Murder in the Heartland on ID: What evidence was found against Johnus Orr?

The conviction of 32-year-old Johnus Orr in Sullivan County ended the mystery behind Tiffanie Adams' disappearance and death in 2014. Tiffanie's stepbrother, Johnus, had previously been accused of s*xual assault in 2013 and had provided an inconsistent alibi which turned him into a suspect.

Combining cellphone records with witness statements, including one from Johnus' then-wife, Amber Orr, the investigators found a reason to issue an arrest warrant. Johnus Orr was subsequently convicted of two counts of murder and was sentenced to 120 years in prison.

The Murder In The Heartland episode, titled A Killer Step, focuses on the double murder of Tiffanie Adams and her unborn child. Episode 16 of season 6 will air on May 15, 2024, at 9 pm EST on Investigation Discovery. The official synopsis reads:

"Tiffanie Adams is expecting her first child but disappears from her home in Sullivan, Indiana. As police desperately search for answers, they stumble upon dark secrets surrounding the men in her life."

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What evidence did the authorities have against Johnus Orr?

The 20-year-old Sullivan resident Tiffanie Adams had left for her mother's house in the same block when she was last seen on November 5, 2014. Adams' boyfriend, Donnie Barron, had tried reaching her on her cellphone but was unable to contact her. She had been eight months pregnant at the time.

Her family had reported her missing on November 7, 2014, while the search for her went on. Meanwhile, Tiffanie's mother, Christina Orr, hoped that she would return around New Year for her delivery.

A Sullivan farmer, Sean Drake, found her decomposed remains with a red fleece jacket around her neck in a cornfield 55 days later, according to MyWabashValley.com.

As investigations began, the detectives turned towards Tiffanie's 32-year-old stepbrother, Johnus Orr, who had been outside for a long time on November 5, 2014. Orr had borrowed James Fish's Chevrolet Blazer to drop his girlfriend and now-wife, Katrina Fish, to Linton.

Johnus Orr had returned home to his wife, Amber Orr, for a while before he was supposed to drive to the sawmill to pick up James Fish. However, he failed to reach on time and had been absent for some duration in between.

Johnus and Amber shared a cellphone, where he dropped a text from an unknown number letting Amber know:

"JUST GOT TO PHONE [sic] BLAZER NOW BROKE DOWN ON WAY [sic] TELL JIM SORRY."

Around the same time, Bruce Adams had received three calls from Tiffanie's cell number. He had seemingly heard her voice in the third call amidst commotion. Johnus was found to have messed with the deer hunting camera on Christina Orr's porch later on the same day.

Brian Orr had contacted Johnus Orr on November 6, 2014, to let him know that the memory card had been missing from the camera.

After the discovery of Tiffanie Adams' remains, her cell phone was fished out of Lake Sullivan on August 27, 2015. The cellphone corroborated the text messages sent to Amber Orr's phone. The messages had been deleted but were recovered by the Indiana State Police Cyber Crimes Unit.

The autopsy reports stated the cause of Tiffanie's death to be ligature strangulation while her unborn baby passed away due to suffocation. Further forensic tests proved evidence of red fleece in the Chevrolet Blazer that Johnus had borrowed.

Adding to the evidence collected, Amber Orr testified against Johnus and confirmed correspondence between Tiffanie and him.

Johnus Orr had denied any knowledge regarding Tiffanie Adams' whereabouts during previous interrogations and had mentioned seeing her for the last time in the Dollar General store in September 2014.

The detectives, moreover, found Johnus to have threatened murder to Bruce, Tiffanie, and her ex-boyfriend, Paul Artem McHenry.

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The latest episode of Murder In The Heartland airs on Investigation Discovery on Wednesday.