Wanda English Burnett, Editor

Robert L. Herrin Sr., 68, of Homer, was found guilty last Friday, August 15, after a Ripley County Superior Court jury heard how he had scammed an elderly victim on a home improvement deal.
According to information from the prosecutor’s office, the trial lasted for two days and after hearing testimony from the 87-year-old victim, two employees of the MainSource Bank of Versailles, and two police officers from the Indiana State Police, the jury came back a little after 6 p.m. with a guilty verdict on the charge of Home Improvement Fraud, a Class D Felony.

The victim testified how three men came to her home and told her she had squirrels entering her roof. She said one male, who was later identified as Herrin, told her the house would be severely damaged if she didn’t get the roof repaired right away.

Evidence revealed the men didn’t really fix any problem, but simply used rubber cement and black spray paint on the roof. While the other two men with Herrin were “fixing” the roof, he wrote a check from the victim’s checkbook for $5,200. The victim didn’t know how much she was paying for the work until she was given a receipt. She said she knew she had been “ripped off” when she looked at the receipt and noticed that while it included a 20-year warranty, there was no information on who to contact to enforce the warranty.

Jurors heard how Herrin Sr. then took the check and tried to cash it at the MainSource Bank. According to Ripley Publishing Co. files, assistant branch manager at the bank, Vickie Kessen and Chris Miller, customer service representative thought something was wrong. They both testified how they knew the handwriting on the check didn’t match the victim’s, their client. They called the victim, who told them to put a stop payment on the check. In court, they told how they kept Herrin occupied by telling him to cash a check that size they would have to wait 15 minutes to open the vault. They immediately called police.

Authorities believe Herrin probably would have gotten away with the scam if the bank employees had not acted as they did. They were quick to praise them for their efforts that day, October 12, 2007, when the incident occurred.

In court last week, First Sergeant Stan Tressler testified how he responded to the bank to confront Herrin. He spoke with him and then took him to the State Police Post where the defendant made incriminating statements to the officer. Tressler testified how Herrin admitted to him that he told the victim she had squirrels in her roof. He also admitted that he had written the check himself.

Detective Tracy Rohlfing testified also saying he interviewed all the witnesses, including the two men who were with Herrin. He told how he found further evidence in the trunk of Herrin’s car linking him to the scam. The jury was given pictures of the “little” work the men actually did.

Detective Rohlfing was not able to testify to a taped confession of Herrin where he admitted to the crime due to a previous court ruling that it was not admissible. Chief Deputy Prosecutor Ryan King noted that he was frustrated the jury wasn’t able to hear the confession or know that Herrin has a long history of home improvement fraud and theft from the elderly. He was very thankful when the jury returned the guilty verdict saying they could see through the scam.

Prosecutor Ric Hertel commended King for his work on the case saying it was “apparent that much time and effort went into trial preparation.” He also praised the willingness of the MainSource employees to get involved. He thanked Detective Rohlfing for his thorough investigations and assistance throughout the trial.

Hertel cautioned residents to be aware of these types of scams and to check contractors for references.

Herrin will be sentenced on September 8.