Herb Baumeister, a businessman and father of three, is believed to have killed at least 25 men—primarily gay men in their twenties and thirties—between the mid-1980s and 1996. His estate in Westfield, Indiana, became the focal point of a major investigation after thousands of bone fragments were discovered on the property. He died by suicide in 1996 before he could be arrested or tried.
The renewed investigation and victim identification effort has been led by Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison, who reopened the case in 2022, according to Indianapolis Monthly.
What to Know About the Fox Hollow Farm Murders
The Fox Hollow Farm murders refer to the series of killings attributed to Herb Baumeister, whose property became the burial ground for an unknown number of victims. Investigators believe he targeted gay men from Indianapolis’ downtown bar scene and brought them back to his home, where he murdered them. The exact number of victims remains unknown, but officials estimate it may exceed 25.
Initial suspicions in the early 1990s were largely confined to Indianapolis’ LGBTQ+ community, which tracked a disturbing pattern of disappearances. Police interest intensified after Baumeister’s 13-year-old son found a human skull on the property in 1994, reported the Indianapolis Monthly. Despite that, a full investigation didn’t unfold until 1996, when Baumeister’s wife allowed authorities to search the estate. The same day, they discovered human remains in the woods behind the house.
Baumeister killed himself in Canada days later. Though some remains were identified using dental records, thousands of bone fragments were left unexamined until 2022, when Jellison reopened the case.
What Is the Update in the Fox Hollow Murder Case?
On April 29, Daniel Thomas Halloran was officially identified as the tenth victim of Baumeister through genetic genealogy testing and a DNA match sourced from his late mother’s autopsy file. He was one of the men killed and buried at Baumeister’s Indiana estate, known as Fox Hollow Farm, according to WRTV.
“This identification is a significant development in our ongoing efforts to provide answers to the families of those who went missing,” Jellison said in a statement obtained by WRTV. “We are grateful for the expertise of Othram and the advances in forensic science that made this possible.”
His identification was not straightforward. A genealogy report by Othram Inc. in Texas suggested Halloran was likely the victim, but he had no living immediate relatives—his mother, father and brother were dead. The Indianapolis Star reported that Halloran’s mother had died from a drug overdose and that the Marion County Coroner’s office had a swab of her DNA.
Jellison later located Halloran’s daughter to inform her of the identification. She was about 2 years old at the time he was killed, the Indianapolis Star reported.
Halloran is the second victim to be identified since Jellison reopened the case in 2022. The coroner’s office has also identified 27-year-old Allen Livingston, who disappeared in August 1993 and confirmed the identities of two previously named victims from the 1990s—31-year-old Jeffrey A. Jones and 34-year-old Manuel Resendez—through updated DNA analysis, according to the Indianapolis Star.
Three additional unidentified remains are now undergoing similar analysis.
What to Know About Herb Baumeister
Baumeister was a business owner and lived with his family in a mansion on an 18-acre property called Fox Hollow Farm, according to Indianapolis Monthly. Between the 1980s and 1990s, he is suspected of luring men from Indianapolis gay bars like The Metro, Varsity Lounge, and 501 Tavern.
When police were finally able to search his property in 1996, they found more than 10,000 bone fragments scattered in the woods. When Baumeister fled to Canada, he wrote a lengthy, three-page suicide note in which he expressed remorse over his failing marriage and warned that he would be leaving a mess behind at the park where he planned to take his life. The note made no reference to the murders or the allegations against him, reported Indianapolis Monthly.
The original case was poorly publicized. “It never made the TV news ever,” said Ted Fleischaker, publisher of The Word, to Indianapolis Monthly.
Hamilton County Coroner Jellison has publicly criticized the 1990s-era investigation, saying the victims were largely ignored because they were gay men.
Authorities have confirmed these ten men as victims of Herb Baumeister, each of whom disappeared from Indianapolis in the early to mid-1990s, according to the Indianapolis Star:
- Roger Alan Goodlet, age 33.
- Michael Frederick Keirn, age 50.
- Steven Spurlin Hale, age 28.
- Manuel M. Resendez, age 31.
- Jeffrey Allan Jones, age 37.
- Richard Douglas Hamilton Jr., age 23
- Johnny Bayer, age 26
- Allen Wayne Broussard, age 32.
- Allen Livingston, age 27.
- Daniel Thomas Halloran, 30 years old
How to Stream the Fox Hollow Murder Docuseries
Hulu’s The Fox Hollow Murders: A Serial Killer’s Playground is available for streaming exclusively on the Hulu platform. The documentary, produced by ABC News Studios, presents archival footage, interviews with family members, and commentary from investigators and local journalists.
The series premiered in February and is accessible with a standard Hulu subscription. New viewers can sign up for a free trial to stream the full docuseries.
What People Are Saying
Coroner Jeff Jellison told Indianapolis Monthly in February: “It’s my opinion that the attitude of those involved in the investigation in the ’90s was, ‘This is eight gay men from Indianapolis. What do we care?’”
Dr. Krista Latham, director of the University of Indianapolis Human Identification Center, told the same outlet: “They were mistreated in life. My obligation to them is to make sure that they get that name, that they get the respect, that they get what they deserve to have been given in life in death.”
Robert Graves, the farm’s current owner, told WTHR point to the home’s pool: “This probably is the largest serial murder case in the United States, certainly. This is where he would have killed them. It’s pretty much the way it was. That wall was red – not blue – but otherwise, it’s the same. So the pool was the lure. That’s what he used to get the guys to come up.”
How Many Episodes Is Hulu’s Fox Hollow Murder Docuseries?
The Hulu docuseries consists of four episodes, each running between 40 and 60 minutes. The series explores Baumeister’s life, the victims’ stories, and the investigation’s reopening.
Each episode traces different aspects of the case, from Baumeister’s public image as a family man to the forensic efforts that continue decades after his death. The final episode focuses on the new technologies and personal stories propelling the case forward.
What’s Next
Jellison says three additional samples have already been sent for testing, and more identifications are expected. The renewed investigation continues to receive cooperation from the FBI, Indiana State Police, and the University of Indianapolis.
“This is the second largest investigation of unidentified human remains in this country, second only to the World Trade Center,” Jellison told Indianapolis Monthly.
Authorities continue to ask families with missing relatives from the 1980s and 1990s—especially those believed to be part of Indianapolis’ LGBTQ+ community—to submit DNA for comparison. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office at 317-770-4415.
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