Suspect in Cleaner’s Slaying Had Called Police Before
This image provided by the Boone County, Ind., Sheriff's Office shows Curt Andersen, accused of killing a house cleaner after she showed up at his house by mistake. (Boone County, Ind., Sheriff's Office via AP)
Authorities in Indiana say they had twice responded to unfounded reports of suspicious activity at the same home where a man later fatally shot a house cleaner he mistakenly believed was an intruder. On Monday, police arrested 62-year-old Curt Andersen and charged him with voluntary manslaughter in the Nov. 5 shooting of Maria Florinda Rios Perez, a 32-year-old Guatemalan immigrant, outside his Whitestown residence.
According to police, Andersen had contacted authorities in both 2023 and 2024 with concerns about possible criminal activity, but officers found no evidence of any threats during either visit. Andersen, who has lived in the community about 20 miles northwest of Indianapolis for roughly four years, told investigators he thought someone was breaking in when he heard people at his front door.
In reality, Rios Perez and her husband had been hired to clean a model home in the neighborhood and accidentally approached Andersen’s house instead. A former neighbor said Andersen tended to be anxious about crime and generally kept to himself but had never seemed dangerous. Andersen, a decorated Navy veteran who previously served in Japan, told detectives he had prepared a plan for what to do in the event of a break-in, including identifying a “safe room,” and said he feared the couple intended to harm him.
Rios Perez’s husband, Mauricio Velásquez, told Telemundo he wants accountability for his wife’s death. “It’s not possible that he is free while the children are suffering,” he said. “Seeing my wife in my arms, lifeless and covered in blood, it felt like everything was taken from me.”
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