BOONE CO. – The man charged with voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cleaning worker in Whitestown bond was set at $25,000 with strict conditions following his initial court appearance.
Boone County Judge ordered Curt Andersen to surrender all firearms while the case is pending and prohibited him from possessing any weapons. He was also required to surrender his passport after prosecutors revealed he had spent significant time in Japan during his adult life.
Andersen will be placed on level four supervision with GPS monitoring, though he will not be under home detention. .
Andersen faces 10 to 30 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines if convicted of voluntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors allege Andersen fired a single shot through his locked front door on November 5, killing 32-year-old Maria Florinda Rios Perez de Velasquez.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Andersen and his wife were awakened by sounds at their front door and believed someone was trying to break in. Andersen told detectives he heard what appeared to be "keys, tools, or instrument being used on the front door" and could see two people outside through a window.
He fired the shot 10-15 seconds after retrieving his weapon, telling investigators the people outside were "thrusting" at the door and becoming "more and more aggressive." He admitted he never announced himself before firing.
The affidavit reveals there was no forced entry, no disturbance to dust on the door, and no evidence of scratches around the lock. Crime scene investigators found Andersen's spent shell casing on the eighth step of his staircase.
Velasquez, a cleaning worker, had arrived at Andersen's Whitestown home with her husband believing they had a scheduled cleaning appointment.
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Her husband, Mauricio Velazquez, said through a translator that he double-checked the address before arriving. "I never thought it was a shot, but I realized when my wife took two steps back," he said. "She looked like she'd been hit in the head. She fell into my arms, and I saw that the blood went everywhere."
The couple had four children, with their youngest being 11 months old. The family is seeking to have Velasquez buried in her home country of Guatemala.
The case has drawn significant attention as it involves Indiana's Stand Your Ground law and questions about the justified use of deadly force. Defense attorney Guy Relford is representing Andersen in the case.
A pretrial conference has been scheduled for January 23 at 8:30 a.m. in Boone County Court.
