiple phone calls, pretending to negotiate with fictitious people to carry out the murder.
Garner offered $1,000 cash and the title to his vehicle, valued at $4,000 to $5,000, in exchange for the murder, court documents show.
The informant had Garner write down the name and address of the woman, along with where she was employed, which was passed on to sheriff’s investigators who confirmed the information was accurate.
On March 26, Garner went to the informant’s cell and they discussed how the murder would be carried out. The informant also advised that his people wanted money up front and an address where the cash could be picked up.
The informant later that day called an undercover investigator, who was posing as the hit man, and then handed the phone to Garner, who reiterated that he wanted the witness to be “gone.”
Later that day, Garner called his father’s house and talked with his sister. He instructed her to take their father to the bank, withdraw $300 and then put the money in an envelope and place it in the mailbox.
The next day, Garner confirmed with his sister that she had carried out his instructions. He then called the number provided by the informant and talked with someone he thought was a hitman, but was the undercover agent, and provided the address where the money could be picked up.
Sheriff’s detectives then went to the house of Garner’s father and recovered the $300 in a white envelope from the mailbox.
Garner waived his constitutional rights when he was brought in for an interview by a detective.
“Garner was advised that I had listened to conversations he had on the phone. He was advised that the person he had been introduced to over the last two days was in fact a police officer,” the probable cause statement says.
Garner then stated that he only wanted the witness to be scared not to testify. But then the detective confronted him with multiple details and his own words that he wanted her “gone”, court documents show.
While Garner suspected that his fentanyl dealing charges resulted from information passed on by a woman witness he wanted killed, an examination of court records shows that the two cases resulted from traffic stops.
The bond holding Garner in jail from the drug cases had been increased to $35,000 cash after his second arrest in five days.
On the night of Feb. 23, Garner was arrested after he was stopped on suspicion of reckless driving by Hebron Police Officer Sean MacCormack in the area of County Road 650 and County Road 500 West.
MacCormack noticed that Garner appeared to be intoxicated and that he had a prior record of narcotics arrests. The officer bluntly asked if he had any “dope” on him and Garner replied that he had a few bags. A later search revealed 25 baggies containing 20 grams of fentanyl, which led to the dealing charge, court records show.
Just five days later, Chesterton Police Cpl. Darren Conley was patrolling Interstate 94 at around 10 p.m. when he received a license plate reader alert about Garner’s blue Honda Accord traveling eastbound toward Chesterton. Conley noted that the car was drifting in its lane and had a license plate obscured.
Conley stopped the vehicle after it went southbound onto Ind. 49 and noted that Garner, the driver, was visibly shaking when he handed him his driver’s license. Conley had a police dog brought in, which revealed the presence of narcotics.
Eventually, 46 baggies containing 35.1 grams of fentanyl were recovered from the vehicle. Garner admitted that he was coming from Chicago’s South Side, where he had purchased the fentanyl for $200, court records show.
Joanna Garner, Robert’s wife and a passenger in the car, was also taken into custody. She was later charged with felony possession of cocaine, which was found during a body search at the Porter County Jail.
Robert Garner’s drug cases are in Porter Superior Court 1 before Judge Michael A. Fish. The conspiracy case is being handled in Porter Superior Court 5.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
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