Indiana man who shot wife and left her for dead in blizzard gets 100 years in prison

Indianapolis Star

13-05-2025

BROOKVILLE, IN – The man convicted of shooting his wife and leaving her for dead in a blizzard was sentenced to 100 years in prison by an Indiana judge May 12.
On April 14, after a six-day jury trial, Gregory Guilfoyle was convicted of attempting to murder his wife Hannah Lynch, of attempting to murder Franklin County Sheriff's Deputy Arin Bowers and of putting his daughter in harm's way.
Guilfoyle was pushed into his sentencing Monday in a wheelchair. According to his lawyers, he has been paralyzed since his shootout with Bowers.
Hannah Lynch spoke at the hearing in Franklin County Circuit Court outlining the trauma of that night in 2022.
She nearly died in her own front yard with a gunshot wound to her head. She has a permanent shunt in her skull now. She lost part of her toe to frostbite. She had to relearn most of her basic motor skills.
"This is my new normal," she said in court. "This happened to me because of you. You disfigured me."
She was also pregnant at the time of the shooting and lost the baby, but she thanked God and Bowers for saving her life and that of her daughter.
"I say my daughter because she is not yours," she told Guilfoyle in court. "You are scum."
She said the situation stemmed from domestic abuse.
"You and your parents are abusers," Lynch told Guilfoyle. "I was an object, something to be molded and brainwashed. I was your puppet. Our relationship was a facade."
It was just a few days before Christmas in 2022 when Guilfoyle was spotted by a snowplow driver walking down the middle of Richland Creek Road near Brookville. In the single-digit temperatures, he was carrying his 23-month-old daughter wearing only a onesie. The plow driver called police.
Bowers responded and walked up to assist but then found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Prosecutors said Guilfoyle shot Bowers in his bullet-resistant vest, but Bowers was able to return fire, striking Guilfoyle.
After Guilfoyle was down, Bowers scooped up the little girl and checked that she wasn't hurt, prosecutors said.
"Are you OK, sweetie?" he asked before putting her in the cruiser.
After Bowers and other deputies learned Guilfoyle's identity, they rushed to check on Hannah. There had been a prior domestic violence complaint at the home.
That's where they found Lynch with a gunshot wound to the head, nearly unconscious, freezing in the snow.
On icy roads, Lynch was taken by ambulance to the closest Level 1 trauma center, the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. It's a drive that would take 45 minutes even on a sunny day. Somehow, she survived, though she would spend weeks in the hospital.
Guilfoyle, too, was hospitalized due to the gunshot wound, eventually winding up at the same hospital. His lawyers have said he has dealt with a number of medical issues as his case slowly proceeded through court.
Prosecutor Chris Huerkamp said three of four experts at trial suggested that Guilfoyle was insane but the jury did not fully agree.
Guilfoyle said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from his time as a Greenhills police officer in the suburbs of Cincinnati, according to Huerkamp. He has since been diagnosed with other mental illnesses and is receiving treatment, according to his therapist who spoke in court May 12.
Guilfoyle himself said during the hearing that he was hallucinating at the time of the shooting.
However, during the trial, Huerkamp had law enforcement officers who worked with Guilfoyle during his brief stint in Greenhills testify. They suggested he was not at the center of many of the events he claimed to be, Huerkamp explained.
At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found Guilfoyle "guilty but mentally ill" on eight separate felony counts after just over two hours of deliberation.
In Indiana, a "guilty but mentally ill" finding means that Guilfoyle faces the same possible term of imprisonment, but if incarcerated, he will receive psychiatric treatment for his mental illness, according to Huerkamp.
Guilfoyle apologized to Lynch and said he never would have intentionally hurt them. He said he was hallucinating.
"I'm so sorry this happened," he said. "I love you with all my heart."
Guilfoyle's lawyer, Judson McMillin, argued that his client should be released on home confinement because he is no longer a risk due to his disabilities. He also said "death is coming for" Guilfoyle, and he won't live as long as he would have without his injuries.
Circuit Court Judge Brian Hill of Rush County, who served as a special judge in the case, handed down a sentence of 100 years on May 12. That was 38 years for the two attempted murder charges, two years each for the two neglect of a dependent charges, and 20 years for the firearm specification.
Hannah Lynch's mother, Brenda Lynch, spoke to Guilfoyle during his sentencing as well. She recounted having to fight in court over custody of Hannah's daughter with Guilfoyle's parents, and said that the ongoing legal proceedings were retraumatizing.
"Hannah said she felt like she was getting shot over and over again," Brenda Lynch said. "She aged decades in the past two years. Her vibrancy has been replaced with fear and self-doubt."
Lynch said the last thing Guilfoyle said to her was that she was a bad mom and he was going to kill their daughter.
Lynch's mother said, despite all this, her daughter is an amazing mother who is incredibly resilient, and said her granddaughter is being raised to be strong, too.
"That monster did not win," she said. "You both deserve a happily ever after."
McMillin said in court after the sentencing that Guilfoyle plans to appeal. He said the sentencing and some issues with the discovery process could provide grounds for an appeal but added he would not represent Guilfoyle through that process.
Hannah Lynch said the sentence was great. She said she owes a lot to God as well as the deputies who saved her that night, and all the people who have helped her since.
"My daughter and I are safe now and we and my family can move forward," she said. "Justice has finally been brought to this after two years of waiting."