Evidence in a 40-year-old murder case could be reexamined for possible DNA that could exonerate the person convicted of the crime. Van Wert County judge Martin Burchfield has ordered that an inventory of the evidence in the case against 78-year-old John Spirko be made by the Van Wert and Hancock County Sheriff's Offices and the United States postal inspectors. The agencies have until the end of January 2025 to comply with his order.
August 8, 2024, Press Release from the Office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost: (HUDSON, Ohio) — In another victory for cross-agency collaboration on Ohio’s cold cases, BCI investigators and forensic scientists have linked the brutal attacks in 1987 of two northeastern Ohio females – one fatal – to the same suspect. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Hudson Police Chief Perry Tabak and Cuyahoga Falls Police Chief Christopher Norfolk today announced that Thomas Collier Jordan, who died in 2009 in Arizona, was responsible for the rape and homicide of a 30-year-old woman in Hudson Township and the rape of a 17-year-old girl in Cuyahoga Falls. Jordan was identified through extensive detective work and forensic analysis conducted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Cold Case Unit at the request of the Hudson Police Department.
No trial date has been set for the three men charged with the death of Officer Dominic Francis. Emin Johnson, Zachary Love, and Dante Tate are all in jail awaiting their next court appearance. A list of evidence was filed with the Hancock Common Pleas Court that could be used during their trial. Some of the evidence includes DNA testing of the two vehicles, including the steering wheel, that were used during the crime. There is also DNA testing from the weapons that were found after their arrest. Plus, a toxicology report for Johnson who law enforcement believe was driving when Francis was struck and killed while he was deploying a stop stick on I-75 during a police chase. They are all facing a variety of charges some including improper handling of firearms in a vehicle and receiving stolen property. Johnson is facing additional charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated vehicular homicide.
John Kehoe, 35 was arraigned Friday on 3 Rape charges in Allen County Common Pleas Court. Kehoe pleaded not guilty to all counts.
The indictment says all three counts happened in January of this year involving the same female victim. The victim went to the hospital and samples were taken, Kehoe was arrested after results of a test matched his DNA.
After 20 years of searching for the family he never knew, an Alaska man finally found the answers he has been looking for right here in Lima, all thanks to Ancestry DNA.
A new technique in criminal investigations is leading to cold cases being cracked like the Golden State Killer.
39 year old Lonny Lee entered a plea of guilty to 4 of the 10 counts against him. Lee was facing multiple counts of rape and felonious assault, plus charges for kidnapping and attempted rape, before he took the plea deal.
