Indiana man, 24, ‘walks into police station and confesses to killing his girlfriend in 2014’
- Connor Scott, 24, of Indiana, faces first-degree murder charge in Illinois in October 2014 shooting death of Kaylyn Whitaker
- The 20-year-old Whitaker’s death was initially thought to be a suicide, but in 2015 it was officially ruled a homicide
- No arrests had been made and no charges filed until Scott walked into Danville police station on Sunday and confessed
- Less than three week prior, police took away his guns after his current girlfriend said he was suicidal
More than four years after a 20-year-old woman was found shot to death inside her boyfriend’s home in Illinois, the man has walked into a police station in Indiana and confessed to killing her.
Danville police said 24-year-old Connor Scott made the admission on Sunday night, telling officers that he shot Kaylyn Whitaker in Martinsville, Illinois, on Halloween in 2014.
Her shooting death was originally considered a suicide, but the manner of death was ruled a homicide about 10 months later.
Cold case confession: Connor Scott, 24 (left), on Sunday confessed to killing his then-girlfriend, 20-year-old Kaylyn Whitaker (right), in October 2014
The couple had been together for nearly two years when on Halloween 2014, Whitaker died of a gunshot wound to the head
Scott, who has lived in Danville for the past six months, is being held in the Hendricks County Jail awaiting extradition to Illinois to face murder charges in Whitaker’s death.
According to a statement from the Illinois State Police, on October 31, 2014, officers responded to a rural home in Martinsville after getting a call about Whitaker’s death.
Scott, Whitaker’s boyfriend of nearly two years, told police the 20-year-old college student had shot herself, and her death was initially classified as a suicide.
‘During the investigation, suspicious circumstances led Investigators to turn the case from the initial report of a suicide, to a homicide investigation,’ according to the press release.
Whitaker’s parents never believed Scott’s version of events and expressed their frustration with the lack of progress in the investigation in a December 2018 interview.
‘We deserve closure. We deserve peace. This is a homicide case and it has been since 2015 and I am angry. Very angry,’ Whitaker’s mother Leslie Roberts told WTHI at the time.
Police say Connor initially claimed that Whitaker took her own life inside his home, but 10 months later her death was ruled a homicide
Less than three weeks before his confession, Whitaker (pictured left with a knife) had his guns taken away because he was said to be suicidal
Then at around 8.30pm on Sunday, Scott made his way inside the Danville Metropolitan Police Department headquarters and confessed to the 2014 murder of his then-girlfriend.
The Illinois State Police later interviewed Scott and obtained a videotaped confession from him, leading to his arrest.
It is unclear at this time what might have prompted the 24-year-old suspect to come clean when he did, but WTHR reported that on February 6, police confiscated Scott’s firearms after his current girlfriend expressed concern that he was suicidal.
An arrest warrant for Scott was issued on Monday with a $1million bond.
The motive behind Whitaker’s slaying remains unknown.
Whitaker’s mother, Leslie Roberts (pictured embracing Kaylyn’s headstone), never believed Connor’s story and had recently expressed anger at the lack of progress in the case