***MEDIA ADVISORY***

       GROSS PLEADS GUILTY IN SALEH’S DOUBLE HOMICIDE

December 9, 2013     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:  Curtis T. Hill, Jr.  (574)296-1888

Richard Carl Gross, 23, pled guilty this morning in the Elkhart Circuit Court to two counts of Murder for his involvement in the September 5, 2013 attempted robbery at Saleh’s Market, located at the corner of Middlebury Street and Madison Street in Elkhart.  The robbery attempt, which occurred at approximately 9:30 in the morning, resulted in the fatal shootings of two store employees: 20-year old Pawan Singh and 55-year old Jagtar Singh Bhatti.  Gross pled guilty without specified terms, meaning that Judge Terry Shewmaker may impose any sentence permitted by law.  The sentence for Murder is 45-65 years imprisonment; Gross faces a maximum of 130 years in prison.  Sentencing is scheduled for March 14, 2014 in the Elkhart Circuit Court.
Gross was charged under the legal doctrine of felony murder.  Under Indiana Code 35-42-1-1(2), when someone is killed during the commission or attempted commission of certain felonies, the person(s) committing the felony may be held criminally responsible for murder.  The Indiana legislature has limited the application of the felony murder doctrine to certain inherently dangerous felonies, such as burglary, arson, kidnapping and robbery. 
The investigation, which remains ongoing, is led by Detective Richard Brewton of the Elkhart Police Homicide Division.  Gross was identified as an accomplice in the attempted robbery.  Another individual, Kevin Lorenzo Moore, 28, was also charged with two counts of Murder and is awaiting trial, presently scheduled for February 3, 2014 in the Elkhart Circuit Court.  Elkhart County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney David Francisco and Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Vicki Becker are prosecuting both cases on behalf of the State of Indiana.
Under Indiana law, all persons arrested for a criminal offense are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.