INDIANAPOLIS — A 54-year-old man confessed to killing his father on Indy's east side hours after being released from jail on Thursday, according to court documents.
Bryan Pedigo faces charges on existing warrants for OVWI, OVWI with Endangerment, Criminal Trespass, Public Intoxication and Disorderly Conduct. He is also being charged with homicide in connection with Thursday's deadly incident.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Bryan allegedly told a family friend that he "killed his father by beating him" and stated he wanted to "put him in the fireplace, but he wouldn't fit."
That same friend later called police for a welfare check at the family's home on the 2100 block of Catherwood Avenue, where Indianapolis Police Department officers discovered 81-year-old John Pedigo dead, and his wife seriously injured.
Documents reveal John was found wrapped in a rug on the living room floor with blunt force trauma injuries, ligature marks around his neck, and candle wax poured over his face.
His wife was discovered conscious but with facial injuries, neck trauma, and what was later diagnosed as a brain bleed.
Detectives quickly identified Bryan as the suspect and learned he had multiple outstanding Marion County arrest warrants.
According to the affidavit, Bryan had fled in his father's 2006 Ford F-150. License plate readers tracked him from Indianapolis to Terre Haute, then through Owen and Greene counties before Indiana Department of Natural Resources officers stopped him on State Road 57.
During interviews, Bryan gave multiple conflicting stories. He initially claimed he found "a huge mess and a bloodbath" but didn't know how his father died.
He later said his father was alive when he arrived but dead when he left. Bryan eventually admitted being "present and responsible for his father's death" but refused to discuss details, the affidavit stated.
He told detectives he had been drinking heavily, experienced a blackout, and mentioned "something demonic" was present.
His mother, speaking from her hospital bed, made a chilling observation when told her husband was dead. "I wonder if my son had anything to do with this," she allegedly told police.
