Bullet fragments, repaired drywall and blood drops almost small enough to be missed took center stage during the third full trial day of a Hamlet man charged with aiding in the 2019 killings of two Lake County teens.

A second teen, Connor Kerner was sentenced in December to 179 years in prison after being convicted on seven of eight felony counts against him by a jury in October. Silva, prosecutors contend, was likely aware that Kerner was planning a robbery, while the defense contends that Silva “was along for the ride.”

On Tuesday, Porter County Sheriff Detective Dan Alonzo walked the jury in John Silva’s trial through the department’s evidence collection from Kerner’s grandparents’ home March 2 and March 3, 2019. Silva, 20, of Hamlet was charged May 22, 2020, with two felony counts of aiding, inducing or causing murder in the perpetration of a robbery and two felony counts of aiding, inducing or causing attempted robbery in connection with the Feb. 25, 2019, deaths of Molley Lanham, 19, of St. John, and Thomas Grill, 18, of Cedar Lake.

Initially, Alonzo was sent to the site of the burned out vehicle in which the teens were found before getting redirected to Kerner’s grandparents’ on March 2, 2019, he said.

As he continued to the garage, he said he found three bullet casings in the cracks of a concrete path leading up to the garage.

The team that returned the following day focused on the garage where the murders occurred, Alonzo said. Once in, he saw a paint can with a still-wet paint stick near a riding mower and noticed bullet holes in the front bumper of an SUV parked inside.

Upon further examination of the SUV, Alonzo said he saw several small, reddish-brown stains that he tested and determined were blood; he also noticed the SUV’s passenger side was “clean with water marks,” where the driver’s side was dusty, he said.

Alonzo said he found two more bullet holes in a motorcycle to the right of the SUV — the bullet entered the right side of the seat and exited its top.

Moving to the garage’s south wall, Alonzo said he found a 12-inch crescent wrench and bullet on the floor and there was blood and a hair on the wrench’s head.

Two more bullet fragments were found on and under a cabinet on the garage’s east wall, Alonzo said, and a third was found in a box of soda that also contained a burst soda can on top of two empty cans. Another bullet hole above a banister to a stairway leading into the house, meanwhile, had been patched and painted over, Alonzo said; when he cut around the patch, he found that bullet, he said.

Neither John Cantrell nor Mark Gruenhagen, who’re representing Silva, objected to the prosecution entering Alonzo’s photos into evidence.

Silva was in the basement at Kerner’s grandfather’s home in rural Hebron when the murders happened, then helped clean up the scene in the garage, prosecutors allege. At first, he told Porter County detectives he was not there when Kerner killed the pair. Cellphone towers proved he was, according to court documents.

Silva was brought in for questioning on March 14, 2019, after police received a tip from Cedar Lake police based on information from Kerner’s girlfriend, Porter County Sheriff Detective Commander Eric Jones said in court.

Silva was in the basement of the home when he heard Kerner meeting with two people upstairs, according to court documents. Silva ran upstairs and entered the garage, where he saw Lanham lying motionless face down. He saw Grill near the main door to the garage, lying face down but still alive and making noises. Kerner then beat him to death with a wrench.

Kerner loaded the bodies into a Honda Civic that belonged to Lanham’s stepfather, Silva told police.

Kerner burned the Honda Civic in a wooded area not far from his grandparents’ home and later told his then-girlfriend about the crime, as well as showing her the wooded area where the car was. She later reported the murders to police.

The trial continues Thursday.

Post-Tribune archives contributed.

Michelle L, Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.