Herbert's Hideaway

The Killer: Herbert Richard Baumeister (April 7, 1947-July 3, 1996) was an American businessman and serial killer suspected of murdering young men during the 1980s and 1990s. Indianapolis police became suspicious of Baumeister when a witness claimed that a man calling himself "Brian Smart" picked him up at a gay bar, took him to a secluded mansion, and tried to strangle him in the indoor swimming pool room. The authorities identified "Brian Smart" as Herb Baumeister and carried out a search of Fox Hollow Farm, the 18-acre estate Baumeister had purchased in 1988. The search turned up the remains of 10 men that have since then been identified. Baumeister received the nickname "The I-70 Strangler" for dumping his earlier victims along Interstate 70; a practice that ended when Baumeister purchased Fox Hollow Farm and was able to bury his victims in the wooded area behind his house. When he learned that a warrant was issued for his arrest, Baumeister fled to Ontario, Canada  where he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. While he left a 3-page suicide note, he did not mention the remains found on his property, nor did he admit to any crime. Victims unearthed at Fox Hollow Farm include the following. (It is believed that all victims were strangled by Baumeister in his indoor swimming pool room.)

*John Lee "Johnny" Bayer, aged 20

*Jeffrey Allen "Jeff" Jones, aged 31

*Richard Douglas Hamilton Jr., aged 20

*Allen Lee Livingston, aged 27

*Daniel Thomas Halloran, aged 21 or 22

*Steven Spurlin Hale, aged 28

*Allen Wayne Broussard, aged 28

*Roger Allen Goodlet, aged 33

*Michael Frederick "Mike" Keirn, aged 45

*Manuel Resendez, aged 34

The House: The estate, located 30 miles north of Indianapolis, Indiana, featured 18 acres of wooded landscape, a 4,000 square-foot five-car garage, and two horse stables. The 11,000 square foot Tudor-style mansion was built in 1977 and boasted several living spaces, four bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a library, an indoor swimming pool, and a separate "mother-in-law quarters" for guests. The property has been featured in paranormal documentaries and television shows, which have explored the unsettling history, as well as the claims that the house and grounds are haunted.

The Floor Plan: For legal reasons, I was unable to find the floor plan for the mansion at Fox Hollow Farm. I was able, however, to piece together a conceptual idea of what the indoor swimming pool room may have looked like. The ground plans below include a lounge and reception area, a wet bar and kitchenette, supporting rooms for the swimming pool, the wooded backyard and trials where human bone fragments were found, and the initial discovery area where Baumeister's son found a human skill in 1994. Baumeister lied to his family by telling them the skull was one his father, a doctor, had and didn't want any longer. Baumeister claimed that he buried the skull behind the house.  

Sources:

Albert, Natasha; Allen, Erin; Armistead, Sherri; Bradley, Josh. Herb Baumeister: The I-70 Strangler. Radford University: School of Psychology, 2024.

Cawthorne, Nigel, The Mammoth Book of Killers at Large. Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2011.

Hall, Dan T. (Director). "The Haunting of Fox Hollow Farm." Vizmo Films, 2011.

Hall, Steve. "Baumeister Program is Chilling But Flawed." The Indianapolis Star, 1997. 

Higgins, Will. "House with Dark Past Fulfills Family's Dream." Chillicothe Gazette, 2012.

Hundley, Wendy. "Slayings: Clues, Years Grow in Unsolved Cases." Dayton Daily News, 1996.

Hundley, Wendy. "The Gay Slayings Mystery." Dayton Daily News, 1996. 

Kaufman, Michelle. "Bone Found During Sunday Search of Herbert Baumeister Property." 2022. www.wrtv.com.  Accessed 5 June 2026.

Labalme, Jenny. "Suicide Note Mentions Marriage, Business But Not Bones". The Indianapolis Star, 1996.

Rogers, Pat. "True Nightmares: Crazy Love." Discovery Studios, 2015.

United Press International. "UPI Focus: Sheriffs Link 9 Deaths to Indiana Man." 1998. www.upi.com. Accessed 5 June 2026.