A parolee from the Merlin area who played the central role in a disturbing animal abuse case in 2008 is back in custody, this time on a murder charge.

A Josephine County grand jury last week indicted Harley Davidson Hopkins, 39, on a charge of second-degree murder with a firearm in the Dec. 12 slaying of 54-year-old Gary Allen Dingus in the Wolf Creek area.