Man gets 142 years for 2017 stabbing deaths of Fort Wayne couple

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A judge has sentenced a Fort Wayne man to 142 years in prison for the 2017 stabbing deaths of a couple.

Allen Superior Court Judge Fran Gull sentenced Dustin Neal, 36, on Friday for the slayings of 25 year-old Noele Trice and 29-year-old Bryan Lash on June 10, 2017, WPTA-TV reported. A jury last month found him guilty of two counts each of murder, felony murder and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury.

Trice’s mother, Kimberly Gomez, told Gull she’s had to stay strong for others affected by the couple’s deaths and hasn’t had time to properly grieve the loss of her daughter. Gomez is now raising the couple’s son, King.

“We will continue to keep their memories alive,” Gomez said.

Phone messages seeking comment on the sentence were left for Neal’s public defenders.

Trice and Lash were found dead the morning after hosting a party that Neal attended, court documents said.

Cellphone analysis and a partial fingerprint on Trice’s cellphone led to Neal’s arrest in December 2022.

Police and an FBI agent conducted an analysis of Neal’s cellphone that showed it pinged off a cell site near the victims’ home on the morning of the slayings despite his contention he had not returned to the home after leaving the party, documents said.

A new witness told police in October that Neal was bragging about committing the murders, saying he had broke into the couple’s home to steal marijuana but Lash woke up during the burglary.