Convicted killer tied to 2002 murder

FORT WAYNE, Ind., (WANE) - A convicted killer currently serving time in the Indiana State Prison has been linked to the stabbing death of a man inside a Fort Wayne garage in June, 2002.

Prosecutors filed a murder charge against Joseph A. Kast, 33, in Allen Superior Court Monday.

According to court records, Kast admitted to stabbing Claude Berkshire, 85, several times inside Berkshire's garage located behind his home at 2208 Juliette Avenue on June, 24, 2002.

Kast admitted to robbing Berkshire after the stabbing and then tossing the knife into the Saint Mary's River. Investigators say Kast was able to provide details of the crime scene previously unreleased.

Neighbors told NewsChannel 15 that they can remember the day like it was yesterday.

"As I was looking at the back of the house, the man next door's daughter came running out of the garage screaming," said neighbor and close friend John Hughes. "He was a real sweetheart of a man....I couldn't see how he had an enemy in the world."

"I do remember disturbances, real early in the morning," added neighbor Melissa Allen. "I thought it was a shame [Berkshire] died trying to protect his own materials and his own belongings."

The investigation into the stabbing quickly went cold. Last May, the case got new life when police interviewed Kast and he confessed to the crime. It's not clear why it took more than a year from the initial questioning to file a murder charge.

Kast is already serving 55 years for murdering a man in Huntington the same year. Police say Kast was on drugs when he stabbed building inspector Earl Bowman to death on the construction site where Kast worked. Kast and Bowman did not know each other before the incident.

The Allen County Prosecutor's Office is working on the transport papers needed to bring Kast back to Fort Wayne to face the new charge.

If convicted of killing Berkshire, a 45-65 year sentence will be added to the time he's already serving for Bowman's murder.