Officials solve 1977 cold case murder of WWI veteran in Indiana

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Nearly half a century after his murder, officials have identified the man who killed a War World I veteran.

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On August 19, 1977, 84-year-old Everett Armstrong from rural Geneva, Indiana was found shot to death in his mobile home on CR 300 West in Adams County.

The Indiana State Police and Adams County Sheriff's Department investigated the murder. Armstrong was a World War I veteran and well-known local banjo player.

Two months after his murder, four witnesses came forward and identified a potential suspect.

The case went cold for three years. In 1981, three people were arrested by the Adams County Sheriff's Department.

However, six months after the arrests - charges were dropped.

In 2013, Indiana State Police reopened the case and were able to corroborate the initial information that came in in October of 1977

Officials said the initial four witnesses tied back James A. McBride II to the murder. McBride had allegedly confessed within 24 hours of the murder. One witness added that McBride showed the gun used in the crime.

McBride allegedly gave several very specific details of the crime to each of the witnesses - which matched the evidence found at the crime scene.

James McBride II died in June 2024 in Adams County, Indiana. He was born in Decatur, Indiana in 1954.

In 2025, the Indiana State Police Cold Case Team met with Adams County Prosecutor Jeremy Brown to present the evidence.

The prosecutor said that if McBride II were still alive, he would have been charged with the Murder of Everett Armstrong.