Former state trooper indicted in criminal case
George Matthew True resigns from Versailles Post
Wanda English Burnett - Editor

An Indiana State Trooper resigned last week from the Versailles Post and was indicted by a grand jury in a case alleging he destroyed evidence in a criminal case.

A Jefferson County Grand Jury indicted George Matthew "Matt" True, 32, on charges of conversion and false reporting, which are both Class A misdemeanors.

True appeared in Jefferson County Circuit Court on September 28, for his initial hearing. A trial date was set for February 8, 2005. His attorney is Merritt K. Alcorn of Madison.

According to a story printed in The Madison Courier, Special Prosecutor Cynthia Winkler of Washington County, conducted the grand jury proceedings. She said that the trooper was in charge of an investigation involving the videotapes. She also said while it is unclear who destroyed the tapes, they were never processed as evidence and never arrived at the Versailles Police Post as they should have.

The tapes in question were evidence in a criminal case in Jefferson County involving pornographic movies being shown to a minor.

The false reporting charge alleges that True gave a "false report of the commission of a crime or a false report in the official investigation of a crime," therefore hindering the investigation. The indictment noted that True falsely reported to his supervisor Sgt. Terry Nickell that he had been told to destroy the videotapes by Jefferson County Prosecutor Chris Naylor. True told Nickell he had disposed of the tapes, according to the indictment.

Lt. Marty McKinney, commander of the Versailles Post said True did resign last week without giving a reason.

The former trooper was mostly assigned to Switzerland County. His father, George True, was the former Jefferson County Sheriff.