Friday, April 1, 2011

Mishawaka, IN: Boyfriend charged with murder of Stout

Hours before the disappearance Kim Stout last week, she told her live in boyfriend to “just pack his things and move out.” That’s according to court documents filed today that charge Stout’s boyfriend with murder.

Not only was 30-year old Jorge Huerta Cardenas allegedly driving Stout’s car for a day or two after she disappeared, police say they found blood and hair in the trunk. “The examination of that car revealed items in the trunk that make it appear that it might have been used to transport the body. Further the body of Miss Stout up in Cass County appeared that it has been dumped there she was not killed there but got transported to the scene and got dumped,” said St. Joseph County Deputy Prosecutor Joel Gabrielse.

Stout was last seen in the early morning hours of March 23rd, and relatives got suspicious when she failed to show later that day for scheduled visitation with her young son. On Monday March 28th, Stout’s body was found in a rural area of Cass County, Michigan. Court documents show that Cardenas was first arrested on March 29th for False Informing. Cardenas had several aliases, and was in this country undocumented.

“We’re very confident that we’re going to be able to prove not only the elements of the offense of murder, but as well, as the jurisdiction of the crime when we go to trail,” said St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak. Today Dvorak refused to say exactly where he thought the murder occurred, but the court documents appear to point to the home that Stout and Cardenas shared. That home on Ardennes in Mishawaka shares a driveway with the home next door. Court documents say at about four a.m. on March 23rd a neighbor saw a car back “into the driveway all the way to the back near the detached garage, that the trunk was opened and eventually closed, and that someone then got back in the car and drove away.”

38-year old Kim Stout was at a bar with friends on the night she disappeared. Because she had been drinking, Stout left her car at the bar and rode home with a friend. According to court documents, Cardenas told police he had not seen Stout since she left home and went to the bar, however, police searched the home and found items of clothing that Stout was seen wearing at the bar, including a sweatshirt with a reddish stain on it. In a trash container, police found a torn white tank top with reddish stains. In a closet, police found the purse that Stout had with her at the bar. The purse was hidden at the back of a high shelf behind a box. Cardenas claimed that he didn’t retrieve Stout’s car until later on Wednesday, and that he did not back up to the garage at 4:00 a.m. that morning.

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