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Multiple shots kill southern Vigo man
Coroner says Albert Kiger also suffered pitchfork stabbing hours before death
PRAIRIETON —
Loss of blood is the preliminary cause of death for a man who sustained multiple gunshot wounds after an early Thursday shooting.
Albert Kiger, 59, died of his injuries outside the front door of a neighbor’s home, police said.
Vigo County Coroner Roland Kohr said Kiger had multiple gunshot wounds, but he was not releasing how many times the man had been shot. Kohr said loss of blood appeared to be the cause of death.
Kohr confirmed that Kiger also had stab wounds on his side from an earlier incident involving a pitchfork. Those stab wounds did not appear to contribute to his death, Kohr said.
As the investigation into the shooting continued Thursday, police were looking for a person of interest who may have been involved in an altercation with Kiger on Wednesday.
Sheriff Jon Marvel said a neighbor told police that Kiger was involved in a fight and was stabbed with a pitchfork. Kiger went to Regional Hospital at about 4 p.m. Wednesday, and reportedly told hospital personnel that he was injured in a farming accident.
“But we think it was something other than that,” Marvel said of the reason for his injuries.
Kiger was treated for the pitchfork wounds and was released from the hospital.
Just a few hours later, around 2 a.m. Thursday, Kiger was shot several times in his home with a small-caliber handgun.
Marvel said Kiger was able to stumble from his home to a neighbor’s residence. The neighbor called for emergency help, but Kiger died before emergency responders arrived at the scene. He was transported to Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The shooting occurred in an area near the Blue Hole on Robertson Road along the Wabash River. The road, which has been washed out by flooding, travels past several cabins or small structures built on the levee along the river.
Crime scene tape blocked off three structures as the investigation continued Thursday.
The shooting took place inside Kiger’s residence at 7125 Robertson Road.
As viewed from the roadway in front of the houses, it appears that after being shot, Kiger was able to stumble from his home to a nearby storage building where a handprint in the color of blood was smeared along an exterior wall.
Kiger continued on to the neighbor’s house just a few yards away. A window and the exterior wall under the window were splattered with what appeared to be more blood. Marvel said that Kiger was banging on the window trying to awaken someone inside to seek help. Further along at the front door of the home, and pooling on the front steps of the residence, more red blood was visible. The neighbor, who declined to speak on record to the media on Thursday, did say that she found the injured man at her front door, and that she called 911. The neighbor said she did not see anyone in the area after finding Kiger, and that she did not even hear the gunshots.
Kiger has a criminal record. He was arrested in 2002 for dealing methamphetamine, maintaining a common nuisance and possession of chemical reagents. He pleaded guilty to those charges in July 2004. He was released from the Department of Correction in 2008.
Kiger was arrested again in April 2009, and was granted a speedy trial. Just days before that case was set to go to trial, however, the case was dismissed in July 2009.
Marvel said Kiger’s criminal history was known to investigators.
Various debris such as discarded propane tanks, which are often used in the clandestine manufacturing of methamphetamine, littered the yard around Kiger’s home. Two small video cameras had also been mounted outside the home to provide video surveillance of the property.
Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.
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