Man drove a 'tent stake' through his roommate's head, stuffed his body into a Walmart tote and threw it off a cliff when he failed to set it on fire

Inset (left): Ian Shelden (Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney's Office). Inset (right): Mark Trent (Muncie Police Department). Background: The neighborhood in Muncie, Ind., where both men used to live (Google Maps).

An Indiana man tried to get rid of the body of his former roommate after killing him with a "tent stake" but ended up leading police right to the bones.

Ian Shelden, 46, was sentenced on Wednesday to 69 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of murdering 55-year-old Mark Trent. In a press release, Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Hoffman said Ian Shelden "brutally murdered Mark Trent and dumped his body off a cliff in Tennessee like a piece of garbage. By doing so, he thought he was off the hook and home free. He was wrong."

As Law&Crime previously reported, Ian Shelden was charged years after Trent went missing — and after he confessed to police.

According to an affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime, concern over Trent's whereabouts began in March 2016, about a month after his family last saw him. Trent was allowing Ian Shelden and his wife, Tracy Shelden, to live in his home in Muncie, Indiana. When Trent's family went with police to the home on March 31, 2016, the Sheldens were gone, but many of Trent's belongings were still there, along with his two dogs. Trent's Dodge Ram pickup truck was missing.

Neighbors told police that a month prior, the other people who lived at the home, the Sheldens, left suddenly "like they moved out overnight."

Around the same time, on March 3, 2016, a Facebook account associated with Trent published a post that said he was "reevaluating his life and taking a break from everyone, possibly permanently."

As police investigated Trent's disappearance, they saw that an unknown individual was taking money out of Trent's bank accounts in the months after he was reported missing. The withdrawals took place from March to August 2016 and were tracked to locations in "Indiana, Tennessee, Florida, and Michigan." Surveillance cameras from the ATMs showed that Trent was not the person making the transactions.

In October 2021, Trent's niece told police she believed the Sheldens knew something about the whereabouts of her uncle. The couple was tracked down to Tennessee, and police made contact with both of them. They spoke to Tracy Shelden first, who told police that she, her husband, and Trent had a "falling out" and the couple moved out of the home. One day, the Sheldens went back to the home and Ian Shelden told her to wait in the car. She did, and he came back out and told her to leave.

Tracy Shelden left, and when she saw her husband the next day, he was driving Trent's truck. The couple left for Tennessee, where they met up with an acquaintance who helped Ian Shelden get rid of Trent's truck.

While speaking to police, Tracy Shelden identified her husband as the person in surveillance videos using an ATM to withdraw money from Trent's account. In one of the videos, he was wearing women's clothing.

More from Law&Crime: Man Led Cops to Bones of Roommate He Killed in Drug-Fueled Attack, Said Victim Was 'Flailing His Legs' and 'Bubbling His Words': Court Docs

Police then presented that information to Ian Shelden, who claimed Trent died of a drug overdose while they traveled together to Tennessee. Ian Shelden told police that he "freaked out" and tried to hide the body. He brought police to a location where he claimed to have brought Trent's body, but police found no remains.

On Oct. 19, 2021, police went to Ian Shelden's home and encountered his mother. She told them her son was "up all night crying" about "not wanting to go to jail." Ian Shelden then granted police a second interview, during which he told them that on the day he and Tracy Shelden went back to Trent's house, he and Trent smoked crack while Tracy Shelden went back to the car and Trent "tried to seduce him."

When Trent purportedly "grabbed his belt loop," Ian Shelden picked up a "tent stake" and hit Trent in the face with it. After Trent asked him why he hit him, Ian Shelden struck him again, this time leaving a "hole" in Trent's head. Following the second blow, Ian Shelden said Trent was "flailing his legs" and "bubbling his words," so he finished him off with a third blow. Ian Shelden ran outside and told his wife to leave, then went back inside to clean up the scene.

Using Trent's debit card, Ian Shelden bought a tote from Walmart, stuffed Trent's body inside it, then loaded the tote onto Trent's truck. The next day, the Sheldens drove to Tennessee in separate vehicles. Ian Shelden pulled over once they crossed state lines and tried to burn Trent's remains. When that failed, he "dropped Mr. Trent's remains from the side of a steep mountain overhang."

Ian Shelden brought police to another location, where they found a bag containing human bones. A forensic anthropologist identified the remains as Trent.

After initially being charged with abuse of a corpse, Ian Shelden was charged with murder, obstruction of justice, auto theft, fraud and theft. On April 30, he was found guilty of the first three charges.