A judge granted the state s request to join trials for the final two defendants charged in the shooting death of an 18-year-old Portage High School student in 2019 in Griffith.
The judge said he watched a video of the 36-minute beating April 27, 2021, at the couple s apartment in Gary and was stunned by how casual and cool defendant Sylvester
Robert E. Simms, 34, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the homicides of 29-year-old Nicholas Kowalski, of Park Forest, and 38-year-old Glynon Nelson, of Crown Point, last year
Attorneys for James H. Higgason III, 52, asked the judge to review co-defendant David Copley s medical, psychiatric and jail records to determine his ability to recall events from 1998.