By Rusty Nixon Correspondent
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of 37-year-old Jeffrey Pelley.
Pelley is serving a 160-year sentence for killing his father, stepmother and two stepsisters in 1989 so that he could attend the LaVille High School prom events.
Attorneys for Pelley had argued that his constitutional rights to a speedy trial were violated.
“I’m ecstatic about the ruling,” said Plymouth Mayor Mark Senter, who worked the case as one of the lead investigators for the Indiana State Police before his retirement there. “We were a little concerned when the appellate court ruled the way they did this summer, but I’m very happy the court made this decision.”

At issue was whether prosecutors in the case was to blame for a delay in the original trial while the courts considered a request for access to a psychologists’ records who had met with the family members for three years before the slaying.
In July 2006, jurors convicted Jeffrey Pelley of using a shotgun to kill the four inside their church parsonage home near Lakeville. However, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that the trial judge should have granted Pelley’s motion to dismiss the case because he was not tried within a year of charges being filed.
The bodies of Pelley’s relatives were found April 30, 1989, at their home in Lakeville. Pelley was questioned in 1989 was not charged until 2002 and was convicted in 2006.
Prosecutors alleged that during a 20-minute span on Pelley shot his family members, disposed of the shotgun and shells, took a shower, put his clothes in the washer and left for the LaVille High School prom.
The defense argued there wasn’t enough time for him to have done all that and still make it to the dance. They also said no one could commit such a gruesome attack and still act “normal” during the prom events, as his friends testified during the trial.
“A lot of hard work went into this case by a lot of different people,” said Senter. “The St. Joe County Sherriff’s office and several St. Joe County Prosecutors. It’s been 20 years worth of work. Hopefully this is the end.”