DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — Two men were recently arrested in relation to the disappearance of a Decatur woman. A sworn statement from police reveals more details of this case.
On November 11, 2020, Decatur Police responded to a missing person complaint filed by Annette Crutchfield. Annette reported that she had not seen her daughter, 43-year-old Norma Crutchfield, for about three weeks. Annette told police Norma was living with a man named Troy Slaw at 1176 East Olive Street. She also told police that Norma had been staying with her because Troy hit Norma, leaving Norma with two black eyes for about two to three weeks. Annette said the last time she saw her daughter was when she dropped her daughter off at Troy’s place.
According to police officers, Troy Slaw indeed lived at 1176 E Olive St. It was reported that he was dating Norma.
On November 30, 2020, a detective asked Troy about Norma’s whereabouts. He then told the detective he knew Norma and that she would occasionally come to his house if she needed a place to stay.
On December 11, 2020, Decatur Police learned that Chase Freeman might know where Norma was. They made contact with him to know more about what had happened. When talking to police, Chase said, sometime during the month of November 2020, Troy asked him to come over to his house on E Olive St, saying someone had broken into his house. Chase stated that he went to Troy’s house, walked into his bedroom, opened the closet door and saw a dead woman in the closet. He said the woman had a knife wound to her chest and it looked like she had been there for days. He also said everything in the bathroom was covered. Police then showed Chase a picture of Norma and he said the dead woman was Norma.
Chase continued to tell police that Troy told him he had stabbed the woman in the chest and killed her. Chase said Troy was asking him for help with disposing of the body. At first, Chase said he did not help Troy but after another interview was conducted, Chase admitted to police that he helped Troy.
On December 12, 2020, a search warrant was conducted at Troy’s place on E Olive St. The closet where Chase said Norma was and Troy’s bathroom were searched for DNA/blood. Investigators said they located numerous places in these areas that tested positive for the presence of blood. The State Crime Laboratory was able to obtain a DNA profile from the blood in the closet and bathroom. It was then compared to the known DNA profile for Norma Crutchfield that was in the Illinois State Police DNA Database. The profiles were a match, according to officers.
On January 23, 2021, Chase had to talk to police again. This time, he told police that on the day Troy showed him Norma’s body, Troy asked him to move Norma’s body to the bathroom where it was lined with plastic curtains and other items so that they could dismember her body. Chase said he refused to do so and left Troy’s place. Chase told police he came back the following day to stand guard on the porch while Troy dismembered Norma’s body. The day after that, Chase said he came back to help clean blood stains and carried two large garbage bags from Troy’s place to his place and placed them in a large garbage can.
Police said when they asked if Chase thought Norma’s body was inside the bags, he said most likely.
Police obtained another search warrant for Troy’s place on E Olive St. They said they saw blood-like substances in the dining room’s wall. There were also large areas in the dining room and living room where investigators detected the presence of blood. The DNA profile located in the blood stains on the carpet were compared to the known DNA profile for Norma Crutchfield that was in the Illinois State Police DNA database. The profiles were a match.
