BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. -- A Covington man with a record of burglary convictions is to appear in Kenton District Court today on charges of capital murder and first-degree burglary in the death of Ramona Jean Williamson. Fred Furnish, 31, of Forest Avenue, was being held Sunday in the Kenton County Jail without bond. His court appearance is scheduled for 8:30 a.m.
Lakeside Park-Crestview Hills Police Authority officials would not discuss the arrest Sunday. A spokesman at the police station said Chief Fred Anderson would not be available for comment until today.
Mrs. Williamson's body was found in the bathtub of her Calumet Court home Thursdayby a housekeeper. Authorities have so far declined to say how she died, but an autopsy was conducted.
Records at the jail show that Mr. Furnish was convicted of second-degree burglary and sentenced to the state corrections facility in LaGrange, Ky., in 1988. He escaped in 1989, and was recaptured and charged with second-degree escape.
He was twice charged with parole violation, in 1993 and 1995. He also was charged with terroristic threatening and fourth-degree assault in 1986.
A spokesman at the jail said Mr. Furnish was brought in at 2 a.m. Sunday. No information was available on where he was arrested or what led police to him.
Covington police reportedly wanted to interview Mr. Furnish about the murder of 70-year-old Doris Bertsch at her Panorama Drive home Nov. 25, 1997.
Detectives said they think Mrs. Bertsch was killed when she interrupted a burglary. Mr. Furnish's home on Forest Avenue is a few hundred yards from Mrs. Bertsch's house.
A woman who answered the phone at the Furnish residence Sunday refused comment.
Police have also indicated that Mrs. Williamson probably surprised a burglar when she returned home Thursday. In both cases, entry was gained to the homes through a rear door.
Officers from Covington and the Kenton County Police have been working with Lakeside Park-Crestview Hills police on the case. Police theorized that the killer parked on a road below Mrs. Williamson's house, walked through some woods and broke in through the rear door.
Richard Noah, a friend of Mrs. Williamson's who has lived across the street from the victim for 15 years, said Sunday he was relieved to hear that an arrest had been made.
"That's really good news," the 78-year-old retiree said. "It sounds like things moved quickly. That's good, because I think everyone was concerned."
Carmen Trotta, chairman of the neighborhood watch group in the subdivision, said he had received numerous calls from residents expressing relief when they heard of the arrest.
"I'm trying to keep people calm, and they are calm," Mr. Trotta said. "This is an excellent neighborhood. This should never have happened."
