Police arrested Travis Wolfe, 45, after officers found Kimberly Stewart, 51, dead in the backyard of her home late Tuesday, turning a southwest-side death investigation into a fast-moving homicide case by early Thursday.
The case has drawn attention because of how quickly it developed and how ordinary the first steps sounded. A friend stopped by to pick up a car title, returned later when Stewart did not answer, and followed her ringing phone to a spot between a wooden fence and an outdoor spa, according to court details described in local reports. By the next morning, detectives had tracked Wolfe down across town, tied his arrest to both Stewart’s death and an existing firearm warrant, and handed the case to prosecutors for the formal court process. Even so, authorities still have not publicly described a motive, a full timeline of Stewart’s final hours or every piece of forensic evidence they expect to use.
Investigators say the sequence began on Tuesday, March 10, at a home in the 1300 block of South Lynhurst Drive, near Rockville Road and Interstate 465. A friend who had known Stewart for about 10 years told police she texted Stewart that afternoon because she planned to pick up paperwork tied to a vehicle they had sold together. She went to the house around 4:30 p.m. but did not see Stewart, which did not immediately alarm her because Stewart worked overnight at a UPS distribution center and often slept during the day, according to the affidavit described in published reports. When the friend returned just before 11 p.m., she found Stewart’s dog outside and noticed that things around the property did not look right. She called Stewart’s phone, followed the ringtone through the yard and found her body between the fence and the spa. Wayne Township medics pronounced Stewart dead at the scene.
Police say the injuries pointed quickly to violence. Officers responding to a call about an unresponsive woman found Stewart in the backyard with trauma injuries, and an autopsy later concluded that she died from multiple blunt force injuries. A forensic pathologist told investigators, according to the probable cause account carried by local outlets, that the wounds were consistent with a dull ax or the blunt side of an ax. Another witness helped tighten the timeline. That witness told detectives he was outside around 10:30 p.m. when he heard a woman yell and saw a man between the fence and spa swinging what looked like a club or hammer toward the ground. He also reported hearing the man yell at a dog to “shut up.” Detectives later said that description matched the place where Stewart’s body was found. Police have not publicly released a full reconstruction of the minutes before the attack or explained whether all possible physical evidence has finished laboratory testing.
Wolfe became the focus of the investigation almost at once because of where he lived and what officers say they learned from witnesses. Police said Stewart lived in the house and Wolfe stayed in a garage on the same property. During questioning, investigators said Wolfe admitted that he and Stewart had argued on Tuesday but denied striking her with an ax. Detectives said he told them he left in Stewart’s blue Dodge Nitro, realized it was low on gas, then switched to a BMW. Officers later found him near East 19th Street and North Drexel Avenue, about 12 miles from the house, less than three hours after Stewart’s body was discovered. Investigators said they found blood in the passenger area and back seat of the BMW, along with blood on a concrete step and on a pair of bib overalls. Those details, combined with the witness statements, moved the case from a death investigation to what police called a murder arrest after consultation with the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.
The affidavit also sketched a tense backdrop that may become important as prosecutors decide how to present the case. A friend told police that Stewart and Wolfe argued often, including a dispute the day before over a water pump Wolfe had installed in a BMW. The same friend said Wolfe had been “threatening to kill people” on Monday, often carried an ax and acted erratically in the yard. Detectives included the friend’s description of Wolfe as a “psychopath maniac” as part of the witness account, not as a medical finding. Reports also said witnesses told police that Wolfe believed people were “out to get him” and would yell at neighbors. None of that proves what happened Tuesday night by itself, and a judge or jury would still have to weigh it under normal court rules. But it helps explain why detectives moved quickly once Stewart was found and why community accounts became central so early in the case. On Friday, IMPD Deputy Chief Kendale Adams said the arrest came from “the relentless work of our detectives and the courage of the community.”
The legal path now shifts from detectives to court filings and first appearances. Police have said Wolfe was arrested after consultation with prosecutors, and he was already wanted on a separate warrant alleging unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. Public reports Friday differed in how they described the procedural stage, with some describing a preliminary murder allegation and others pointing to court records showing a murder case had already been opened. What is clearer is what remains unresolved. Authorities have not publicly described a motive. They have not released a full narrative of Stewart’s final movements on March 10. They also have not said in detail what evidence may still be undergoing forensic review, whether more counts could be added or whether defense lawyers will challenge witness statements, search methods or the handling of physical evidence. The next milestone is expected to be the prosecutor’s formal presentation of the case in court and the hearings that follow.
The setting gives the case much of its force. South Lynhurst Drive is the kind of corridor where homes, garages, driveways and busy roads sit close together, making a backyard both private and visible. In this case, police say a routine errand became the break in the investigation. A friend came looking for paperwork, noticed a dog outside, and then found Stewart after tracing a ringtone through the dark. Another nearby resident, loading a car in his driveway, said he heard a scream and saw a man moving near the fence line. Those details turned a small yard into a public crime scene in minutes. They also explain why the case moved so fast. Officers were not working from a distant tip or a missing-person report built over days. They had a body, a witness who described a violent act, a friend who knew the people at the property and a suspect they say was found across town before dawn.
As of Friday, Wolfe remained in custody, Stewart’s death had been ruled a homicide, and prosecutors were expected to keep shaping the case in court. The next public developments are likely to come through formal charging documents, an initial court appearance and any added details about motive, forensic testing or the exact weapon investigators believe was used.
Author note: Last updated March 13, 2026.