Affidavit in death of woman found buried in Evansville garage reveals more details

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — More details have emerged in the death of a woman found dead and buried in an Evansville garage earlier this month with one of the three arrested admitting to being responsible for the woman's death.

Evonne Pullen, 29, of Virginia, died of blunt force trauma, according to the Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office. The remains of her body were found Nov. 11 buried in a garage in 1000 block of North Third Avenue. She was killed Sept. 25, 2018, according to the affidavit. 

Arrested soon after the discovery was 32-year-old Angela Paul, 55-year-old Joan Paul and 56-year-old Gary Anderson. Initially, Angela Paul was charged with murder in connection with Pullen's death while Joan Paul, Angela Paul's mother, and Anderson, Joan Paul's boyfriend, were charged with obstruction of justice, abuse of a corpse and failure to report a dead body.

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Charges of murder were added to Joan Paul and Anderson's case several days later.

A probable cause affidavit filed in support of the additional charges indicates the story initially given to police by the three about how Pullen died isn't possible.

Joan Paul said she heard Angela Paul yelling at her and Anderson from the kitchen. When they went into the room, they saw Pullen dead on the floor.

Joan Paul said Angela Paul told her she was spraying the woman with water from the kitchen sink's spray nozzle, and she probably drowned. Joan Paul said she had no pulse.

Anderson corroborated the account, according to the affidavit. He said Angela Paul had been hitting the woman for several weeks before her death.

Pullen was mentally challenged and often soiled her clothing, according to the affidavit. That allegedly angered Angela Paul.

Anderson said that for about three days before her death, the woman was being held naked in the kitchen corner so she wouldn't soil the floor. Anderson also said Pullen had bruises and other marks on her body.

The second affidavit said on Nov. 12, a board-certified pathologist found that Pullen died from blunt force trauma, not from being sprayed from a sink sprayer. On Nov. 13, after further interviews by police, Angela Paul admitted to police that she'd told her boyfriend William Snyder she killed Pullen, although she continued to maintain that it was with the sink sprayer.

Angela Paul told police in this follow up interview that Gary Anderson and Joan Paul beat Pullen over a length of time. She told detectives that her mother even broke her hand after striking Pullen. Joan Paul told detectives she was the reason Pullen was dead. Anderson, in the interview, maintained he never hit Pullen.

All three told police they never made an effort to seek medical help or call 911. Detectives said they believe no single blow killed Pullen and that interviews show she was beaten for several weeks after coming to Evansville, which they believe led to her death.

Police interviewed a Winchester, Virginia, man who said he used to live next door to Angela Paul and Pullen before they moved back to Evansville to live with Joan Paul and Anderson. The man told police he saw Pullen battered and bruised inside in their home about a week before they moved to Evansville.

Angela Paul brought Pullen to Evansville to collect a monthly check, Anderson reportedly told police. 

Police later learned that Angela Paul was the payee on her disability checks, which had stopped being collected immediately after her death.

A domestic violence call involving Angela Paul and Snyder led to the discovery of Pullen's body and the arrest of the three in connection with Pullen's death.