Shannon Beckwith, Appellant-Defendant v. State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff (2026)

MEMORANDUM DECISION

[1] Shannon Beckwith appeals following his convictions of Level 2 felony attempted robbery resulting in serious bodily injury ¹ and Level 3 felony criminal confinement.² Beckwith raises one issue, which we restate as whether the State presented sufficient evidence to sustain his convictions. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] Mariah Conn-Wilhelm worked as a prostitute, and Beckwith and John Hanson were two of her regular customers. In exchange for her services, Hanson paid Conn-Wilhelm's rent and gave her money to assist with other expenses. He also spent time with her socially, and they burned bonfires together on a parcel of land Hanson owned (the “Parcel”).

[3] During the summer of 2022, Austin Verslype offered to purchase the Parcel from Hanson. Conn-Wilhelm was present while Verslype and Hanson negotiated the sale. Hanson agreed to sell the Parcel to Verslype for $16,000, and they made an appointment with a title company to close on the sale around 3:00 p.m. on September 7, 2022.

[4] Around 1:30 a.m. on September 7, 2022, Hanson went to Conn-Wilhelm's apartment. Shortly after Hanson arrived at the apartment, Conn-Wilhelm “grabbed something” and hit him in the back of the head. (Tr. Vol. 2 at 133.) Hanson then fell to his knees and started bleeding. He started to see “stars or blacked out for a second.” (Id. at 78.) Conn-Wilhelm directed Hanson into the bathroom and made him sit down in the bathtub. Conn-Wilhelm called Beckwith and stated, “He's here so come back.” (Id. at 80.) Beckwith then entered the apartment and went into the bathroom.

[5] Beckwith and Conn-Wilhelm did not allow Hanson to leave the apartment for several hours. During that period, Conn-Wilhelm kicked Hanson, spit on him, and yelled at him while Beckwith was present. Beckwith also used the butt of a handgun to hit Hanson on the head. Conn-Wilhelm ordered Hanson to call Verslype and arrange for her to receive the money Verslype intended to pay Hanson for the Parcel.

[6] Hanson called Verslype and asked him to cash the check Verslype intended to present at the closing. Hanson explained that he was unable to collect the cash from Verslype, but he told Verslype that Conn-Wilhelm would accept the money on his behalf. Verslype heard Conn-Wilhelm's voice in the background during the call, and Verslype refused Hanson's request. He explained “it was an official check that only [Hanson] himself would be able to cash or do anything with so [Verslype] couldn't even cash the check.” (Id. at 60.) Conn-Wilhelm then spoke with Verslype over the phone, but Verslype continued to say he would not attempt to cash the check.

[7] After the phone call, Beckwith brought Hanson into an empty bedroom and restrained him with a ball-gag, ropes, chains, and leather wrist cuffs. Beckwith then left the apartment. After about ten minutes, Hanson “wiggled [himself] out of the restraints.” (Id. at 86.) Conn-Wilhelm attempted to prevent Hanson's escape from the apartment, but Hanson made it out of the apartment and to a neighbor's house. The neighbor called 911, and police responded. Medical personnel treated Hanson for pain, lacerations, and multiple broken bones.

[8] Inside Conn-Wilhelm's apartment, the police found the wrist restraints and rope that had been used to bind Hanson. Subsequent testing revealed the presence of Beckwith's DNA on the items. When officers tested the number associated with the contact labeled “Shannon” in Conn-Wilhelm's phone, Beckwith answered the phone and identified himself as “Shannon Beckwith.” (Tr. Vol. 3 at 4-5.) The police then obtained detailed call records associated with Beckwith's phone number, and those records indicated Beckwith was in the area of Conn-Wilhelm's apartment at the time of the incident. The police also used Beckwith's phone data to track his location. They arrested him in Michigan and transported him back to Indiana.

[9] The State charged Beckwith with Level 2 felony attempt to commit robbery resulting in serious bodily injury and Level 3 felony criminal confinement resulting in serious bodily injury.³ The trial court held a three-day jury trial beginning on August 25, 2025. At trial, Hanson did not identify the defendant as Beckwith. Hanson described his male assailant as of “stocky build, probably 30, 35, tight curly hair style, short hair, white, kind of muscular, I guess stocky.” (Tr. Vol. 2 at 80.) Conn-Wilhelm testified that she did not see Beckwith in the courtroom. She described Beckwith as “a very tall man” with “a big tattoo on his face” near his right eye. (Id. at 135-36.) The jury found Beckwith guilty as charged. The trial court sentenced Beckwith to seventeen and one-half years in connection with his Level 2 felony attempted robbery conviction and nine years in connection with his Level 3 felony criminal confinement conviction. The trial court ordered Beckwith to serve the two sentences concurrently but consecutive to a sentence that he received for a Michigan conviction.

Discussion and Decision

[10] Beckwith contends the State presented insufficient evidence to sustain his conviction. Our standard of review regarding sufficiency of the evidence claims is well-settled:

Sufficiency-of-the-evidence claims ․ warrant a deferential standard, in which we neither reweigh the evidence nor judge witness credibility. Rather, we consider only the evidence supporting the judgment and any reasonable inferences drawn from that evidence. We will affirm a conviction if there is substantial evidence of probative value that would lead a reasonable trier of fact to conclude that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Powell v. State, 151 N.E.3d 256, 262-63 (Ind. 2020) (internal citations omitted).

[11] Indiana Code section 35-42-5-1 states that “a person who knowingly or intentionally takes property from another person or from the presence of another person: (1) by using or threatening the use of force on any person; or (2) by putting any person in fear; commits robbery,” and the offense is “a Level 2 felony if it results in serious bodily injury to any person other than a defendant.” “ ‘Serious bodily injury’ includes broken bones,” Johnson v. State, 959 N.E.2d 334, 339 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011), trans. denied, and “extreme pain[.]” Ind. Code § 35-31.5-2-292. Indiana Code section 35-41-5-1 provides that “[a]n attempt to commit a crime is a felony or misdemeanor of the same level or class as the crime attempted.” In addition, someone “who knowingly or intentionally aids, induces, or causes another person to commit an offense commits that offense[.]” Ind. Code § 35-41-2-4. Indiana Code section 35-42-3-3 states that an individual “who knowingly or intentionally confines another person without the other person's consent commits criminal confinement.” The crime is a Level 3 felony if it “results in serious bodily injury to a person other than the confining person[.]” Ind. Code § 35-42-3-3(3)(B).

[12] Beckwith challenges only the sufficiency of the evidence the State presented identifying him as the male perpetrator in Conn-Wilhelm's apartment on the night Hanson was attacked. (Appellant's Br. at 9) (conceding “[t]here is plenty of evidence to establish the other elements of the offenses charged, but no identification.”). “Identity may be established entirely by circumstantial evidence and the logical inferences drawn therefrom. Identification testimony need not necessarily be unequivocal to sustain a conviction.” Cherry v. State, 57 N.E.3d 867, 877 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016) (internal citation omitted), trans. denied. When the State relies on circumstantial evidence to prove the identity of the offender, “the evidence is sufficient if a ‘reasonable [fact-finder] could have inferred that the defendant committed the crime[ ] charged.’ ” Scheel v. State, 235 N.E.3d 1278, 1283 (Ind. Ct. App. 2024) (quoting Young v. State, 198 N.E.3d 1172, 1182 (Ind. 2022)) (brackets in Scheel), trans. denied.

[13] Beckwith notes that while Hanson identified the perpetrator as a male between thirty and thirty-five years old, he was fifty-four years old at the time. However, we will not reweigh the evidence on appeal and assign this discrepancy more importance than the jury did. See Blattert v. State, 241 N.E.3d 29, 42 (Ind. Ct. App. 2024) (explaining defendant's “arguments to the contrary on appeal simply seek to have us reweigh the evidence, which we will not do”), trans. denied. Beckwith largely matched the general descriptions of the male assailant provided by both Hanson and Conn-Wilhelm at trial. Beckwith's jail booking record listed him as a white male who weighed 240 pounds and stood 5’10” tall. It also showed that he had short hair and a tattoo near his right eye. Likewise, while Conn-Wilhelm testified that she did not see Beckwith in the courtroom, she named “Shannon Beckwith” as her accomplice. (Tr. Vol. 2 at 138.) She was friends with that person on Facebook, and Beckwith's physical appearance matched the appearance of the person featured in that Facebook account's profile picture. In addition, Beckwith's cell phone location data put him near Conn-Wilhelm's apartment at the time of the incident, and Beckwith's DNA was found on the rope and wrist cuffs that were used to restrain Hanson. Therefore, we hold the State presented sufficient evidence that Beckwith was the person who participated with Conn-Wilhelm in the criminal confinement and attempted robbery of Hanson, and we affirm his convictions. See, e.g., Scheel, 235 N.E.3d at 1283 (holding State presented sufficient evidence that defendant was the person who illegally operated a drone).

Conclusion

[14] The State presented sufficient evidence of Beckwith's identity to sustain his convictions. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court.

[15] Affirmed.

FOOTNOTES

1.   Ind. Code § 35-42-5-1(a) & Ind. Code § 35-41-5-1.

2.   Ind. Code § 35-42-3-3(b)(3).

3.   The State also charged Beckwith with Level 3 felony attempt to commit robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, Ind. Code § 35-42-5-1(a) & Ind. Code § 35-41-5-1; Level 5 felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury, Ind. Code § 35-42-2-1(g); and Level 5 felony intimidation, Ind. Code § 35-45-2-1(b)(2). The charges were later dismissed to avoid double jeopardy.

May, Judge.

Mathias, J., and Felix, J., concur.