Merrillville man convicted of raping and murdering girlfriend nearly 35 years ago

A Merrillville man convicted of murdering and raping his girlfriend nearly 35 years ago will serve his sentence in community service.

Judge Natalie Bokota of Lake Superior Court on Friday sentenced Tyrone Andrew McKee, 61, to 10 years in prison, eight of which must be served in Lake County Community Corrections, and two years of probation for the November 1988 murder of Colleen Daphne Callahan. McKee admitted to pleading guilty to the prison sentence, a Class B felony, as part of a Feb. 29 plea agreement.

McKee’s attorney, John Cantrell, said McKee is a “different man” than he was in 1987, when he committed the first of six charges against him. After his release from prison in 2013, McKee has a permanent job and is described by his colleagues as a “gentleman” who is “kind and caring.”

“The probation officers accepted him as a suitable candidate. He is gainfully employed and has accepted responsibility (for Callahan’s death),” Cantrell said.

However, Assistant State Attorney Michelle Jatkewicz reminded the court that “Colleen has been gone for 40 years.”

In his defense, McKee said he was a young man who had been involved with drugs and alcohol but had “learned and grown up” from his mistakes. He said he was sorry to be on trial.

Bokota noted that he did not say he was sorry for killing Callahan.

“Their cases are more than 10 years old, but I see no sign of remorse for the crime,” Bokota said. “(Callahan) was pregnant and left behind children.”

McKee will receive 629 days of credit for his prison sentence between October 2019 and June 2021, and will be granted more time in 2022, Bokota said.

As part of the plea, McKee admitted that on November 9, 1988, at 2300 Massachusetts Street, he had an “argument” about “money” with 23-year-old Colleen “Daphne” Callahan before preventing her from leaving and fatally beating her. McKee’s DNA was found on her.

When the case was opened in 2019, authorities said the new DNA match and the witnesses now testifying made this possible.

The FBI’s Gang Response Investigative Team submitted her rape kit to the Indiana State Police Lowell laboratory for DNA testing in May 2018, according to the affidavit. According to court documents, the test results revealed a partial DNA profile of two people, at least one of whom was male.

Analysts entered the sample into the Combined DNA Index System and results showed it belonged to McKee, records say. Officers then looked at McKee’s previous arrest records. One of those records listed his address as a property two doors down from the building where Callahan was found dead, records say.

McKee admitted that his mother worked at a hotel a block from the crime scene, but he denied knowing Callahan, even after officers showed him a photo of him outside the building where she was found, the filing said.

Officers then spoke with witnesses named in the original case files who confirmed that Callahan and McKee were together at the time of her death. The witnesses told police they had previously been afraid to come forward, the files say.

He was charged with one count of murder, one count of murder during the commission or attempt to commit rape, and one count of rape.

Callahan’s body was found on the afternoon of November 9, 1988, in an abandoned house in the 2400 block of Connecticut Street.

Callahan was found lying on a floor littered with broken glass and pieces of a window frame. She had numerous injuries and deep cuts on her legs, according to Post-Tribune archives. Police said at the time that she had been sexually assaulted.

The autopsy revealed that the cause of death was injuries from a blunt object, the archive said. Other court documents said she suffered a skull fracture, broken ribs, internal bleeding and other wounds.

At the time of her death, Callahan was the mother of four daughters, ages 1 to 6.

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. Reporter Meredith Colias-Pete contributed.