A Michigan City suspected of murder was arrested Thursday in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
A detective started a criminal investigation on Aug. 29, 2022, after receiving information that a homicide had possibly occurred inside a residence in the 1000 block of West 9th Street in Michigan City in November of 2017. Police say detectives from the Investigative Division executed multiple search warrants at the residence in 2022 and collected numerous items of evidence. Two different search and rescue detection K9s were also used at the residence while the search warrant was being executed. Police say “countless” interviews were conducted by investigators while multiple forensic examinations took place on the evidence that was collected with assistance from the Indiana State Police Laboratory and Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.
It was learned that 64-year-old Michigan City resident Paul Gonzales was identified as the victim and there was evidence his body was mutilated after the homicide occurred. 48-year-old Michigan City resident John Hallett was identified as the suspect after all the evidence was thoroughly reviewed and analyzed.
The detective eventually presented their investigation to the LaPorte County Prosecutor’s Office on Aug. 7 for a probable cause review. The next day, a judge found probable cause to charge Hallett with one count of murder and one count of abuse of corpse. An arrest warrant was then issued for Hallett with the condition of no bond.
The Michigan City Police Department’s Warrants Division, Fugitive Apprehension Street Team (FAST) and the United States Marshals Service developed information after Hallett’s arrest warrant was issued that he was in the Cambridge, Massachusetts area. The United States Marshals Service in Boston, Massachusetts worked with the Cambridge Police Department and Massachusetts State Police to locate Hallett at a residence on Chester Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Hallett was taken into custody by the Cambridge Police Department on the morning of Aug. 24 and transported to the Middlesex Jail & House of Correction located in Billerica, Massachusetts where he is being held without bond. He is currently awaiting extradition to the LaPorte County Jail.