January Murders

January marks the anniversary of 3 of our homicide victims. (You can read their complete stories on the right.)
James Brenneman went missing in January of 1971. His body was later found in the Ohio River.
Irvin Keefer was murdered on January 13, 1976. He was shot to death outside his mini mart in Glenmoor., and James Anthony Sr. was beaten during a robbery on January 27, 1996. He died 5 years later from injuries sustained during that beating.
Please pray for these families.

New t-shirts

This is what the new t-shirts will look like for this summer.
Hard to believe we have this many more unsolved homicides than on the last t-shirt.
Hopefully, they will available in a bunch of different colors and sizes.
Please let me know if you would like to be a sponsor. Every sponsor helps ensure that we will be able to pay for all of the outings that we have booked for this year. Getting out into the community is the one sure way we have to spread the word and get leads in these cases. Prices for sponsors are $100, $50 and $25. this price covers every shirt printed for the 09 year.
As always, you can email me for more information at mom2zack@peoplepc.com.

Where is Louise Davis?

This is Louise Davis. She lived in East Liverpool, Ohio. On June 21, 1979 she was laying out in her back yard when an old friend drove up. He told her he had gotten back together with his wife, Darla, and she wanted to see Louise. Happily, Louise ran into to her house and told her mom about it. She said she was going with her friend and would be back at about 7:30. Her family watched her get into his car and waved as they drove away. They never saw her again.
The friend she drove away with was this man, Robert Wooten. His story was very different. He said he was helping her to run away. He said she had a suitcase stashed in the woods below her house. He said he picked her up and took her.....
here. This was a bus station thirty years ago. It is now the East Liverpool Street Department. It is also not one mile from......
the house that Louise was living in. On the day she disappeared she left behind all of her possessions. The family has no idea what suitcase Mr. Wooten was talking about. She left behind $300 in cash. But most puzzling of all, she disappeared just two weeks before a grave stone was to be put in over her baby daughters grave. It was a stone that she worked two jobs to pay for. She was so happy that she was able to mark her daughter Linda's final resting place. But she never got to see it.
And then, to the horror of an entire city, a woman named Debbie Taylor was murdered just four days after Louise went missing. It was June 25, 1979. Not only was Debbie murdered (beaten to death) but so was two of her three children. Jesse was her six year old son and Billie Jo was her four year old daughter. Both were also beaten to death.
This empty lot is the site of the home they once shared. The house is long gone, even down to the stairs leading up to their home. And their murderer? Robert Wooten. He is now serving three consecutive life sentences for this horrific crime. However, on February 17, 2009 he is due for his third parole hearing. This monster could get out of jail.
This is the house that Mr. Wooten lived in at the time of the murders. In 1980 a tip was received that lead police to the basement of this home where they found, stuffed in a paper bag the clothes that Louise was last seen in. Unfortunately the police, despite this evidence, still believed Mr. Wooten's story about Louise running away. A few years later these clothes that were found in the basement of the home that Wooten had lived in at the time of the crimes he committed, were burned. No one knew that there would be something someday called DNA testing.
Louise's family found themselves on their own. They searched valiantly for her body any where that rumors lead them. Like up in the woods across from Grimms Bridge. They brought a shovel here and dug for her themselves.
To this day they wonder if her body ended up deep in the back of this tunnel hidden away forever.
Which brings us back to the infamous Alpha Street. It is rumored that her body is here, perhaps in a well or buried up in the woods somewhere.
Today Louise would be 47 years old. She never once has contacted her family. Her parents died never knowing what happened to their beloved daughter. Where is Louise? What happened to her? She is out there somewhere. Please help her family to find her. It's about time she was laid to rest beside her parents and her little daughter Linda. It's about time her family had some peace.

The Question Remains...Why Has No One Ever Been Charged With Dalton Springers' Death????

This story in the paper this morning brings me right back to my point in the Dalton Springer case. Why has no one EVER been charged in this case? Someone was responsible for that poor little 3 year old boys death!!

EP?man pleads guilty

By MARY ANN GREIER/mgreier@reviewonline.com

POSTED: January 13, 2009

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LISBON - A man charged in the death of his 15-month-old nephew pled guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter and endangering children, although he didn't appear to agree with what the prosecutor said the evidence would have shown.

Joshua Courtney, 22, whose last known address was East Palestine, entered the guilty pleas to the first and second-degree felony counts in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court before Judge C. Ashley Pike, who set sentencing for 2 p.m. March 20.

Assistant Prosecutor Tim McNicol said he'll recommend prison terms of nine years for the manslaughter charge and eight years for the endangering children charge, but to be served at the same time for a total of nine years. The possible maximum sentence would be consecutive terms of 10 and eight years for a total of 18 years. The minimum would be three years for one charge and two years for the other.

McNicol told the court that on Dec. 16, 2007, Courtney was caring for his nephew, Landon, at his girlfriend's residence on South Market Street in East Palestine. He was the sole caretaker at that time when the child became unresponsive and he called for help. According to McNicol, the Summit County Coroner's Office said the child suffered head injuries consistent with being shaken and striking a blunt object.

When asked by Pike if that was what happened, Courtney disagreed, but said he was still pleading guilty.

Later, McNicol said no one else was home at the time to see what happened. Following his arrest, he said Courtney claimed nothing had happened, but then altered his statement later claiming he fell down steps while holding the child. McNicol, though, said the coroner's office found that the injuries were not consistent with a fall as described by the defendant.

Heather Courtney, the mother of the victim and sister of the defendant, was in the courtroom, along with her mother, Mary Clunen, of Salem, also the mother of the defendant. Heather Courtney said she told her brother to take the plea, but added, "I know he's not guilty."

She and her mother both raised questions about Courtney's girlfriend, who had been caring for the child at her residence. The child lived with her even though Heather had custody. Heather explained that she has three other children, but Landon had a brain disorder which affected the mobility on his right side and he had to go to physical therapy five days per week.

She had no vehicle and her mother was working all the time, so an arrangement was made for the girlfriend to take him. Heather and her mother also claimed there were signs of possible abuse previous to Landon's death, but the signs weren't recognized until after he was gone.

"When this happened, everything clicked," Clunen said.

In answer to their claims, McNicol said the girlfriend was at work in North Lima when the incident occurred and the coroner's office finding was very clear that the onset of symptoms that something was wrong occurred immediately after the injury.

McNicol said there was "no evidence that she was at all involved with the infliction of injuries."

Courtney had been out of prison about a month when the incident occurred. He had been sentenced to two years in prison on May 22, 2006 for robbery, a second-degree felony, related to the assault and robbery of a pizza delivery driver in Salem on Nov. 16, 2005. He had originally been indicted for aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, for the assault on West 13th Street.

Documents said he and his co-defendants robbed the pizza delivery man of $40, hit him in the head, knocked him to the ground and kicked him, causing a broken nose and orbital fracture. Courtney received credit for time served in the county jail, leading to his release from prison in November 2007.

Some info for you....

Robert Wooton that murdered Debbie Taylor and her 2 children is due up for parol next month. he is the main suspect also in the disappearence of Louise Davis featured here on our site at the right. Please write letters or visit the websites to object to this monster being released from prison.
Thank you!

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction770 West Broad StreetColumbus, Ohio 43222 Office of Victims Services1-888-842-8464 www.drc.ohio.gov info on Victims Rights WeeKwww.ncvc.org

More Officers=Lower Crime

The following is an article in The Salem News. It is proof that if we had more Deputies on the roads, the crime rate would drop in this county... Here is something to ponder....Washingtonville has 14 officers for that little bitty town and we have 19 sheriff's deputies for the entire county... Anyone see a problem here???

Crime lower

Washingtonville releases stats

By MATTHEW WHITE

POSTED: January 9, 2009

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WASHINGTONVILLE - Washingtonville Police Chief John Finch said the village's crime rate dropped 11 percent in 2008.

According to statistics in the department's annual report, 62 arrests were made in 2008, which is eight fewer than the 70 arrests made in 2007.

Nearly all of the arrests, 59, were for misdemeanor, or less serious, criminal activities.

"Eighty-percent of law enforcement is officer presence," Finch said. "People are deterred [from committing crimes] because we're out there."

In addition to the arrests, the police department responded to 5,312 security checks, 482 public service calls and 11 traffic accidents.

In his four months as chief, Finch has built upon the structure put in place by former chief Jim Craven, who is now serving as the department's staff sergeant.

Finch added the department's first female officer, Becky Nickelson, and several male officers to form a complete staff of 15 part-time officers.

In addition, the department replaced an aged police

See STATS, Page 5A

cruiser with a new one and updated its computer system.

Finch praised the report, which was prepared by Craven, saying it is very important in fighting crime.

"The man's very intelligent. He prepared a great report," Finch said. "It lets us know what areas we need to be in and when we need to be there to reduce crime."

Matthew White may be contacted at mwhite@salemnews.net.

Update on J.C. Amato

The following is a story in todays' Morning Journal. I thought I'd pass it along. Hopefully, this will be a good thing....

LISBON - A Jefferson County Common Pleas Court judge has been chosen to decide whether police were justified in obtaining a search warrant against a murder suspect that resulted in additional charges being filed.

The Ohio Supreme Court chose Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr. to decide the issue involving J.C. Amato Jr., who is scheduled to go on trial next month for allegedly murdering his wife, Tonia Amato, at their Wellsville home on July 1, 2007.

Amato Jr. has admitted shooting his wife but claims it was in self-defense after she shot at him with a handgun during a domestic dispute.

Since the shooting, Amato Jr. has been living with his parents at their Yellow Creek Township home. In September 2008, investigators obtained a court order to search the home for the handgun used to shoot Ms. Amato because the firearm in possession of authorities didn't match the bullet recovered at the scene with her DNA.

During the search, investigators reportedly found various firearms in Amato Jr.'s bedroom, along with several pipebombs and components. This resulted in Amato Jr. also being charged with possessing a dangerous ordnance (pipe bombs) and having firearms while under indictment.

Defense attorney James Hartford filed a motion seeking to throw out the search warrant and the evidence that resulted in the additional charges being filed against Amato Jr., saying investigators lacked the legal basis to obtain the warrant and Judge C. Ashley Pike erred in granting their request.

A visiting judge had to be appointed to handle Hartford's motion because it would be a conflict of interest for Pike to rule on a decision he made.

tgiambroni@mojonews.com

Attention Commissioners!!

The story in today's Morning Journal about the Sheriff needing funding needs to be addressed. (story is at the bottom of the page) The Sheriff's Department is so severely undermanned at the moment and it is time for the citizens of Columbiana County to stand up and scream for more funding!!
Above is a map of our county. (Click on the map to enlarge.) The red areas are covered by different police departments and the other areas are all the jurisdiction of The Sheriff's Department. It is really eye opening to see this huge area and know that there are only 2 deputies patrolling this entire area at most given times. This is a very serious issue and the commissioners that control where the money goes, have decided that it is NOT a priority at the present time. According to the article in today's paper, there are a lot of departments in need of this money... Can someone please tell me what is more important than the safety and protection of the citizens in our county? Please call your commissioners and ask them to reconsider their decision on this matter. If we stay on this same path, there will never be a safe citizen in this county again and please remember` it is NOT the Sheriff's Department's fault if they can not get to you in the event of an emergency.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year! Today myself and Kim have been busy planning events for the next few weeks. We have tons of things to do and are just trying to organize things a bit. We have meetings scheduled, and we have a lot of letters to get out to potential sponsors for all of the events in 2009.
We are going out to get sponsors for the new t-shirts in the next few weeks also, so if you would like to reserve a spot on the shirts, please give Kim or me a call.
I have decided to go back to the original crime scene artwork for the shirts this year. We will offer a variety of colors but the message will remain the same. The only difference being that from our original 7 names, now we have so many more (26 total) to include! Not exactly the plan in the beginning. We were once very optimistic that we would have the word "SOLVED" by some of the names. We never expected to have more and more names added before any were solved.
That's okay though....if we can get enough information out there to enough people, eventually, we will get some of these solved...
It is a new year and I am very hopeful!
Please be safe and hug the one's you love! You never know....someday you may reach out to hug them and they won't be there......