Indiana Man Sentenced to 75 Years for Murder; Lived With Victim’s Body for Months

Vanderburgh County Indiana Prosecutor Diana Moers announced that Michael Logan Thomas has been sentenced to 75 years in prison for the murder of Patrick White, with the sentence enhanced by a Habitual Offender Enhancement. The sentencing took place on May 30, 2025, in Vanderburgh County Circuit Court before Magistrate Judge Ceila M. Pauli.

The case began in July 2022, when the Evansville Police Department launched a missing person investigation into 57-year-old Patrick White. Friends and neighbors reported not seeing or hearing from him since April of that year. When they visited his apartment, they encountered Michael Thomas, who claimed he was house-sitting for White.

During the investigation, EPD received a tip from a witness who reported overhearing her daughter arguing with Thomas about moving a dead body. Thomas allegedly asked for help because the body had “started to stink.” A warrant was obtained, and officers searching White’s apartment found his decomposing body wrapped in a blanket tied with twine.

Thomas was interviewed by detectives and stated he was present when White was killed but claimed his girlfriend fired the shot. He admitted to cleaning up the body, wrapping it in a blanket, and continuing to live in the apartment. He also admitted to selling the handgun used in the murder.

At the sentencing hearing, the prosecution outlined Thomas’s extensive and violent criminal history and emphasized his lack of remorse and the horrific nature of the crime — including shooting the victim in the head and living in the apartment with the body for several months.

Judge Pauli imposed a 75-year sentence, noting several aggravating factors: the impact statement from the victim’s family, Thomas’s refusal to participate in the presentence interview process, his high risk to reoffend, and the fact that he was on parole at the time of the murder. His criminal record includes multiple convictions for violent crimes such as domestic battery, battery resulting in serious bodily injury, and battery against a pregnant woman, along with numerous revocations from alternative court programs.

The sentence represents one of the highest within the available legal range and reflects the severity of the crime and Thomas’s repeated history of violence.