March 2021 | Page 11 of 117 | My Crime Library

Warren Waddy Ohio Death Row

Warren Waddy was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for the murder of a woman during a robbery. According to court documents Warren Waddy would break into the victims home where she was tied up and murdered. Evidence also points to Warren Waddy breaking into other homes where the female victim would be sexually assaulted. Warren Waddy would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Ohio Death Row Inmate List

Warren Waddy 2021 Information

Number A199737

DOB 12/19/1953

Gender Male Race Black

Admission Date 11/10/1987

Institution Chillicothe Correctional Institution

Status INCARCERATED

Warren Waddy More News

A Death Row inmate from Franklin County argued yesterday that his sentence should be commuted to life in prison because he is mentally retarded.

Twenty-one years after his murder conviction, Warren Waddy was back in a Columbus courtroom.

He was granted the new hearing by the Court of Appeals, which ruled two years ago that Waddy might have a claim for relief based on a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that banned executions of the mentally retarded.

Waddy’s IQ is borderline and he has a fourth-grade education, a psychologist has said.

The hearing before Common Pleas Judge John P. Bessey would not affect Waddy’s convictions for strangling Paula Mason in 1987, but it could take him off Death Row. He has filed numerous appeals from the Mansfield Correctional Institution

The hearing will resume on Monday.

In court briefs, prosecutors argue that three mental-health exams have shown no evidence that Waddy is mentally retarded. At least 26 Death Row inmates have filed appeals based on the higher court’s ruling.

A jury found that Waddy burglarized Mason’s East Side apartment on July 18, 1986, bound her hands and feet, and killed the 22-year-old woman with a red jump-rope. He also was convicted of breaking into two other homes where he raped one woman and stabbed another.

Waddy terrorized the women by placing a pillowcase or sheet over their heads and beating them while he ransacked their belongings, Assistant County Prosecutor Steven L. Taylor wrote in court briefs. Waddy, who is now 55, is a former cab driver and welder.

Columbus psychologist Jeffrey Smalldon testified for the defense yesterday that evidence of “mild brain impairment” and emotional disorders were apparent in 1995, when he first evaluated Waddy. School records show Waddy once was considered “mildly retarded” and “slow,” Smalldon said.

But Smalldon also testified that Waddy’s IQ of 83 was above the normally accepted value for mentally retarded people, which is 70. He learned that Waddy helped raise a daughter and five nieces, kept his own apartment and once held sway over a $500-a-day drug trafficking operation.

In opposing the motion to set aside the death sentence, Taylor wrote, “Menial labor and poor academic skills are not an indication of (mental retardation) in those circumstances but rather a reflection of antisocial traits.”

A Kentucky man convicted of fatally beating a 10-year-old Cincinnati boy was the first Ohio inmate saved by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Darryl Gumm was ruled to be mentally retarded in 2006.

Bessey told defense attorneys W. Joseph Edwards and Kort Gatterdam that he will issue a written ruling in the case

https://www.dispatch.com/article/20090124/news/301249723

Raymond Twyford Ohio Death Row

Raymond Twyford was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for a robbery murder. According to court documents Raymond Twyford and Daniel Eikelberry would lure the victim Richard Franks to a remote location where he was tortured, shot several times, had his hands cut off and then his wallet stolen. Raymond Twyford would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Ohio Death Row Inmate List

Raymond Twyford 2021 Information

Number A275069

DOB 10/15/1962

Gender Male Race White

Admission Date 04/12/1993

Institution Chillicothe Correctional Institution

Status INCARCERATED

Raymond Twyford More News

In the early evening hours of September 23, 1992, Athena Cash was walking in a rural area in Jefferson County, Ohio. After traversing the crest of a hill, Cash noticed an object floating in an old strip-mining pond. Although it appeared to be in the shape of a human body, Cash was uncertain whether the object was, in fact, human. Cash subsequently summoned her boyfriend to view the object, and he concluded that the object was a human body. As a result, the couple contacted local law enforcement authorities.

Law enforcement personnel, including Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla, responded to the scene and found parts of a skull and flesh on the ground. Some seventy-four feet away, the sheriff saw a body lying on its back in the body of water. On the shore, the sheriff also found blood, a pair of glasses, a baseball cap, and six shell casings fired from a .30-06-caliber rifle.

While the body was floating in the pond, Sheriff Abdalla observed that it appeared “as if the head was cut off” and also noticed that “the hands were severed from the body.” Once the body was removed from the water, it was determined that part of the face was still attached but that the skull was missing. Abdalla also discovered that the victim had been shot in the back. At the scene, Dr. John Metcalf, the Jefferson County Coroner, observed the same injuries. In addition, Dr. Metcalf found a pocket calendar diary inside the victim’s shirt pocket. The victim’s name, Richard Franks, as well as a Windham, Ohio address, was written in the diary.

On September 24, 1992, after contacting the Windham Police Department and receiving information that Franks had been missing for two days, Sheriff Abdalla traveled to the village of Windham in Portage County, Ohio. Prior to Sheriff Abdalla’s arrival, Windham Chief of Police Thomas Denvir decided to place Franks’s apartment under surveillance. Chief Denvir had discovered that Daniel Eikelberry lived with Franks, and while surveilling the apartment, Chief Denvir observed Eikelberry and Raymond A. Twyford III, appellant, in an automobile belonging to Joyce Sonny, appellant’s girlfriend.

Sheriff Abdalla arrived in Windham and at approximately 4:50 p.m. met local police officials, including Chief Denvir. Around 5:30 p.m. that same afternoon, while Sheriff Abdalla and Chief Denvir waited outside Franks’s apartment for a warrant to enter the premises, appellant, accompanied by Eikelberry and Terri Sonny, Joyce’s daughter, again drove by in Joyce Sonny’s car. Appellant lived with Joyce Sonny and her daughters, Christina, age eighteen, and Terri, age thirteen, in Windham.

At that time, and at Sheriff Abdalla’s request, Chief Denvir stopped the car to talk with Eikelberry about his missing roommate, Franks. As appellant got out of Joyce’s 1975 Chrysler sedan, Abdalla noticed “two survival knives, a hatchet and a small * * * hand saw” in the car. Appellant, who was not detained, waited outside Franks’s house while Abdalla questioned Eikelberry at the police station.

After interviewing Eikelberry, Sheriff Abdalla arrested appellant at around 6:25 p.m. for the murder of Richard Franks and advised appellant of his Miranda rights. After declining to be interviewed, appellant was taken to the Windham Police Department and held while police continued to question Eikelberry. At around 7:15 p.m., appellant on his own initiative indicated that he would like to speak to Sheriff Abdalla and told him, “[S]heriff, I want to talk to you now, I’ll tell you anything you want to know.” Sheriff Abdalla, however, did not talk to appellant right away. Around 8:30 p.m., Abdalla again advised appellant of his Miranda rights, and appellant acknowledged and waived those rights, both orally and in writing.

Appellant told Sheriff Abdalla and Chief Denvir that he lived with Joyce Sonny and her two daughters, Christina and Terri. On Saturday, September 19, two days prior to the murder, Eikelberry told appellant that Franks had raped Christina. After learning this, appellant said that he was very angry and that every time he thought of Franks or saw him he “saw red and started to shake.”

Appellant told Sheriff Abdalla that after learning of the rape, he and Eikelberry decided to kill Franks. The two of them drove around with Franks on Sunday evening, September 20. Appellant said, however, that he and Eikelberry could not find a suitable place to kill Franks. On Monday evening, September 21, on the pretext that they were going deer hunting, appellant, Eikelberry, and Franks drove to Jefferson County, arriving at around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., September 22. Appellant was familiar with the area and had suggested this as the locale for the killing.

According to appellant, he and Eikelberry told Franks to hold a flashlight, look for deer, and “hold the light in the eye of the deer,” and appellant and Eikelberry would shoot the deer. Instead, as Franks walked off and was ten to twelve feet away, appellant shot him in the back with a .30-06-caliber rifle. After he fell down, Franks was still “gurgling,” and Eikelberry shot Franks in the head with a .22 caliber pistol.

Appellant and Eikelberry then repeatedly shot Franks in the head with the rifle and also shot his hands. Appellant also “took the wallet from Mr. Franks” and handed it to Eikelberry, and Eikelberry removed the hunting license from Franks’s jacket. “[A]fter they [Eikelberry and appellant] had cut [Franks’s] hands off, they took the hands and put them in a * * * cowboy boot and * * * put some rocks in the boot to weigh it down and * * * [ran] the extension cord * * * around the boot.” They shot Franks several times “to disfigure him so he couldn’t be recognizable.” Then “they both [dragged] the body * * * to the embankment * * * [and] shoved the body over the bank.”

Appellant further said that after leaving the scene of the murder, Eikelberry threw the boot containing Franks’s hands into Yellow Creek (some eighteen miles away). On September 25, divers recovered the boot (which contained the hands) from Yellow Creek where appellant reported that it had been thrown.

After he orally confessed to the murder, appellant wrote out details in a three-page handwritten statement that he signed. Chief Denvir and Sheriff Abdalla witnessed appellant’s statement.

Based upon other information from appellant’s confession, police recovered from behind a vent off Joyce Sonny’s living room a loaded “high-powered” .30-06-caliber rifle and a .22 caliber handgun loaded with “hollow point” ammunition. Two knives were also found. Both guns were operable. A parole officer verified that appellant had previously been convicted of burglary and hence was “restricted from owning, possessing or using any type of firearm.”

The grand jury indicted appellant on five counts. Count One alleged aggravated murder with prior calculation and design in violation of R.C. 2903.01(A) and aggravated murder in the course of a kidnapping in violation of R.C. 2903.01(B). Count One of the indictment also charged appellant with an R.C. 2929.04(A)(7) death penalty specification for committing aggravated murder during the course of a kidnapping. Count Two alleged an aggravated murder with prior calculation and design in violation of R.C. 2903.01 and aggravated murder in the course of aggravated robbery in violation of R.C. 2903.01(B). Count Two also charged appellant with an R.C. 2929.04(A)(7) death penalty specification of committing aggravated murder during the course of committing an aggravated robbery. Count Three alleged kidnapping, Count Four alleged aggravated robbery, and Count Five alleged that appellant had a weapon while under disability. Counts One through Four contained gun specifications. Counts Three and Four also contained specifications enhancing the penalty, and these alleged that appellant had previously been convicted of burglary.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/oh-supreme-court/1184686.html

Michael Turner Ohio Death Row

Michael Turner was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for a double murder. According to court documents Michael Turner would murder his estranged wife and another man. The convicted felon would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Ohio Death Row Inmate List

Michael Turner 2021 Information

Number A438811

DOB 11/29/1958

Gender Male Race White

Admission Date 01/09/2003

Institution Chillicothe Correctional Institution

Status INCARCERATED

Michael Turner More News

Turner’s criminal history dates from 1980; while a felony suspect being transported by a deputy sheriff for a polygraph in Virginia, Turner attempted to kill the deputy sheriff with a letter opener. During the struggle, Turner jabbed at the deputy and also tried to grab the deputy’s pistol. Turner pleaded guilty to attempted murder and received a 15-year prison term but served only five years before being paroled.

{¶ 3} Upon his release from prison, he managed to earn a living, but he violated parole and became incarcerated. After a second release from prison, he divorced his first wife, Paula, and married Jennifer Lyles in January 2000 in Bassett, Virginia. Within months of their marriage, Turner began abusing his wife to the point that she fled to the homes of friends and neighbors. In September 2000, Jennifer left Virginia and moved to the Columbus area at her mother’s insistence to escape Turner’s abuse. In December, she moved to her own apartment in Reynoldsburg. Later that month, Turner asked Jennifer for “another chance,” and she allowed him to move in with her.

{¶ 4} On March 14, 2001, however, she filed a domestic-violence complaint against Turner after he hit her in the head during an argument. On April 5, 2001, she filed another complaint after he choked her to near unconsciousness. The next day, the court granted a temporary protection order (“TPO”), compelling Turner to move out of his wife’s apartment.

{¶ 5} On May 5, 2001, police arrested Turner for violating the TPO. Angry with Jennifer because she had called police, Turner told the arresting officers that “the war is on.” On May 18, 2001, Turner pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence, and the court placed him on probation.

{¶ 6} After the imposition of his probationary term, Turner began stalking Jennifer. She filed a complaint against Turner for telephone harassment on May 25, 2001-charges that were still pending on the day of the murders. The next day, Turner told a co-worker at a Tim Hortons Restaurant that Jennifer had angered him by having him arrested and by filing the telephone-harassment complaint against him. Turner announced that he was going to “suit up and kill the bitch.” Boasting that he was a “cop killer” by reenacting the 1980 attempted murder of the deputy in Virginia, he showed his co-worker a list of items that he called “No Prisoners,” which included duct tape, a knife, rope, fuel, and matches, all necessary for his plan to, in Turner’s words, “off the bitch.”

{¶ 7} Two days before the murder, Turner told a bartender: “I’m going to kill my wife. She took me to court for harassment. I’m going to off her. You watch me.”

{¶ 8} On the day of the murders, Turner gathered the necessary items for his plan. He bought two knives, and two hours later, he bought two gallons of gasoline.

{¶ 9} On June 12, shortly after 10:00 p.m., Turner located Jennifer and her friend, Ronald Seggerman, at her apartment. Jennifer stayed inside while Seggerman grilled food outside. John Myers, Jennifer’s neighbor, had been in his front yard and saw Seggerman pointing toward a parking lot located about 100 yards north of the apartment. Seggerman shouted, “[T]here he is,” and went inside.

{¶ 10} Seggerman came back outside armed with nunchakus and walked toward the parking lot, where Myers lost sight of him.

{¶ 11} Myers then observed Turner forcing Seggerman to back up toward Jennifer’s apartment. When they got to Myers’s front yard, Myers saw Turner make several downward thrusts with a knife. At 10:28 p.m., Myers called 911, stating, “[T]he guy is being stabbed to death. I saw the knife and I saw him going down. Get a cop here.”

{¶ 12} At 10:32 p.m., Jennifer Turner also made a 911 call. The recording of this call reveals Jennifer’s screams for help begging Turner to stop and Seggerman’s plea with Turner, “Mike, you gotta stop.”

{¶ 13} Reynoldsburg police arrived at 10:34 p.m. The first officer on the scene found Jennifer bleeding profusely from the neck with Seggerman lying next to her, face down in a pool of blood. Medics were unable to find Seggerman’s pulse rate or respiration. Jennifer had “shallow respiration and a weak pulse.” Both underwent emergency surgery.

{¶ 14} Jennifer Turner and Ronald Seggerman both died later that night of multiple stab wounds. Autopsies showed that Jennifer had sustained 11 stab wounds and Seggerman at least four, including one that punctured his lung.

{¶ 15} Meanwhile, following the ambulance transport, police located Turner hiding in some trees near the parking lot at Jennifer’s apartment. He had blood on his face, arms, shirt, and shoes. Near Turner’s hiding place, police found a hunting knife, rope, chains, two locks, a hammer, and two one-gallon plastic jugs containing gasoline. On June 13, police returned and found bloodstained gloves, a bloodstained fillet knife, and a sheath for a knife.

{¶ 16} Also on June 13, detectives searched Michael Turner’s apartment. There they found a copy of Jennifer’s May 5 complaint against Turner and a handwritten list in Turner’s writing that included “knives, rope, gloves, gas, lock and hammer.”

{¶ 17} Detectives interrogated Turner on the morning of June 13. Turner told them that he had been “standing there in the parking lot” when Seggerman “came across there with [he doesn’t] know if it was a baseball bat or what it was.” According to Turner, a jug of gasoline happened to be “sitting there,” so he “ran towards [Seggerman] and threw it in his face.” Turner then began to beat Seggerman, who dropped his “stick” in the parking lot. Turner admitted that he “probably” had a knife. He stated that Jennifer came outside and “jumped in the middle trying to break [them] up.” Turner said, “I’m trying to push her away and she was ․ and I went, oh, fuck what did I do?” (Ellipsis sic.) He stated, “[I]t happened so quick I really had no control over it.”

{¶ 18} While in custody in the Franklin County Jail, Turner told a fellow inmate that “he murdered his wife and her boyfriend; that he went over to talk to his wife and never expected her boyfriend to be there.” He also told his cellmate that he had planned to kill Jennifer and commit suicide, but Seggerman “got in the way.” Turner claimed that “he didn’t mean to kill [Seggerman]” but admitted that “he did mean to kill Jennifer.”

{¶ 19} A grand jury indicted Turner for the aggravated murders of Jennifer Turner and Ronald Seggerman with prior calculation and design. R.C. 2903.01(A). Count 1, charging Jennifer’s murder, contained three death-penalty specifications: R.C. 2929.04(A)(5) (prior conviction), R.C. 2929.04(A)(5) (course of conduct), and R.C. 2929.04(A)(8) (witness murder). Count 2, charging Seggerman’s murder, contained two death-penalty specifications: prior conviction and course of conduct.

{¶ 20} On October 25, 2002, Turner filed a written waiver of his right to a jury trial. On December 16, 2002, Turner entered a plea of guilty to both counts and all specifications of the indictment. The three-judge panel conducted a hearing at which the state introduced exhibits and read a statement of supporting facts. With a few exceptions not relevant here, the defense stipulated to the facts contained in the statement.

{¶ 21} The three-judge panel then accepted Turner’s plea, found him guilty on all counts and all specifications, and, after a mitigation hearing, sentenced Turner to death.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/oh-supreme-court/1312648.html

James Trimble Ohio Death Row

James Trimble was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for a triple murder. According to court documents James Trimble would shoot and kill his girlfriend, Renee Bauer, and her seven-year-old son, Dakota Bauer. Later on the same day James Trimble would take a woman hostage and would end up murdering her as well, Sarah Positano, before police could intervene. James Trimble would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Ohio Death Row Inmate List

James Trimble 2021 Information

Number A494014

DOB 07/20/1960

Gender Male Race White

Admission Date 11/22/2005

Institution Chillicothe Correctional Institution

Status INCARCERATED

James Trimble More News

During October 2003, Trimble and Renee Bauer started dating. Shortly thereafter, Trimble, Renee, and Dakota began living together in a home at 880 Sandy Lake Road in Brimfield Township.

{¶ 4} Trimble kept numerous guns, including pistols, assault rifles, and military weapons, plus ammunition in his home. Darrell French, a neighbor, often heard Trimble firing his guns in the woods behind his home.

{¶ 5} Trimble and Renee’s relationship started to dissolve as they began to fight and argue. Trimble frequently complained to Darrell and Angela French that Renee was “fuckin’ bitching all the time.”

{¶ 6} In October 2004, Trimble and Renee attended a birthday party at the French home. Trimble and Renee had a quarrel, and Renee left the party. Trimble remained at the party, became drunk, and complained about Renee. Before he finally left, Trimble stated that he was in the mood to go home and “blow something up.” Shortly thereafter, Darrell heard Trimble firing guns in the woods.

{¶ 7} At 7:18 p.m. on January 21, 2005, Elizabeth Trimble Bresley, the defendant’s mother, called Trimble on his cell phone. When she called, Trimble was at home, waiting for a pizza delivery. Bresley heard the doorbell ring and heard Trimble tell Dakota to “give this money to the pizza man.” Trimble then ended the phone call.

{¶ 8} At 8:10 p.m., Bresley made another call to Trimble. She asked how things were going, and Trimble said, “Not too well. I shot Renee and Dakota.” Trimble ended the conversation. Bresley then called her other son, Arthur Trimble, who lives in Florida, and told him that something had happened at his brother’s house. She asked Arthur to find out what had happened.

{¶ 9} Shortly thereafter, Arthur called Trimble and asked what happened. Trimble said, “I killed the fucking bitch.” Arthur said, “You did what?” Trimble replied, “Yep, she’s fucking dead,” and the boy was “dead, too.” Arthur told Trimble to stay where he was because he was going to call the police. Trimble said that he was not going to stay where he was because his life was over. After their conversation ended, Arthur called the Brimfield Township Police Department. Arthur told the police dispatcher to send officers to his brother’s address on Sandy Lake Road because his brother had told him that he had killed two people there that evening.

{¶ 10} Around 9:00 p.m. on January 21, Trimble approached the home of Steven Reichard on Ranfield Road in Brimfield Township. Reichard was working in his garage when he heard a tree branch break. He stepped outside and saw the silhouette of a man standing near a wood pile. Reichard could not see the man’s face, but he was dressed in camouflage clothing.

{¶ 11} Reichard asked the man what he was doing, and Trimble ordered, “Put your fucking hands up.” Reichard asked, “What are you, fucking crazy?” Trimble replied, “That’s right, I’m crazy. I just killed three people.” Reichard raised his hands because Trimble had a rifle. Reichard pleaded for his life as they continued talking. Trimble said, “Only thing I can tell you is that you’re at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Trimble then stepped forward to shoot Reichard.

{¶ 12} At that moment, Lois Scott, Reichard’s mother, came out the back door of the house. Reichard identified his mother, and Trimble told him to “[g]et her over here.” After Scott came over, Trimble said he had to shoot both of them: “You guys can identify me.” Reichard replied that he could not see Trimble’s face. Trimble then said he was going to take Reichard hostage so that his mother would not call the police. Reichard told Trimble that Trimble had another option: to turn around and walk away. Trimble said, “All right. I’m going to turn around and I’m going to walk away slowly. You move and you’re dead. And you call the cops and I’ll kill you.” Trimble then left through the back of the property. After he departed, Reichard called the police.

{¶ 13} Around 9:00 p.m., police officers were dispatched to 880 Sandy Lake Road to check on the report of the killings. Brimfield patrolman Amber Peterson and Portage County Sheriff’s officer Trent Springer went to the back of the house after receiving no response to a knock at the front door. They looked through a rear window and saw a body lying on the floor.

{¶ 14} After entering the house, police officers found Renee’s and Dakota’s bodies on the floor in the master bedroom. Renee’s body was face down and lying partly on top of Dakota. Both bodies were fully dressed and wearing jackets. In searching the house, police found Renee’s purse and a duffel bag containing clothing for an adult female and a child on a living room chair. In the dining room, they also found clothing. A piece of paper with a phone number for a battered-women’s shelter was found on the refrigerator.

{¶ 15} About 9:37 p.m. on January 21, Brimfield Chief of Police David Blough requested assistance from the Metro SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team to help apprehend Trimble. Around 10:20 p.m., Trimble was reported firing shots at police officers on Ranfield Road. At 11:13 p.m., the SWAT team assembled and proceeded towards the area where Trimble had been spotted.

{¶ 16} At 11:18 p.m. on January 21, Sarah Positano, a 22-year-old college student, called 911 and reported that a man had entered her duplex at 3729B Ranfield Road. Positano said the man wanted the police to leave the area, and he would shoot her if the police entered the residence. During the call, Positano could be heard asking Trimble, “Could you not put the gun to my head?”

{¶ 17} During the 911 call, Trimble told the operator that he has a “9-mm pistol with no safety.” Trimble said, “I have got the hammer held back [and] the trigger pulled. So if the cops shoot me or even attempt to break in here, I will let go of the trigger and the innocent girl will die.” He also told the operator that he could see a policeman outside the window “looking in” and added, “I don’t really appreciate that.”

{¶ 18} Following Positano’s call, the SWAT team established a perimeter around the duplex. Meanwhile, Mike Korach, the SWAT team hostage negotiator, twice made phone contact with Trimble. During the first call, Trimble repeated that he had a gun with no safety, that his finger was on the trigger, and that he would kill the girl if the police entered the residence. On the second call, Trimble identified himself as “Camo Jim.” Trimble also warned the police that he had already killed two people that had “fucked” with him.

{¶ 19} As the phone conversation progressed, Trimble said that he did not want to “hurt any innocents” and just wanted the police to go away. Trimble mentioned that he had come into contact with two other people whom he could have killed. However, he did not kill them because they did what he wanted them to do. Trimble said, “Look, if you just give me a couple hours to get my shit together, I’ll let her go.” At Korach’s request, Trimble repeated that promise to Positano. Korach then lost phone contact with Trimble and was unable to reestablish it.

{¶ 20} While Korach talked with Trimble, Lieutenant Richard Baron, an Ohio State Highway Patrol hostage negotiator, maintained phone contact with Positano. Positano told Baron that Trimble was standing right behind her in the upstairs hallway with a gun pointed at her head. During the call, Trimble can be heard telling Positano, “Sarah, in two hours you’re going to go home * * * if the cops don’t come up here.” A few seconds later, Positano can be heard screaming, “I’ve been shot” and starting to gasp for breath. A short time later, the phone connection was lost.

{¶ 21} At 12:05 a.m. on January 22, 2005, Lieutenant Baron notified Chief Blough that he had lost phone contact with Positano after hearing her scream and make gasping noises. However, Baron did not report that Positano had been shot, because he did not hear Positano say so or hear the gunshot. As a result, Chief Blough did not order the SWAT team to enter the residence until more than seven hours later.

{¶ 22} At 12:10 a.m., Trimble fired shots from the residence towards the SWAT team. Chief Blough then issued a “Delta order” authorizing the SWAT team to use deadly force without asking for permission. At 12:35 a.m., after more gunfire came from the residence, SWAT team snipers fired three gunshots in return. Between 12:39 a.m. and 2:32 a.m., Trimble continued to fire shots towards the SWAT team.

{¶ 23} At 7:30 a.m., the SWAT team entered the residence. Positano’s body was found lying in the upstairs hallway. Trimble was arrested, taken into custody, and transported to the Portage County jail.

{¶ 24} On the morning of January 24, 2005, Portage County Sheriff Duane Kaley was informed that Trimble wanted to talk with him. Trimble was brought to Kaley’s office. After waiving his Miranda rights, Trimble provided a taped interview. Trimble stated that he wanted “to get this over with and not make any more people suffer than have already suffered.” He said, “I’m admitting I did everything” and committed “[t]hree murders.”

{¶ 25} Trimble said he did not remember shooting Renee and Dakota. However, he said, “I must have. No one else was there.” Trimble said, “The last thing I remember is me and Dakota were down in the basement, and we were getting ready to shoot his BB gun * * *.” He next remembered running through the woods and talking on his cell phone to his mother and brother. Trimble remembered taking an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and a 9-mm handgun from his gun safe and six or seven ammunition clips before leaving his home. Trimble also remembered meeting some people in the woods and telling them to leave him alone and not to call the police.

{¶ 26} During the interview, Trimble refused to discuss whether he had had an argument with Renee before the shootings because “why it happened is irrelevant.”

{¶ 27} Trimble said he went to Positano’s residence because he “just kept running through the woods and that’s where [he] ended up.” Trimble claimed that he shot Positano after the police entered the residence. He said, “I had the hammer cocked and the police came in the house and I turned to look at them and [the gun] went off.” According to Trimble, the police entered the residence and then left: “They fired one shot, I fired a couple of shots. They * * * fired a couple of more shots before they went out the door.” Trimble said, “I didn’t pull the trigger,” and “I didn’t mean to shoot her.”

{¶ 28} At trial, Sheriff Kaley testified that Trimble’s explanation for shooting Positano was not consistent with the facts. Kaley stated that the SWAT team entered Positano’s residence only one time, and that was when Trimble was arrested and taken into custody.

{¶ 29} Special Agent John Saraya, a crime-scene agent at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (“BCI”), examined the Sandy Lake Road crime scene and collected evidence. Saraya found bone fragments and hair at various locations around the master bedroom and in the adjoining bathroom. Blood spatter was found on the bottom of the dresser near Renee’s head and on the bottom of the shower stall.

{¶ 30} Saraya collected 19 cartridge casings from the floor and top of the dresser in the master bedroom. The cartridges were from .223-caliber high-velocity rounds. Bullet holes were found in the dresser, the wall behind the dresser, the baseboard, and the floor. Saraya determined that the path of the gunshots was from “an upper direction at a slight downward angle.”

{¶ 31} In the basement, Saraya found a long gun case that was open and empty. There were also military belts, magazine pouches, a handgun, and three long guns leaning against the wall. After obtaining a search warrant, Saraya opened a large gun safe that was in the basement. He found 19 guns, including handguns, semiautomatic rifles, an assault rifle, and carbines. He also found 9 mm bullets and .223-caliber rounds of ammunition that matched the casings found in the bedroom.

{¶ 32} Saraya also examined the crime scene at Positano’s residence. Positano suffered a bullet wound in the neck, and a spent 9 mm bullet was found inside her clothing. Trimble’s empty prescription bottle of the anti-anxiety drug Lorazepam and a set of dog tags with Trimble’s name on them were found near Positano’s body in the upstairs hallway.

{¶ 33} Saraya recovered twenty-six .223-caliber casings and nineteen 9 mm casings inside the residence. An AR-15 rifle that fires .223-caliber ammunition was recovered in the north bedroom. Trimble’s empty prescription bottle for Hydrocodone, a pain medication, was found behind the bedroom door. A Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun and Trimble’s wallet were found in the adjoining bathroom. Trimble’s wallet contained $767 in cash, $185.79 in checks made payable to him, and Lorazepam in powdered form.

{¶ 34} Saraya identified two bullet holes in the interior wall that were caused by sniper fire. One bullet had followed a trajectory through the patio door frame into the house, and the other bullet had followed a trajectory through the patio glass door into the house. At trial, Saraya acknowledged that there was a third bullet hole in the wall that had been caused by sniper fire and that he had failed to notice it at the crime scene.

{¶ 35} Jonathan Gardner, a firearms examiner at BCI, examined the 19 cartridge casings collected from Trimble’s home and determined that they had all been fired from the AR-15 rifle recovered from Positano’s residence. Gardner also determined that 18 of the .223-caliber casings collected from Positano’s residence had been fired from the AR-15. He testified that the remaining casings lacked sufficient individual characteristics to make a comparison. Gardner also testified that a shooter would have to pull the trigger of the AR-15 once for each round of ammunition fired.

{¶ 36} Gardner determined that all 9 mm casings recovered from Positano’s residence had been fired from the 9 mm handgun found there. He testified that the handgun has a four-and-one-half-pound trigger pull when the hammer has been cocked, which is “typical for this type of gun.” By examining the gunshot residue around the bullet hole in her jacket, Gardner also determined that the gun had been fired less than 12 inches from Positano.

{¶ 37} Dr. George Sterbenz, the Chief Deputy Medical Examiner for Summit County, conducted the autopsy of Renee. Dr. Sterbenz found that Renee had died from multiple gunshot wounds. She was shot once in the front of the head, 11 times in the back, and in the hand. Dr. Sterbenz also found bruises on Renee’s upper left thigh, her right thigh, and above her elbow that were blunt-force injuries. These were not fresh bruises and could have been caused hours or days before her death. A toxicology screen showed that Renee’s blood-alcohol level at the time of death was .173 percent.

{¶ 38} Dr. Sterbenz also conducted the autopsy of Dakota. Dr. Sterbenz determined that Dakota had also died from multiple gunshot injuries. Dakota received six gunshot wounds in his head, neck, torso, and upper extremities. Dr. Sterbenz testified that two of the entrance wounds are “atypical and characteristic of wounds of re-entry meaning the projectile has traveled through * * * some intermediate target” before striking Dakota.

{¶ 39} Dr. Dorothy Emma Dean, the Deputy Medical Examiner for Summit County, conducted the autopsy on Positano. Dr. Dean determined that Positano had died from a gunshot wound to the neck with perforation of her carotid artery and left lung.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/oh-supreme-court/1321435.html

James Tench Ohio Death Row

James Tench was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for the murder of his mother. According to court documents James Tench would murder his mother by running her over with a car after she confronted him about stealing her credit cards. James Tench would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Ohio Death Row Inmate List

James Tench 2021 Information

Number A652562

DOB 01/27/1986

Gender Male Race White

Admission Date 03/13/2014

Institution Chillicothe Correctional Institution

Status INCARCERATED

James Tench More News

The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of a northeast Ohio man convicted of murder in the 2013 beating death of his mother.

The high court on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s decision on James Tench’s murder charge, finding the evidence of his guilt is overwhelming. Justices did dismiss an aggravated robbery conviction in the case.

The then-30-year-old Brunswick man was convicted five years ago of aggravated murder and kidnapping in the death of his mother, 55-year-old Mary Tench.

Prosecutors say he fatally beat his mother after she confronted him about using her credit card, including forging advance checks.

Mary Tench was found dead inside her car. The county coroner said she died from several blunt trauma injuries that fractured her skull.

https://www.dispatch.com/news/20181226/ohio-supreme-court-upholds-death-sentence-in-mothers-killing