The Ohio Attorney General has announced that there is still more evidence to sift through regarding the man recently arrested in connection with the disappearance of three women. This would be in addition to the 329 felony charges already filed against the man. He is currently being held on a bond of $8 million.
The charges include seven charges of “gross sexual imposition,” 177 kidnapping charges, 139 rape charges and one charge of possessing criminal tools. The charges are related to the alleged kidnapping of three women between Aug. 2002 and Feb. 2007. The case began back in May of this year when a woman made a 911 call indicating that she had been kidnapped nearly 10 years ago after breaking out a house reportedly occupied by the man that was arrested.
According to preliminary reports, the first woman disappeared in Aug. 2002. She and the two other women were allegedly kidnapped and repeatedly assaulted. One of the women says she attempted to escape once, and when she was caught, she was assaulted while the cord of a vacuum was held around her neck.
The man the state of Ohio says is responsible for these crimes has entered a plea of not guilty to all charges currently filed against him. He and his defense counsel now have the unenviable task of sifting through all of the evidence and statements for each of the felony charges. Considering the volume of information there may be, it could take a considerable amount of time to prepare a defense. In the meantime, it will be up to prosecutors to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the man currently in custody perpetrated these crimes.
Source: dailyjournal.net, “Ohio attorney general: Crime lab checking new evidence in Cleveland kidnapping, rape case,” Thomas J. Sheeran, June 14, 2013
