The Murder of Aliahna Lemmon
On December 22, 2011, Michael Len Plumadore killed and dismembered Aliahna Lemmon, 9. Her remains were found in his freezer and in a dumpster at a nearby store.
Background
Aliahna Lemmon lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with her mother and two sisters. According to the Albuquerque Journal, Aliahna “had vision and hearing problems and suffered from attention deficit disorder and emotional problems.” Her mother, Tarah Souders, moved her family to her father’s trailer park to help care for him. Her father, James Lemmon, had been diagnosed with emphysema and had a hard time caring for himself. He passed away on December 3, 2011.
James Lemmon was a convicted sex offender. He had spent time in prison, which is where he had met Greg Shumaker, who was also a convicted sex offender. Greg and James had both lived in the same trailer park after being released. At some point, Michael Plumadore moved into the trailer park too. The trailer park was home to 15 convicted sex offenders, though Plumadore was not listed as one. Greg introduced Plumadore to James, who became close friends. James would introduce Plumadore introduced to Tarah and her daughters.
At the time of Aliahna’s murder, she and her sisters were staying with Plumadore. Their mother had the flu and their stepfather had been working nights. A neighbor told news outlets that it was not odd the children were staying with Plumadore, “They had known each other for somewhere of 3-4 years, I know that, and he took care of their grandfather. I didn’t see any reason to question it.”
The Murder
On December 22, 2011, Aliahna was standing on Plumadore’s front steps when he came behind her and struck her multiple times in the head with a brick. He then brought her body inside his trailer and put her remains inside multiple trash bags, which he placed in his freezer.
Overnight, from December 22 to December 23, 2011, he dismembered Aliahna’s body with a hacksaw. He then placed pieces of her remains in freezer bags and put them in a dumpster at a nearby store. Plumadore placed Aliahna’s head, hands, and feet in his freezer.
Reported Missing
On the evening of December 23, 2011, Tarah reported her daughter missing. Tarah had believed Aliahna was with Plumadore and learned that only her other two daughters were. A search was immediately launched but no leads were found.
Initial Interview
Michael Plumadore was interviewed on December 24, 2011, at the ACPD. He told officers he saw Aliahna around 6:00 a.m. sleeping in his living room. He said he then went to the gas station, which footage did show. He went back home and went to sleep. When he woke up the Around 10:05 a.m. Plumadore stated Aliahna’s sister told him she with her mother. He explained he learned Aliahna was not with her mother around 8:00 p.m.
Second Interview—Confession
Police did not believe Plumadore and asked him to come in for subsequent questioning n
On December 26, 2011, Plumadore was interviewed a second time. During the interview, he freely confessed to murdering Aliahna Lemmon. The known details of the crime come from his confession.
Arrest & Sentence
Michael Plumadore was arrested and charged with murder, abuse of a corpse, and removing a body from the scene.
In order to avoid the death penalty, Plumadore pleaded guilty to the charges. A judge sentence to him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 1.