Muncie man charged with FCC worker's death

A Muncie man has been formally charged with the murder of a former FCC employee.

Ceaser L. Curtis, 50, was charged Wednesday in Delaware Circuit Court 4 with murdering his ex-wife, 46-year-old Marcia Curtis.

The prosecution also filed a notice of intent to seek a habitual substance offender status.

Muncie police found Marcia Curtis’ remains Sept. 14 at an abandoned property along Delaware County road 800 South.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in connection with the case, Ceaser Curtis told police he picked up Marcia Curtis from FCC on Sept. 1 and they started arguing on their drive back to Muncie. He told police she had demanded to be let out of the vehicle at the intersection of Jackson Street and Butterfield Road, and she had started walking north as he drove away.

Detectives extracted information from Ceaser Curtis’ phone, which included an argument via text. During the exchange she said she was “done” with him, after which he called her 36 times consecutively without a response, the affidavit says.

A male witness told police Ceaser Curtis admitted to him that “he did it,” the affidavit says. The witness said Ceaser Curtis told him he had slapped Marcia Curtis in the face while driving south on Burlington Drive and tossed her phone out of the window on Sept. 1. He alleged Ceaser Curtis told him he hit Marcia Curtis with a baseball bat and left her in a rural part of the county near Prairie Creek Reservoir. 

He told police Ceaser Curtis regularly takes drives around the reservoir and surrounding areas, and the witness took police to some of those locations. At an abandoned property along Delaware County road 800 South, police found a shoe near a field and smelled a “strong odor of decay,” leading them to find Marcia Curtis’ remains. Police noted “significant trauma to the head,” according to the affidavit.

An autopsy on Marcia Curtis was performed Sept. 15 at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie. Preliminary results had not yet been shared with The Commercial Review as of Thursday afternoon.

Marcia Curtis had been missing for two weeks. Her daughters filed a missing person report with Muncie police Sept. 6. 

Ceaser Curtis posted to Facebook on Aug. 27 accusing his ex-wife of sleeping with other men. He shared more than 100 posts that same day from various sources, including a picture of a sweatshirt with the following words printed on it: “I’ll put you in the trunk and help people look for you don’t test me!”

He asked a female witness to kill Marcia Curtis shortly after their divorce March 28, according to the affidavit. The witness said Ceaser Curtis had discovered his ex-wife had been speaking with other men and he told her he had a homemade lead pipe he wanted her to use, the affidavit says.

Ceaser Curtis was also charged in Randolph Superior Court in June with a Class A misdemeanor for invasion of privacy in the case of violating a protective order issued to prevent domestic or family violence or harassment. His criminal history includes charges for battery and operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

In Indiana, murder carries a penalty of 45 and 65 years with an advisory sentence of 55 years.