Only one witness testified seeing Teising living at her alleged residence

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Wabash Township Trustee Jennifer Teising claims she lives at 132 Knox Drive, but none of the witnesses in her trial thus far — except her landlord — testified they saw Teising living at the home before March.

One Indiana State Police Detective testified he arranged to interview Teising there in the spring of 2021, but he also testified he met her in Anderson where she was living most of the summer of 2020.

Teising sold her house in June 2020 and on July 7, 2020, she got a new driver's license with Knox Drive as her residence and registered to vote from that address, according to testimony on Monday.

But testimony in the first two days of her trial for 21 counts of felony theft place Teising living in Anderson, Indiana, and Panama Beach City, Florida, far more frequently than at 132 Knox Drive.

The theft charges, which are grand jury indictments, are for collecting her township paycheck while allegedly residing outside of the township.

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Greg Michalski owns the Knox Drive house and is Teising's ex-boyfriend.

He testified he allowed her to stay at his house because he planned to be out of the country in late 2020 through spring 2021 on a sabbatical from Purdue University.

COVID-19 ruined his travel plans, but he still didn't spend much time at his house while on sabbatical.

He estimated that between July 1, 2020, and the middle of March 2021, Teising stayed there "30 — plus or minus 10" days.

Initially, Teising's $500 a month rent was just a verbal agreement, but after the Journal & Courier published an investigation calling her residency into question, he testified they signed a formal lease.

Then, Michalski said, they terminated the lease after the Journal & Courier reported that Michalski's home had not been inspected as a rental, as per city ordinance.

Michalski said they terminated the lease on Jan. 15 or Jan. 25. But Teising was still in Florida, based on Edwards' cellphone analysis, and the Journal & Courier's story about being in breach of city ordinance did not publish until April 9.

More: Trustee Teising's rental home not approved as rental, per city ordinance

"I know she wasn't there every day, and I know she was not there a lot," Michalski said. "Starting in March (2021), she's been there pretty much all the time."

But testimony from Andrew and Amber Jones of Anderson, Indiana, testified that Teising lived out of her travel trailer parked at one of their rentals in Anderson during much of March.

The Journal & Courier published an investigation Dec. 22, 2020, indicating that Teising might not reside in the township, which is a requirement for her office. The Journal & Courier published photos of Teising residing in Florida.

Teising returned from Florida on Dec. 24, 2020, and stayed at Michalski's house while she tried to quell a mutiny at the fire department caused by Teising's firing of Fire Chief Ed Ward on Dec. 21.

She stayed 13 days and left Jan 5, according to phone records presented during Indiana State Police Detective Gregg Edwards' testified on Monday.

Based on cell tower locations of Teising's phone, Edwards estimated that she spent 27 days in the area of Knox Drive between June 1, 2020, and March 19, 2021.

Teising's attorney, Karen Celestino-Horseman, is trying to build a case that residency, according to Indiana law, is where one intends to return after being away.

Her cross examinations of prosecutor's witnesses usually includes questions that Teising intended to return to Indiana and/or West Lafayette or that Teising did return to Knox Drive in West Lafayette.

The Jones testified that Teising made day trips to Lafayette from their Anderson home. Sometimes she took the travel trailer and stayed longer — possibly at Tippecanoe County Councilwoman Lisa Dullum's rural farmhouse.

After many of the day trips or after junkets with the travel trailer, Teising returned to the Jones' house at 624 High St. in Anderson, the Jones testified.

Other times, such as when she and Amber Jones took a trip to Colorado, Teising's returned to stay in Anderson, not West Lafayette, according to testimony from the Jones.

Dullum testified Tuesday that she and Teising were close friends.

Yet the only time Dullum saw Teising at 132 Knox Drive was on the day in June 2020 that Dullum and her husband helped move Teising's boxes from her old house to the Knox Drive address.

Teising and Dullum visited several times during the summer of 2020, but Teising always towed her travel trailer to Dullum's rural Sheffield Township farmhouse for the visits, Dullum testified.

Dullum did not allow Teising inside the farmhouse out of concern of spreading and/or catching COVID-19, and Teising always slept inside the travel trailer.

Dullum and Teising visited outdoors at the farmhouse, including any meals they might have shared, Dullum testified.

Dullum testified she couldn't be sure where Teising stayed when she wasn't at the farmhouse, which Teising visited for a couple weeks during the summer of 2020.

Dullum also testified she knew Teising planned to winter in Florida beginning in November 2020, but when the Journal & Courier called her on Dec. 18, 2020, Dullum said she didn't know where Teising was.

The trial resumes at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday when the prosecutors plan to call their last witness. After that, Teising's defense will begin its case in chief.

Reach Ron Wilkins at 765-420-5231 or at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Only one witness testified seeing Teising at her alleged residence