Guard dog's growl halts police search for murder weapon

A police search for a murder weapon in Indiana was halted by a protective guard dog, complicating an investigation into a man's death.

Kevin Davis was found unresponsive and bleeding at the bottom of a staircase in his New Haven home on August 12, 2023. His wife, Alison Davis, told 911 operators and first responders that he had fallen down the stairs. The couple's pit bull mix, Willow, was known to be a protective guard dog.

After emergency responders took Kevin Davis to the hospital, Detective James Krueger spoke with Alison Davis. She consented to a search of the home but warned the detective about Willow. "She's a guard dog. I don't know if she'd do anything, and I don't want anything to happen to her," Alison Davis stated. Krueger, hearing the dog growling and seeing its teeth when he cracked open the upstairs bedroom door where Willow was, decided against entering.

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She's a guard dog. I don't know if she'd do anything, and I don't want anything to happen to her.

Based on his initial assessment of the rest of the house and Alison Davis's account, Krueger felt that everything checked out and that Kevin Davis's death was a tragic, fatal fall. Kevin Davis had sustained massive traumatic injuries to his head and did not survive.

However, four months later, Indiana authorities began to view the incident differently, suggesting that the initial assessment might have been incorrect. The circumstances surrounding Kevin Davis's death and the halted search due to the guard dog became a central point in the ongoing investigation.

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I could hear the dog walking around in there … So I cracked the door open … I got the teeth, and the growls and everything. And there was no way that dog was letting me in that room.