Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015

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I N D I A N A D A I LY S T U D E N T | T H U R S D AY, O C T. 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 | I D S N E W S . C O M

Police update student murder

The haunting of

Micheal Keihn

Yaolin Wang was allegedly abused physically, mentally

IDS

From IDS reports

Further details were released Wednesday regarding the apparent murder of IU student Yaolin Wang and the apparent suicide of Chuanlin Xiao. Bloomington Police Department officers responded to Stratum Apartments at 3130 E. Goodnight Way on Sept. 30 after a man and woman were Yaolin Wang found dead in the common area of one of the apartment buildings. Wang and Xiao met during the spring semester at North Seattle Community College, according to the latest BPD release. While there, Xiao imposed himself on Wang, moving in with her and refusing to leave. Investigators believe Xiao might have also physically and mentally abused Wang as he tried to assert control over her life. Wang did not seek outside assistance from school officials or law enforcement. Though friends of Wang tried to step in, Xiao told them he came from a powerful family in China who could retaliate against their families in China. When officers arrived they found a 20-year-old man in a stairwell, dead from an apparent suicide by hanging, according to an initial BPD press release. Officers then discovered a 21-year-old woman on a nearby patio area, dead from apparent stab wounds. The victim and suspect had been in a relationship for approximately six months, according to the initial release. They had lived together at Goodnight Way for about a month. After a trip home to China this summer, Wang transferred to IUBloomington this fall. On Aug. 22, Xiao arrived in Bloomington, where he again moved into Wang’s SEE UPDATE, PAGE 8

Planned Parenthood resolution passes

PHOTOS BY REBECCA MEHLING | IDS

While the city is trying to shut it down, the Organ Trail is still preparing to open October 23 in Muncie, Indiana. The 7,700-square-foot labyrinth attracted 4,000 people to creator Micheal Keihn’s yard last year. Keihn created the Organ Trail after his son died from sudden infant death syndrome.

Muncie city officials work to close popular home haunt By Jack Evans jackevan@indiana.edu | @JackHEvans

MUNCIE, Indiana — Micheal Keihn is surrounded by monsters. Killer clowns and murderous lumberjacks and demonic children inhabit the maze that winds around his home. There are 64 of them, humans creating nightmares between walls of wooden pallets and black plastic. This is the Organ Trail, a 7,700-square-foot haunt in Keihn’s yard in Muncie, Indiana. Last year, it drew 4,000 people. They’re set to open this year’s haunt, their most elaborate one yet, Friday. The city is trying to stop them. Keihn sits on his back deck, the maze running flush to its edges. To his left loom a killer lumberjack and a deranged hillbilly. A few feet away stands a half-zombiehalf-mannequin. A demonic 11-year-old innocently holds a half-empty bag of peppermint candy. It feels like a family. The half-zombie calls it her second home. The killer hillbilly lives in the basement. Keihn needs this place. Without it, he says, he’d be dead. He’s locked his demons away in the labyrinth. * * *

Anne Halliwell ahalliwe@indiana.edu | @Anne_Halliwell

The resolution supporting Planned Parenthood was passed unanimously by Bloomington’s city council after three hours in session Wednesday night. The resolution, supported by city council members Dorothy Granger, Susan Sandberg and Tim Mayer, cited Planned Parenthood’s STD tests and treatments, well woman exams and family planning services as reasons why the organization should be supported by the City of Bloomington. According to the resolution, Bloomington’s Healthcare Clinic provided more than 4,400 STD tests and treatments in 2014, as well as 890 breast exams and 224 cervical cancer screenings. Beth Headrick, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky’s director of communications, said she hoped the resolution would provide “more in-depth support” for the organization. “So much of what we do is preventive in nature,” Headrick said. “We want the communities to know that we provide these services and that we serve a number of people across our state.” The comments from Bloomington residents detailed experiences with Planned Parenthood argued morality or brought up recent news stories about Planned Parenthood as a whole. During the council meeting, District 3 council member Martin Spechler addressed rumors that Planned Parenthood sold the remains of aborted fetuses, did not conform to cleanliness standards and promotes abortion to pregnant clients. Those Planned Parenthood clinics that do allow tissue donation have been reviewed and comply legally SEE COUNCIL, PAGE 4

On a summer morning in 2012, around 9 a.m., Keihn put his ear to a door. He heard nothing behind it, and so he assumed his 7-month-old

twins, Raigen and Markus, were sleeping. Rule No. 1, he knew, was to never wake a sleeping baby. Earlier that morning, his wife, Cassandria, had heard both boys crying. She changed two diapers, fed two babies with two bottles and went back to bed. Around 9:30 a.m., the twins’ godmother arrived. “Aww, they’re sleeping,” she said as she opened their door. Standing behind her, Keihn noticed something else: Raigen’s arm, limp, dangling out of the crib. He rushed to pick him up. The boy’s body was cold. When the ambulance and firetruck and police arrived, Keihn was attempting CPR. He doesn’t remember much, but he remembers sobbing and vomiting on the porch. He remembers the hour they gave him and Cassandria Raigen’s body. He remembers saying Raigen’s name over and over again and thinking it was his fault. He also remembers the $6,000 in funeral costs, how friends pitched in $20 here and $100 there and they still had to empty their own bank accounts. How the “U” in “SUIDS” — sudden unexplained infant death syndrome — stuck out. How a couple of drinks on the weekend turned into three cases of Budweiser and a fifth of Jack Daniels every day. Jamie Cook, Cassandria’s cousin-in-law, witnessed Keihn’s descent and decided to keep Keihn busy with external

Micheal Keihn shows off the latest prop for the Organ Trail in Muncie, Indiana.

horrors. They spent that October building a small haunt in Keihn’s yard and, on Halloween night, Cook turned into a chainsaw killer while Keihn donned clown makeup. Twenty people showed up. Since then, they’ve amassed a fan base — nicknamed Organ Donors — ranging from Muncie to Fort Worth, Texas, to the United Kingdom. They’ve never charged admission, but this year, they’ll accept donations. It’s more than a hobby, he says. It’s his saving grace. * * * On nights when the Organ Trail opens, Keihn does his makeup in the same way and listens to the same music — Blue October’s “The End” is a favorite. He gives a pep talk to his cast, they have a moment of silence and then more music cuts through — AC/DC, “For Those About to Rock.” Keihn’s voice changes to

a gravely taunt — his Kreepy voice. He thinks of Raigen. “Hit the lights.” Kreepy is Keihn’s killer clown character, a persona with an affinity for crude jokes and candy-colored baseball bats transformed into gnarly weapons. A green bat retrofitted with a circular saw blade is his favorite. He calls it the Giggle Stick. The Giggle Stick can’t help Keihn in his present battle: a duel with the City of Muncie. It began in late September with the arrival of two fire marshals. “We got a report from another home haunt that you guys are opening a haunt and charging for it,” Deputy State Fire Marshal Aaron Elsworth told Keihn. “No, you can come in all you want,” Keihn replied. “We ask for donations, but we don’t keep it.” He led the officials SEE HAUNTING, PAGE 8

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

IU basketball coach learns from Crean By Taylor Lehman trlehman@indiana.edu | @trlehman_IDS

When it was announced that Teri Moren would be the next IU women’s basketball head coach in the summer of 2014, Moren received several offerings of congratulations and advice. While on a team trip in Canada, IU men’s basketball Coach Tom Crean left her a voicemail. “That was very, very special,” Moren said. “I received several texts, but I got a voicemail from Tom, taking time out of his schedule in Canada to welcome me to the Indiana family and offering any kind of help that he could give me as I got to Bloomington.” After the Seymour, Indiana, native spent four years coaching Indiana State, during which time she had two winning seasons and a Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship in 2014, she was chosen to lead a program that had abruptly lost its own head coach. Curt Miller, who coached the Hoosiers from 2012 to 2014, had resigned, citing health and personal issues. However, a definite reason SEE MOREN, PAGE 8

IDS FILE PHOTO

Coach Teri Moren talks to her players during a timeout in IU’s game against Illinois on Wednesday, Feb. 11, in Assembly Hall.


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