Inset: Bryan Pedigo ( Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department). Background: The street where Pedigo's father lived and was found beaten to death in Indianapolis, Ind. (Google Maps).
An Indiana man is behind bars for beating his octogenarian father to death, pouring wax on the victim's face, wrapping the corpse in a rug, and then stealing his truck, Hoosier State police say.
Bryan Pedigo, 54, stands accused of one count each of murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery, and auto theft, according to Marion County court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
The underlying incidents occurred earlier this month at a residence on South Catherwood Avenue, police allege.
On Dec. 11, police began a death investigation based on a 911 call made by a third party, which was itself based on a call the defendant allegedly made himself, according to court documents obtained by Indianapolis-based Fox affiliate WXIN and NBC affiliate WTHR.
Pedigo is said to have called someone and admitted to killing his father, police say. That fatal game of telephone eventually led investigators to the residence in question. But at first, responding officers found all the doors locked, no one home, and left.
Then came another phone call.
This time, a witness said they had visited the east side residence and, looking through a window, saw a human body wrapped up in a rug on the living room floor, according to the charging document.
So, the officers went back to the house, looked through the window themselves, and confirmed the horrible find, describing the wrapped-up victim as a deceased man "with injuries consistent with trauma."
That man, said to have been encased in a white-gray patterned rug, was John Lloyd Pedigo, 81, the defendant's father.
But there was also someone alive in the house.
Police found a woman in a recliner "who appeared unresponsive" but was simply "dazed and confused" and suffering bleeding and bruising throughout her body, according to the charging document.
The woman, Olanna Pedigo, 79, the defendant's mother, was taken to Eskenazi Hospital and treated for a brain bleed, according to court documents obtained by Indianapolis-based The CW affiliate WISH.
Initially, Olanna Pedigo said she had no recollection of the violence that transpired inside the family's residence, police said. But, during a later interview with detectives, she said: "I wonder if my son had anything to do with this," according to the charging document.
After executing a search warrant at the residence, a detective determined a "physical struggle" likely led to the older man's death. Notably, investigators found blood and candle wax all over the home.
On further inspection, the deceased victim's body appeared to have ligature marks on his neck and wax poured over his face, according to the charging document. Next to the dead man's body, investigators found another rug containing bloody clothing and an artificial tree.
After an autopsy, the Marion County medical examiner determined John Pedigo died from multiple blunt force traumas.
The ensuing investigation led authorities to note that John Pedigo's gray 2006 Ford F-150 was missing. Through the use of license plate cameras, the truck was tracked down and located at a traffic stop on State Road 57 near a motorsports park in Greene County, some 90 miles southwest of Indianapolis.
There, the defendant was taken into custody and detained at the Criminal Justice Campus in Indianapolis.
During a custodial interview with detectives, Bryan Pedigo shifted his narrative of events several times, authorities said.
First, he claimed he was driving his father's vehicle with his mother's permission, police said. The defendant said he had been released from jail on Dec. 10 and went to visit his parents, then went to a restaurant with a friend, but returned to find a "huge mess" and a "bloodbath."
Later, however, the defendant allegedly said his father was alive and his mother was not injured when he got back from the restaurant – but that when he left, he found the carnage. Pressed as to why he did not call an ambulance in this version of the story, Bryan Pedigo allegedly said there was "something demonic" present in the house.
Next, the defendant claimed his family has a history of violence and that he consumed "a lot of alcohol" on the day in question, which caused him to black out and not remember what happened, police said.
Finally, Bryan Pedigo admitted responsibility for his father's death while declining to elaborate on the "exact details" of the slaying, according to the charging document.
The investigation also led detectives back to the original 911 caller, who was revealed to be a friend of the defendant.
The caller said Bryan Pedigo had called her to express remorse for doing something "really bad" and, when prompted, confessed to beating his father to death, according to the charging document. The defendant also allegedly told his friend he wanted to put his father's dead body in the fireplace – but that the corpse would not fit.
Bryan Pedigo is detained in the Marion County Jail with no bond.
A pretrial hearing in his case is scheduled for March 4, 2026; the defendant is slated to go on trial by jury on March 9, 2026.
Comments