TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - A Terre Haute man has died after reportedly being beaten by a baseball bat and now the main suspect faces a murder charge.
26-year-old Nathan Epple was booked into the Vigo County Jail on Tuesday night on multiple charges.
The most serious of those charges...murder.
Terre Haute Police say last Friday Jeffrey Cottrell came to police headquarters and reported that a male was in his bedroom holding an aluminum baseball bat.
Cottrell told police the man struck him in the head with the bat, and then ran with Cottrell's cell phone, five knives, and a bug out bag.
That man, police say, turned out to be Nathan Epple.
Cottrell was taken to the hospital. He died from his injuries on Sunday.
An autopsy determined the cause of Cottrell's death was blunt force trauma to the head.
"Yesterday afternoon, they were able to locate this person and after a foot pursuit with investigators, they were able to take him into custody where they located an item of the victim's personal property on him and he was brought in for questioning and later charged with the homicide," Terre Haute Police Chief Shawn Keen said.
According to court records, Epple said Cottrell made sexual advances toward him.
That's when Epple said he punched him.
When Cottrell reportedly continued to make sexual advances toward Epple, he said he struck Cottrell with the bat in the arm and upper body area.
Police say Epple was already wanted on a warrant for another case, where he faces two counts of armed robbery.
He's in the Vigo County Jail, held without bond.
