UPDATE: Mishawaka couple killed by man's brother

June 02, 2012|WSBT-TV Report

South Bend Tribune Photo/MARY KATE MALONE

MISHAWAKA — Steven Clippinger, 41, and Jennifer Leveque, 40, have been charged in the double homicide early Saturday morning of a Mishawaka couple ... Matthew and Lisa Clippinger. Steven is Matthew's brother, according to the St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office.

Steven Clippinger is charged with two counts of felony murder and with being a serious violent felon in possession of a firearm. He's being held without bond in the St. Joseph County Jail.

Jennifer Leveque is charged with assisting a criminal and transfering a handgun to a felon, both felonies. She's being held in the St. Joseph County Jail on $60,000 bond.

ORIGINAL STORY .....................

Two people were shot to death early Saturday morning in the 700 block of 11^th Street in Mishawaka and two people have been arrested. Matthew and Lisa Clippinger were found dead of multiple gunshot wounds by Mishawaka Police who were responding to a “shots fired” call.

Dave Wells, assistant commander of St. Joseph County’s Metro Homicide Unit, said via a news release, formal charges against the unnamed suspects would likely be filed later Saturday.

St. Joseph County Police Sgt. Bill Redman tells WSBT his department his department detained three people in connection with the shooting. Mishawaka Police contacted St. Joseph County police with suspect information, Redman said, indicating a suspect was believed to live near Auten Road.

County police spotted the suspect’s vehicle and pulled it over. Inside the vehicle was a man, two women and a child. The child was released to family members.

Autopsies are scheduled for Monday.

Neighbors reported hearing two sets of gunshots around 12:30 a.m.

“All of a sudden, I heard screaming,” said one neighbor.

The Clippingers’ tidy front lawn, decorated with flowers and a large American flag, was lined with yellow crime scene tape early Saturday.

Neighbors said the Clippingers were a "nice couple with two children." Neighbors said they never imagined something so violent would happen on their quiet street, where some even leave their doors unlocked.

“I’m a little bit numb,” said another neighbor. “They were nice. They both worked. ... It could not have been a stranger. This is not the neighborhood where something like this happens.”

Anyone with information about this double homicide is asked to call Metro Homicide at 574-235-5009.

(Stay connected to WSBT online and on air for updates on this story.)

South Bend Tribune reporter Mary Kate Malone contributed to this story.

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