James Goff has been sentenced to death for the Sept. 15, 1994 murder of 88-year-old Myrtle Rutledge at her house in Wilmington. Newton strangled the 27-year-old man with a cloth after the two fought over a chess match. No other explanation was ever given for the tragedy. Richard Clark Jr. has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his former girlfriend and another man in 2003. Sara Carruthers one of 22 Ohio House members censured for backing Iron Rose Mercantile opens expanded location in Middletown, New Ohio cold case unit looking into unsolved homicide of Fairfield 15-year-old. She had been strangled. I knew the whole family, and the Schneider triple homicide is what set me on this path for truth and justice. When Smrekar returned to campus from Joliet, he was also arrested for felony Theft Over $150. Kevin Neal has been sentenced to life in prison for the 1997 murders of his 11-year-old stepdaughter and his 4-year-old stepson. Marie Poling is serving 20 years to life in prison for the 1987 murder of her husband in Howland. Ariel Castro's kidnapping of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus attracted international attention when the women escaped his Cleveland house in 2013. Our methodology was subjective, so if you think you have a better suggestion, please let us know in the comments section or by emailing crime@cleveland.com. Former Canton police officer Bobby Lee Cutts killed his ex-girlfriend Jessie Davis and their unborn child in 2007. On June 8th, 76, a family fishing in Kickapoo Creek Park (located a short distance across the highway from the Martin subdivision) found a partially burned, bloody T-shirt lying on a sandbar in the creek. Ahntastic Adventures in Silicon Valley Two days later, the Catalina was found abandoned in the parking lot of the Bloomington, IL Holiday Inn, 30-miles north of Lincoln. That was a complete falsehood, for he wrote the report on that evidence and submitted the T-shirt to the Illinois State Crime Lab for testing. Mansfield failed to appear in court for the March hearing, and the matter was continued and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Detectives said Roush had more than 1,000 marijuana plants growing behind his rural home. CLEVELAND A couple from Canton has been desperate for answers after their elderly loved one was brutally murdered in a small Ohio town. It wasnt until early September 76 that Logan County learned that Mansfield was officially a missing person and his family hadnt seen him since December 31, The bloody T-shirt was the most important evidence collected in the Ruth Martin case, . In light of Kruegers egregious lies and the importance of the details relating to the T-shirt, that evidence most assuredly did not disappear (if its really missing) by accident, and it also didnt sprout legs and walk out of the LPD on its own. It seems obvious to me why theyre resisting because I opened a HUGE can of worms, and I think theyd prefer the public not know all the facts. On Aug. 4, 2016, a property owner was mowing grass between a wooded area and Alderlick Road in Wayne Township when he came across the body of 26-year-old Samantha Jo Stewart. I was on Russells visitors list and had tentative plans to meet with him at Menard. Christopher Newton died by lethal injection for the 2003 murder of his cellmate at the Mansfield Correctional Institution. There was also other evidence that suggested Cindy met with foul play, in spite of no sign of forced entry. According to these past reports, there were 2 Marion County murders in 2015, 5 in 2016, 7 in 2017, 3 in 2018, and 6 in 2019. Notorious bank robber John Dillinger and his gang hit a Fostoria bank in 1933 and evaded capture, according to the Tiffin Police Department. He convinced an accomplice to lure a child into the woods and feed her arsenic laced-candy. Russell had two girlfriends at the time of the disappearances of Mansfield and Martin, and they undoubtedly know more than theyve ever admitted. She . During the last few weeks Ive written about the 1969 double murders of Justice of the Peace Ezra Butcher and a woman with him at the time of the shootings. Her 16-year-old brother reported Cheryl in March 1978. Both were shot in the back. Her parents were both at their jobs. He disappeared, The same day Mansfield disappeared, the burglary matter was continued to March (unbeknownst to Mansfield and Smrekar) because the two female students whose dorm room had been burgled were still on their European vacation. Marie Poling was denied parole in 2015. Travis Lee Fischer was just 17 years old when he raped and killed a woman authorities described as being like a mother to him. The 1986 murder of Theresa Ann Woods, the 1963 murder of Irene Wilson, the 1982 murder of LaRoy Earl Gorman, and the 2008 murder of Judith Lynn Petty are among the unsolved central West Virginia murders, in addition to the 1945 kidnapping and mysterious disappearance of the Sodder Children. He fled before Richard could get his gun loaded. A 40-year-old unsolved homicide is getting a new look from police, and a local mother hopes her efforts will bring in tips for other cold cases like it. Poling and her lover chopped off Richard Poling's head before scattering his body parts across Ohio and Pennsylvania. Johnson threatened the woman with a knife and forced her to give him $1,000, claiming her son had been kidnapped. It wasnt until early September 76 that Logan County learned that Mansfield was officially a missing person and his family hadnt seen him since December 31st. Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in. William A. Krueger and Thomas Maurer were the leading Lincoln PD detectives assigned to the Martin case in 76, and both men lied to me about the facts pertaining to the T-shirt. (The US average is 35.4) NOTE: The city of Logan, Ohio does not have FBI Crime Statistics. Theres no other way to put it the Indians were murdered. A Franklin County civil jury later rejected the argument that she had been in imminent danger and ordered her to pay $540,000 to Brent Andersons family. Buell received a death sentence and died by lethal injection in 2002. #7 of 8 on. But the discovery of his plot led to his execution. As for Mansfield, there was very little evidence in his case, which has made his murder the toughest one to solve. The Lincoln PD regards the Martin case as closed because Smrekar allegedly confessed. Joy Hoop is also serving 25 years in prison for her role in the murder. Submit a Crime Tip Square with arrow pointing upper right. No one has seen him since that cold December day. My father, Logan County States Attorney Roger W. Thompson (1972-1980), alerted authorities the morning of Oct. 10, States Attorney Thompson and his assistant, John Foltz, offered to defer Mansfields charges if he would agree to turn states evidence and testify against Smrekar in the burglary case. It turned out to be Herbert, half-dressed, likely sexually assaulted and beaten to death. LOGAN Friday marked the 40th anniversary of a Logan murder that has long gone cold, but friends and family members of Gilbert "Andy" Anders Jr. are still holding out hope that the person. Rich guitar out of the evidence room. During this passage of time, Krueger should have been investigated and interrogated about the bloody T-shirt and his blatant lies to former States Attorney Thompson and to me. Harvey is in custody at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution after he pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. The direction he ran was in the opposite direction from where he claimed he parked his car. Heres a look at cases the unit said it will be investigating (some descriptions come from the Ohio Attorney Generals Office): Johnson was a student at Fairfield Options Academy when she was killed in 2012. Russell Smrekar died in October 2011. Someone had shot the couple to death at Ohio's Berlin Reservoir. His accomplice Eve Irene Kelley is serving more than 15 years in prison for her role in the murder. Police are still searching for a serial killer who is suspected of murdering at least eight prostitutes throughout the state. Ohio city ranked second safest small city or town in U.S. 'The final straw;' Mikesell's . Whether this is a true example of reincarnation or not is unknown. Russell Smrekar appeared in Thorntons court for his continued hearings on the two theft cases. Ted, who was studying engineering at Ohio State University at the time of Vicki's murder in 1981, said he and his sister were a lot alike. After Fry and two store managers apprehended Smrekar in the parking lot, Ruth pulled out of her space and drove off and Fry retrieved the meat package that had been under her car. Investigators haven't named a suspect and won't tell whether they know why the murders happened. Nancy Schneider, the eldest of the three Schneider daughters,had a huge outdoor party at the Schneider farm one monthprior to the stabbings. Hand received the death penalty for killing a 7-year-old boy with a hammer in Rockford. Theres no doubt he was involved in the murders of Mansfield and Martin, but the facts and evidence in those cases support that he used accomplices. Tyler concocted a plan to trick people into thinking he could use his "clairvoyant powers" to find the body. Schlichters gambling addiction dogged him throughout his life and led to multiple stints in prison. He put on his buckskin coat and walked out the front door, leaving his wallet behind. If you enjoyed this slideshow, check out more of our prior slideshows below. You have permission to edit this article. Mansfield failed to appear in court for the March hearing, and the matter was continued and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Also known as the Cleveland Torso Murderer, this unidentified serial killer murdered and dismembered at least twelve victims from among the homeless in Clevelandmany of whom remain unidentified to this day. The Coshocton farm where Cletus Reese buried the bodies of three men he killed became known as Murder Ridge.. Get even more stories delivered right to your email. But on this day, a family member had forgotten to close the garage door. Hoffman is incarcerated at the Allen Correctional Institution and is not eligible for parole. BURIED TRUTH The Unabridged Trilogy Copyright 2013, 2015, 2017 By Bonnie J. Thompson. 1976 Logan County murders and probable cover-up. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2010 refused to hear his appeal. "We were both strong-willed, stubborn," he said with a laugh. Additional evidence collected with the white T-shirt linked to similar evidence inside the Martin Catalina in Bloomington. According to investigators, on Sunday, May 29th 2005, the morning he was to graduate high school, Scott Moody walked across his family's failing dairy farm to his grandparents' farmhouse and shot them both dead with a .22-caliber rifle. The biggest red flag was thatno blood or trace evidence was found in Drabings Ford Torinodespite the victims having been stabbed 90 times, despite Drabingsprofusely bleeding leg wound, and despite the dirt and blades of dead grass found on Drabings blood-soaked jeans. The state of Ohio later paid $4.1 million to inmate victims who said overcrowding and mismanagement led to the uprising, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. Rich guitar out of the evidence room. In 1980, the FBI charged the then-Mahoning County sheriff of accepting bribes from mobsters. James Litteral became the first Athens County convict to be executed in 1930. Lincoln, IL realtorRuth Louise Martin, 51, has been missing from her home since the morning of Wednesday, June 2, 1976. I never heard Drabing or Jones say a word, but they were right beside Hanley, in Hanleys Chevy pickup, when the exchange took place. The previous year he lured a 9-year-old boy and his 7-year-old sister into the woods. One of her coworkers was surprised to find that Cindy's book that she was reading was opened to the only violent part of the book. The White male total Rose 103 per cent the Black male total 83 per cent. His crimes occurred in Ohio and West Virginia. Incident location: Lockbourne, Ohio - Franklin County . It is the right thing to do. The same day Mansfield disappeared, the burglary matter was continued to March (unbeknownst to Mansfield and Smrekar) because the two female students whose dorm room had been burgled were still on their European vacation. Glossett, a lifelong Van Wert resident, had recently turned 25 years old when he was last seen in 2016. TOLEDO, Ohio A nearly 21-year cold case may be one step closer to closure with the indictment of a suspect in the murder of a 19-year-old Toledo woman. The self-described angel of death claims he killed terminally ill or mortally injured patients to end their suffering from 1970 to 1987. Mansfield denied involvement in the burglary and said he knew nothing about the stolen guitar, but he was arrested and charged with Theft By Possession. Prior to the stabbings of Lloyd, Phyllis and Terri, two witnesses escaped through a bedroom window: the youngest Schneider daughter, 16, and Terri Schneiders boyfriend, 20. Dillinger robbed two-dozen banks and four police stations and twice escaped jail before being killed in a shootout outside a Chicago theater in 1934. McAdams disappeared before the Civil War and is rumored to have joined the Confederate Army as a spy, according to The Star-Beacon. According to police, White had been living with Schoolcraft, who was found lying across the bed with one bullet hole in the left temple. The 1800s saw the killing of Ann Lawson by two of her own slaves in 1847 prior to the Civil War even before Logan was named Logan and before West Virginia existed as a state. He pleaded guilty to her murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. No one knows for certain how many people died in that long-standing hostility. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Other murders come to mind, such as the death of Susie Fortuna, Alex Sayer, Barlow Ramey, and others. Ruth Martins remains have never been found. Cepec bludgeoned Munz with a hammer before he strangled him with a lamp cord, records show. On September 18, 75, Smrekar stole 150 record albums and an expensive B.C. Chardon High School shooter T.J. Lane killed three students and wounded three others when he opened fire at the school on Feb. 27, 2012. An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account. The Gallipolis native refused to testify in court marshal cases from the Abu Ghraib scandal and retired in 2006. But it was his execution that attracted international attention. There were/are manyanomalies in the Schneider case, too many to bring out in this writing, but Ill mention a few. Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer lived in Bath and graduated in 1978 from Revere High School. She was seen at the market talking on the payphone, and her bicycle was still out front when the store closed at 8 p.m. According to the reports filed that day, and later, the county sheriff's office received a report at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 30, 2005, that the patrol responded to a traffic crash . Risners found the 50-year-old dead in the garage behind his home in Mach 2006. Witnesses reported seeing her with a man who walked her through the parking lot. The Kirtland cult leader claimed God commanded him to kill the five members of the Avery family on April 17, 1989. Detectives found both bodies on McKnight's property in Vinton County. William A. Krueger and Thomas Maurer were the leading Lincoln PD detectives assigned to the Martin case in 76, and both men lied to me about the facts pertaining to the T-shirt. The unit offers new forensic analysis and investigative resources, according to Steve Irwin, BCI spokesman. Former Gov. Eight women were found murdered in the late 80s and 90s along major interstates in Ohio. The harasser has never been seen and the police have no leads on who he or she may be, though it's possible a neighbor, "friend," or family member is the cause, given the degree of knowledge of the Wacker's that he or she had. The facts and details relating to it are startling, and this monumental evidence seems to provide a highly probable link to the Schneider triple homicide. On Thursday, August 19, 76, wealthy Lincoln farmer Lloyd Schneider, his wife, Phyllis, and their daughter, Terri, 17, were murdered in their home stabbed a total of 90 TIMES. Historians are divided as to whether Floyd participated in the Kansas City massacre that killed four law enforcement officers in 1933. The Wow! Surveillance video showed him shoot both at a sportsman's association clubhouse in Carey, according to The Courier of Findlay. Their possessions were quietly and mysteriously returned overtime with strange messages in jagged handwriting that police suspected was written with the non dominant hand in order to conceal his/her handwriting. Bloomingburg native and former Ohio State and NFL quarterback Art Schlichter is perhaps best known for throwing the decisive interception in the 1978 Gator Bowl. We didn't simply focus on convicted criminals (although the list has its share), instead we decided to focus on people who were noteworthy for nefarious reasons, but who were not necessarily found guilty of a crime. Patrick Pidock has been sentenced to 18 years to life in prison for the 2012 murder of his girlfriend in New Lexington. More Jimmy Hoffa. But federal agents arrested the notorious madam during a 1971 raid at her Round the Clock Grille. In 2007, Smrekar wrote to me and avowed, Everybody likes a good whodonnit, [sic] and reality is that they [the Mansfield and Martin cases] are and will remain unto eternity unsolved. Its hard for me to believe he suddenly got religion and confessed after making that proclamation. Investigators never disclosed a motive for the massacre, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Quattlebaum committed suicide in prison in 2013, according to The Marietta Times. Investigators found 11 bodies buried at Herb Baumeisters farm outside Indianapolis in 1996. Since Ruths remains have never been found, I have serious questions about the LPDs haste to close the Martin case, particularly when the Lincoln PD has suspiciously claimed the bloody T-shirt is missing and facts prove detectives have lied about it. A Florida jury convicted him in 1992 and he died by lethal injection in 2008. The notorious bank robber Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd committed crimes across the U.S. and became the FBI's Public Enemy No. In light of Kruegers egregious lies and the importance of the details relating to the T-shirt, that evidence most assuredly did not disappear (if its really missing) by accident, and it also didnt sprout legs and walk out of the LPD on its own. Dillon was arrested on weapons charges in 1992 and later pleaded guilty to the murders to avoid the death penalty. Each served two years in prison. Former Lucas County Republican Party chairman Tom Noe is serving 18 years in prison for taking $13.7 million from $50 million the state's Bureau of Worker's Compensation invested in rare-coin funds. Carol Zastudils page from the Unsolved Homicides Database. Officers said Mrs. Serey had been despondent since the birth of her last child. Murder Mysteries: . He never told his mother who called, he just said he was going out for an hour or so and would be back. There were/are manyanomalies in the Schneider case, too many to bring out in this writing, but Ill mention a few. Ruth disappeared on a weekday during morning hours, sometime around 9:15. Both women are still living, and one cant seem to keep her stories straight. The murders occurred in Belmont, Coshocton, Muskingum, Noble and Tuscarawas counties. Smrekar was arrested and charged with Theft Under $150, and Fry became a key witness in the case. A few months later, in early March, a cunning cat burglar climbed a ladder to a second floor rear window of the Lincoln PD and stole the recovered B.C. Oakwood resident Judith Hawkey was sentenced to life in prison for ordering her then-10-year-old stepson to shoot her husband in 2003. He then spent seven years in prison for taking bribes, racketeering and filing false tax returns. McGuires family filed a federal lawsuit after he gasped and choked throughout the 24-minute process. Kruegers lies have been exceptionally profound everything hes claimed about the T-shirt directly opposes established documented facts. But the state's history also includes notorious figures such as bank robber John Dillinger and Watergate cover-up artist John Dean. The death of Mrs. Serey was the 8th suicide of the year back in June 1952 a significant year in that it was a point in time when Logan County voters chose 9,311 to 2,745 to pass a referendum for using voting machines in future elections. The car showed signs of having been driven off the beaten track, and it was later learned that Ruth had the right front tire filled on June 1st because of a slow leak. On Thursday, August 19, 76, wealthy Lincoln farmer Lloyd Schneider, his wife, Phyllis, and their daughter, Terri, 17, were murdered in their home stabbed a total of 90 TIMES. The Lincoln PD said Smrekar admitted burying Martin under the new construction of I-55 (an area that can never be excavated), which was underway to replace Route 66 at the time of Ruths disappearance. Each of the identified victims were suspected to be prostitutes, and each of those women were believed to work at truck stops. Farmhand Louis Hand executed at 17 years old in 1944 is among the youngest people executed in state history. Federal agents captured Reese Bailey during a 1935 shootout at a Jackson County farmhouse. Smrekar was ultimately convicted for the Fry double homicide and sentenced to two consecutive terms of 100 to 300 years. Wells, 18, was found dead in the middle of a street in a retirement neighborhood that he had no known connection to, about 10 miles from his home in Bond Hill in June 1999. The Evidence Receipt confirms the T-shirt was returned to the LPD on July 1, 76, and Krueger is the one who signed off for its return. No one has seen him since that cold December day. Cold cases and unsolved crimes in Meigs County, OH. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As we showed you earlier this month, the Buckeye state has its share of famous natives. States Attorney Thompson and his assistant, John Foltz, offered to defer Mansfields charges if he would agree to turn states evidence and testify against Smrekar in the burglary case. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023).