John Patrick Talboo
HANCOCK COUNTY — A Fortville man facing a murder charge surrounding the shooting death of Brandon Perry, 23, Fortville, in February of 2022 has entered into a plea agreement, court records show.
John Patrick Talboo, 49, 600 block of West 950N., Fortville is still facing decades in prison should a plea agreement be accepted in Hancock County Circuit Court later this spring. Talboo was facing a murder charge that carries up to 65 years in prison.
Talboo had a change of plea hearing late last week in circuit court. According to court records, his jury trial has been cancelled and a sentencing hearing has instead been set for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4 where Judge Scott Sirk is slated to hand down the sentencing.
While the terms of a plea agreement will not be official until the sentencing hearing is complete and accepted by the court, preliminary paperwork indicates Talboo will admit guilt to one count of voluntary manslaughter, a lesser Level 2 felony charge, and also plead guilty to a firearm sentencing enhancement. Court documents indicate Talboo will receive a sentence of no less than 25 years and no more than 35 years in prison.
Not less than 20 of those years are to be served at the Indiana Department of Corrections with 15 years slated for the voluntary manslaughter charge and five years to be served in relation to the firearm enhancement.
All other aspects of the Talboo’s sentence, including the duration of the total sentence, as well as the length and placement for any additional executed term of imprisonment is left to the discretion of the court after argument of the parties, but the overall sentence must be, in total, at least 25 years and no more than 35 years, court documents show.
While Talboo and officials from the Hancock County Prosecutor’s Office have agreed to the plea deal, it will be up to Sirk to accept the deal or make any amendments following the sentencing hearing where the court has set more than two hours to hear from both sides.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officials were called to the 600 block of West 950N on Feb. 4, 2022 due to a disturbance. When police arrived, they spoke with Talboo’s girlfriend, who advised law enforcement she lived with Talboo in the residence, owned by her grandparents. The grandparents she said lived in a house west of the property, and the person shot, Perry, stayed with them, the affidavit stated.
Talboo’s girlfriend told officials Perry was her nephew, and in mid-January 2022 she and Perry had gotten into a disagreement and Perry threatened to “punch her in the face” when she was over trying to help her grandparents, the affidavit stated.
The woman told officials she had not been back to her grandparents’ house since the incident and, on the day of the shooting, Talboo was out shoveling snow and came inside after having a shouting fight with Perry, she said in the report. Talboo told his girlfriend that he had had it with Perry and didn’t stay inside long despite her efforts of trying to stop him from heading back outside, the report stated.
It wasn’t long after Talboo went outside that the girlfriend heard gunshots and saw Perry fall to the ground, the report stated. The girlfriend then called dispatch for help, the affidavit said.
Talboo told officials he went inside the main residence after arguing with Perry about threatening his girlfriend, got his .38 revolver from the nightstand and headed back outside, the report stated.
Talboo told officials he and Perry started walking toward each other, and he fired a shot at Perry and, when Perry rushed him, he fired again. Talboo then told officials that Perry jumped on top of him, and he acknowledged that he may have fired a third time at Perry, the report stated.
Talboo was apologetic and indicated he lost his temper, the affidavit stated. “The situation got out of control,” Talboo is reported to have told officials in the report. Officials arrested Talboo at the scene and found the gun on the ground in the southwest corner of the property, the affidavit said.
The Marion County Coroner’s office indicated in the report the manner of death was homicide and the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds. At the time Talboo was arrested, prosecutor Brent Eaton noted that it was the first murder charge the county prosecutor’s office had filed since Oct. 6, 2016, when Eaton was a deputy prosecutor.
