A Lake County jury started deliberations Thursday afternoon in the case of a Griffith man who was accused of trying to kill his best friend.
Aaron Belcher, 37, of Griffith, is charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and battery by means of a deadly weapon in the shooting of Aaron Swelfer. Belcher has pleaded not guilty.
Earlier on Thursday, Belcher took the stand and admitted to shooting his former best friend but said he feared for his life during testimony in his trial.
The two men met while in prison, Belcher told the jury. Belcher was serving time for burglary, and Swelfer was there for aggravated battery.
Belcher’s attorney, James Woods, asked if Swelfer’s charge concerned him when they became friends. It wasn’t a concern for Belcher, he told his attorney.
“He developed a reputation,” Belcher said of Swelfer. “It was the type of relationship I’d rather have in my favor than not.”
After Belcher and Swelfer’s releases, the two kept in touch, and were in the roofer’s union together. Swelfer moved in with Belcher and his then-girlfriend, Gabrielle Shea.
Belcher and Shea had an on-and-off again relationship, and they had a child together. After they split up for the final time, Shea and Swelfer grew closer, and Belcher believed they were in a relationship.
The three still lived together after the couple broke up, Belcher said Thursday, and things became awkward. He believes Swelfer stayed longer than expected.
Before the shooting, the defendant still had a key and was gradually getting his stuff out of the house, Shea said.
As Belcher spent less time at the home, he noticed ammunition, paraphernalia and cigarettes throughout the home.
“I still struggled with addiction,” Belcher told the jury, “but I never would’ve done that in front of (my daughter).”
Deputy Prosecutor Keith Anderson asked Belcher about his substance use at the time, and Belcher said he used marijuana daily and cocaine on the weekends. Anderson also asked Belcher about a “smoking device for marijuana” that was in Belcher’s truck when he went to pick up his daughter.
Belcher told Anderson he planned to move the device into the bed of his truck.
Belcher claimed Swelfer threatened him with a knife about two days before the shooting. He went to the house to see his daughter and said it looked like Swelfer and Shea were having a party. Belcher said he was concerned about his daughter, so he and Shea began arguing.
Three days before the shooting, Swelfer admitted their relationship to Belcher. Shea told police that Belcher was angry that they broke up two weeks earlier.
While the ex-couple argued, Swelfer paced between the kitchen and dining room with a knife. Belcher then left the house, he said, and didn’t return until a couple days later to see his daughter. He brought a gun because he felt his “life was in danger.”
“If he came at me and stabbed me, I had nothing to defend myself except a pocket knife,” Belcher said.
Anderson asked Belcher why he continued to go to the home if he was scared of Swelfer and asked if he tried to have Shea bring his daughter to other places. Belcher said he did not.
The two men got into a “tussle” while Belcher was in the home, ultimately ending with Belcher shooting Swelfer multiple times. The defendant had light abrasions but no serious injuries, he said Thursday.
Belcher saw Swelfer’s blood when he fell but said he didn’t shoot again because he didn’t intend to kill his former friend. Officers found Swelfer bleeding heavily, shot in the head and arm.
Swelfer was left with bullet fragments in his head, a traumatic brain injury, profound short-term and long-term memory loss. He didn’t know what year it was or his own address.
After the shooting, Belcher wrote Shead in a letter he hoped Swelfer would be “brain dead” for “the rest of his miserable life,” according to Post-Tribune archives.
Belcher told the jury he told Shea not to call police, and he took Shea’s phone and Swelfer’s knife and fled the home.
Before he fled, Belcher said goodbye to his daughter and also took a machete he found in the home. He said he thought it could be used against him.
“I know that doesn’t make sense now,” Belcher said during testimony.
Belcher and Amanda Stout, who was waiting in his truck, led police on a chase. They ditched the truck and were arrested two hours after the shooting in a wooded area in Merrillville.
Anderson asked why Belcher didn’t try to call the police or tell them what happened. Belcher didn’t tell police after his arrest that he was attacked.
“I was scared the police wouldn’t give me the benefit of the doubt because I was a felon,” he said. “(Swelfer) was my best friend. … I felt I had no choice. I thought I was going to be stabbed.”
Michelle L. Quinn contributed.