Indianapolis man gets 170 years for June 2017 triple murder

Update, Nov. 15: Kenneth Lancaster, 25, of Indianapolis, was sentenced Friday to 170 years in the Indiana Department of Correction for the June 2017 murders of Mark Higgins, Keith Higgins and Jessica Carte, the Marion County prosecutor's office announced.

All three victims were fatally shot at close range, the prosecutor's office said.

Original story: 

A jury has found a 25-year-old Indianapolis man guilty on three counts of murder in a 2017 shooting that killed three people, the Marion County prosecutor's office announced Thursday.

Kenneth Lancaster was charged in February 2018 in the deaths of Mark Higgins, 64; Keith Higgins, 34; and Jessica Carte, 34. They were found dead June 1, 2017, in the 1800 block of Forsythia Drive. 

Autopsies determined all three victims had been shot, although Carte's autopsy also revealed contusions to her extremities. 

Officials said at the time that a concerned relative went to check on the homeowner after they did not make it to work Thursday morning. The relative arrived at the home, walked through the unlocked front door and discovered the crime scene.

A person identified only as "Witness 11" in court documents told investigators Lancaster admitted to the killings several times over the course of a few months. The witness told police Lancaster had been giving Carte $250 a week for several weeks to make payments on a rental car, which was repossessed. 

Upset over his belief that Carte spent the $2,500 on drugs, Lancaster and several others tied her up and took her to a home on Beville Avenue, the witness told police.

The witness told police that Lancaster said he and the others took Carte to the home on Forsythia Drive, where the three victims were shot "execution style," according to court documents.

Lancaster will be sentenced Nov. 15, according to online court records. 

IndyStar reporters Holly Hays and Justin Mack contributed to this report. 

Call IndyStar reporter Andrew Clark at 317-444-6484 or email him at andrew.clark@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Clarky_Tweets.