Curtis draws 78-year sentence

A Muncie man will serve just under eight decades in prison for killing his ex-wife, a former FCC employee.

Ceaser Curtis, 51, was sentenced Wednesday in Delaware Circuit Court to 78 years in Indiana Department of Correction for the murder of 46-year-old Marcia Curtis. He was found guilty in December after a five-day jury trial.

The jury deliberated for about five hours Dec. 6 before convicting Ceaser Curtis of murder. He received a 60-year sentence for the murder charge Wednesday and an additional 18 years added for being a habitual offender.

According to an online release from Delaware County prosecuting attorney Eric Hoffman, chief deputy prosecutor Zach Craig said during the sentencing that Ceaser Curtis’ case was “the most brutal murder (I have) seen in (my) entire career.”

Marcia Curtis had been missing for two weeks when Muncie police discovered her remains Sept. 14, 2023, at an abandoned property along Delaware County road 800 South. According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the case, police said Marcia Curtis sustained “significant trauma to the head.”

Ceaser Curtis told police he picked up Marcia Curtis from FCC in Portland on Sept. 1, 2023, and they began arguing on their drive back to Muncie, the affidavit says. He told police she demanded to be let out of the vehicle at the intersection of Jackson Street and Butterfield Road, and she started walking north as he drove away.

Detectives found an argument via text between Marcia Curtis and Ceaser Curtis in which she told him she was “done” with him, after which he called her 36 times consecutively without a response.

A male witness told police Ceaser Curtis admitted guilt of the crime, saying Ceaser Curtis told him he slapped Marcia Curtis in the face while driving south on Burlington Drive and tossed her phone out of the window. He alleged Ceaser Curtis admitted to hitting Marcia Curtis with a baseball bat and leaving her in a rural part of Delaware County, near Prairie Creek Reservoir.

A female witness told police Ceaser Curtis asked her to kill Marcia Curtis shortly after their divorce on March 28, 2023. The witness said Ceaser Curtis discovered his ex-wife had been speaking to other men and told the witness he had a homemade lead pipe he wanted her to use, the affidavit says.

He also posted to Facebook on Aug. 27, 2023, and accused his ex-wife of sleeping with other men. On the same day, he shared more than 100 Facebook posts 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!”

Ceaser Curtis faced up to an 85-year sentence — in Indiana, murder carries a penalty of 45 and 65 years with an advisory sentence of 55 years, and the habitual offender enhancement could have added between six and 20 years to his total sentence.

He was charged in Randolph Superior Court on Sept. 25 with arson, a Level 4 felony. He was charged last year in Randolph Superior Court 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.

“It is my sincere hope that this verdict is the first step toward healing for the family and friends of Marcia Curtis,” said Hoffman in the release.