A New Albany business owner remains behind bars months after a murder-for-hire plot last year, but the man police say pulled the trigger spent only 43 days in custody.
New Albany, Ind. (WDRB) — A New Albany business owner is still in jail months after a 2025 murder-for-hire case, while the alleged gunman has already been released after serving just 43 days.
Police said that on May 13, 2025, shots were fired from a black SUV on Bank Street in downtown New Albany. Officers arrested four people in the following months. Three accepted plea deals, and two have already been released.
One of them is Aaron Brown. After his arrest, Brown told investigators he had been hired by Joseph Flesia to kill the victim and his pregnant girlfriend because the victim had been “patched out of the gang in bad standing.”
Brown later accepted a plea deal and left jail 43 days after his arrest — a decision that has drawn criticism from a local attorney.
“It’s outrageous to me, because I live here and I’m aware of how concerned and afraid people were about our Harvest Homecoming event that was scheduled for the fall,” attorney Mathew Lemme said Monday. “And it bothered me to watch our public officials go on television and tell everybody ‘Come on over here to Harvest Homecoming. It’s perfectly safe. We’ve taken all kinds of measures’ when I know one of the measures they took was to let a shooter out on the street.”
Lemme represents Henry Bachmann, who faces two counts of conspiracy to commit murder following a police raid in September. Bachmann, the fourth person arrested in connection to the plot, owns two businesses near the shooting scene.
“Why did you let them walk?” Lemme asked Monday. “And the reason, at this point, is because of Henry Bachmann. But if Henry Bachmann didn’t do anything — and Henry Bachmann didn’t do anything — then all they’re left with is a very embarrassing situation.”
During the initial investigation, the New Albany Police Department, along with the Indiana State Police, executed search warrants at three locations in New Albany: the Cloverleaf Bar and Grill on Culbertson Avenue, the North Star Tattoo Company on Vincennes Street and a residence. Records show Bachmann owns both businesses that were searched.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the victim told police he had previously belonged to an Outlaw motorcycle gang called Menace 13. He said only one person would have paid someone to shoot him — a person police later identified as Bachmann.
Investigators began reviewing Bachmann’s cellphone records in June and reported finding suspicious call patterns, text messages, gang-related photos and signs of drug activity. Authorities said that evidence led to the conspiracy charges.
Police arrested Brown, Joseph Flesia and Cody Vest in May in connection with the plot. Flesia faced two counts of conspiracy to commit murder and possession of cocaine. His plea agreement allows his sentence to run concurrently with unrelated charges. Brown was charged with criminal recklessness, possession of methamphetamine and other offenses before being released under a plea deal. Vest was charged with assisting a criminal and possession of methamphetamine and has also been released after a plea deal.
Bachmann remains jailed on a $750,000 cash bond. Lemme disputes the police account, arguing it relies heavily on statements from individuals who admitted involvement in the shooting. He said many related records remain sealed and has filed a lawsuit seeking to make them public.
“An exciting and interesting story about a motorcycle gang has been placed out there, but the fact that that was a story cooked up by somebody that got a sweetheart deal and walks the street today and actually shot somebody — that would call that story into doubt,” Lemme said. “The state has been protected, and Henry has been harmed by this mechanism that lets the state tell one side of the story and conceals the rest of the story.”
Bachmann’s attorneys have asked the court to reconsider his bond and are challenging the search warrants. His trial could begin in April.
Floyd County Prosecutor Chris Lane did not respond to a request for comment.
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