(Michigan City, IN) - On Thursday, a 56-year prison sentence was handed to a man who killed his roommate and disposed of the decaying body parts in trash cans in Michigan City.
John Hallett, 54, was convicted by a jury on May 16th, receiving 55 years behind bars for Murder and one year for Abuse of a Corpse from La Porte Superior Court 1 Judge Jamie Oss. Hallett could have received up to 65 years on the murder charge and another 30 months on the lesser count.
Despite the gruesome acts related to the killing, La Porte County Prosecutor Sean Fagan said he was pleased with the sentence because the chances of Hallett ever being free again, given his age, are very low.
“As long as justice is being served to Mr. Gonzales and his family, that’s what really matters,” he said.
Evidence shows that in 2017 Hallett choked 64-year-old Paul Gonzales to death and left his body on the basement floor for nearly two months at their home in the 1000 block of West 9th Street. He then cut up the corpse with a hacksaw and disposed of the parts in municipal trash cans. The two were previously living on the streets before being placed into a home together by a group serving the homeless.
Fagan said none of Gonzales's remains, which presumably wound up in a landfill, were ever recovered. However, evidence of his death in the form of microscopic material was gathered forensically from where his body decayed.
According to court documents, law enforcement did not know about the murder until 2022, when Hallett called Michigan City Police, claiming he took the life of his former roommate and that he did so because he suspected Gonzales was stealing his mail and trying to get him evicted.
Fagan said an arrest wasn’t made until about a year later after enough information was gathered to substantiate his claims.
