ZIONSVILLE, Ind. — Smiling is how Lisa Hall wants to remember the woman who was her maid of honor the day she got married.
"She had a smile that was as big as this barn, and when she walked into a room – no matter how she was feeling – that smile was very, very evident," said Hall, speaking about her friend Kristin Bixler, who was found dead behind a home in Zionsville on Monday, April 8.
It's that smile Hall remembers when she thinks about becoming fast friends and sorority sisters with Kristin during their college days at Indiana University.
"She was our own personal Vanna White. We'd say, 'Vanna was in the room' when Kris walked in the room. We were just waiting for her to turn a letter around, and she loved that," Hall recalled.
Those are the kinds of memories Hall is holding onto after learning of Kristin's death.
Even though they had grown apart in recent years, Hall is still grieving her longtime friend's death, knowing Kristin's son, 30-year-old Graham, is now charged with his mom's murder.
"This is a situation that I think nobody can put their head around and understand it. It's hard to even find the words because it is so unimaginable," said Hall, explaining she agreed to talk about Kristin at her family's request.
Around 11:30 a.m. April 8, Zionsville Police Department officers were called to a home in the 5300 block of West Old 106th Street, near Zionsville Road, for a welfare check of Kristin Bixler.
After receiving no answer at the door, officers checked around the home and found bloody clothing. Officers then saw a pickup truck about 100 yards away in a wooded area. When they went to look around it, they saw a wheelbarrow and a woman's body next to it. There were also hand saws, a shovel and other items.
Police learned Graham had been picked up by Carmel police on April 7 as he had blood on him and was not dressed appropriately for the weather. He was taken to St. Vincent's Stress Center. That's where Zionsville officers found him. They claim among the items removed from Graham was Kristin's credit card.
During his initial hearing Friday morning, Bixler told the judge, "I did not do it."
Bixler entered a plea of not guilty.
He is facing 45-65 years if convicted. Bixler is also being held without bond, which Bixler said was "completely unfair."
"They just felt like they were too knee-deep in grief and asked me to speak on their behalf," Hall said.
That is why Hall is talking about the friend she calls "loyal to the core."
"If you needed help, if you needed anything, you would call Kristin," Hall said. "She'd help you figure it out, no matter what it was."
That's what Hall believes her friend was trying to do with her eldest son.
"I know she felt deeply connected to help Graham's mental health improve and was seeking help for him," Hall said. "Her love was very, very big."
Hall said it's been hard to learn in recent days that Kristin had shared with friends and family she was afraid of her son and to think about what that must have felt like as a mom.
"That loyalty to her son even put her in a position that cost her her life, but she did not want to leave him. She wanted to protect others from him, so she stayed, and staying ultimately cost her her life," Hall said.
Hall knows that's the part many who didn't know Kristin are thinking about right now — how she died.
She wants them to know her friend's life was about so much more than how it ended.
"I wore this shirt today because on the back, it says, 'All you need is love,' and that was Kristin's mantra. She loved big. She loved hard, and I think when you love hard, you lose hard," Hall said.
And for those who loved Kristin, like Hall, the loss they're feeling with her death is profound.