South Bend man charged with murder following investigation of Johnson Street double homicide
SOUTH BEND — Officials have arrested a South Bend man in connection with their investigation of two bodies found dead earlier this month in an apparently abandoned house on North Johnson Street.
The St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office has charged Joseph Newgent, 52, with two counts of murder and a firearm enhancement following an investigation into the two bodies found on Aug. 9 in a house in the 800 block of North Johnson Street.
Investigators later identified the bodies as 18-year-old Rainie Best and 24-year-old Phil Honer, and said it was possible their bodies had been in the house for more than a week before they were found.
More:Bodies found on Johnson St. could have been there for a week, officials say
Rainie's mother told The Tribune earlier this week that the couple were living in the house as squatters before they were killed.
Officers found multiple spent bullet casings near the bodies, and autopsies found Horner was shot in the head, and Best suffered a gunshot wound to her head and back, according to charging documents. Both died of their wounds.
During their investigation, detectives searched Best's phone and found she had communicated recently with Newgent.
In an interview Friday, officials said, Newgent told detectives that he arranged to meet with Best on Aug. 4. He told detectives, according to charging documents, that he could hear screaming from outside the house and entered to see Best and Honer's verbal argument escalate to physical fighting.
Though neither Best nor Honer were armed, Newgent told detectives he fired a handgun in Honer's direction. Detectives, in their report, said Newgent "admitted to shooting Mr. Honer and inadvertently shooting Ms. Best in the process."
Newgent was arrested Friday and is being held without bond at the St. Joseph County Jail. The sentencing range for murder is 45 to 65 years and for a firearm enhancement is five to 20 years.
Email South Bend Tribune education reporter Carley Lanich at clanich@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @carleylanich.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend man charged with murder in investigation of double homicide
