Bloomington Police: Murder suspect arrested

According to a press release issued by Bloomington’s police department, a suspect has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with a stabbing death in the south part of the city.

The press release notes that criminal charges are just accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Arrested and charged was John F. Bryant, 59, of Bloomington, according to the press release.

The release describes how an investigation began on Saturday, May 16, into a missing person report. The report came from a 20-year-old man who said he had not heard from his mother since the first week of May.

That’s when his mother left their shared residence to go to her boyfriend’s apartment on East Alpine Trail. The boyfriend was later identified as Bryant, according to the release.

Two days later, on Monday, May 18, police were called to the boyfriend’s address when a friend of the son found the mother’s car parked near the Alpine Trail apartment. She had knocked on Bryant’s door, but he refused to allow her inside to see if the missing woman was inside, according to the release.

When officers arrived, Bryant eventually allowed them inside the apartment, where they immediately noticed something on the living room floor that had been covered with blankets, which appeared to be the size of a human body, the release says. When officers removed the blankets they found a woman’s body with several stab wounds on her back, according to the release.

Due to the condition of the victim’s body, it is believed that she had died several days earlier, according to the release.

An autopsy was scheduled for the morning of May 19. After he was interviewed,
Bryant was booked into the Monroe County Jail on the charge of murder, according to the press release.