COVINGTON -- As the prosecution announced Monday that it would seek the death penalty against the man charged in last week's killing of a Crestview Hills woman, authorities looked for possible links to an earlier slaying here.
Fred Scott Furnish, 30, of Covington is being held in the Kenton County Jail without bond after he was arrested Sunday at the Lakeside Park - Crestview Hills police station and charged with murder and first-degree burglary in the death of Ramona Jean Williamson. A bond hearing has been set for today in Kenton District Court.
Authorities think Mr. Furnish, who has a record of burglary convictions, was burglarizing the 66-year-old woman's Calumet Court home when he was surprised by Mrs. Williamson.
A housekeeper discovered Mrs. Williamson's bloodied body in the bathtub of her home just after 1 p.m. Thursday.
"Mr. Furnish was familiar with the Williamson residence because he had performed certain services there in the past," said Doug Grothaus, assistant commonwealth attorney in Kenton County. He declined to elaborate on what services Mr. Furnish had performed, or say what led police to consider Mr. Furnish a suspect in Mrs. Williamson's murder.
While Mr. Grothaus would not comment on possible links to the Nov. 25 death of Doris Bertsch, Covington authorities said they have been looking at Mr. Furnish in connection with the 70-year-old woman's death.
Like Mrs. Williamson, Mrs. Bertsch, who lived in Covington's Kenton Hills area, was an older woman who was killed when she surprised a burglar.
"We're looking at Mr. Furnish (in connection with Mrs. Bertsch's death), but we're not prepared to say he's a suspect," Covington Assistant Police Chief Steve Schmidt said Monday.
Mr. Furnish lives on Forest Avenue in West Covington, which is a few hundred yards from Mrs. Bertsch's home.
Lt. Col. Schmidt said there are similarities between the crime scenes in the two slayings.
However, he said Covington police are awaiting the analysis of evidence sent to the FBI laboratory in Washington, D.C., earlier this year. "We hope to have it back within the next month," Lt. Col. Schmidt said.
Jail records show Mr. Furnish was convicted of second-degree burglary and sentenced to the state corrections facility in LaGrange, Ky. He escaped in 1989, was recaptured and was charged with second-degree escape.
Mr. Furnish was twice charged with parole violation, in 1993 and 1995. He also was found guilty of third-degree assault in 1996, and was charged with terroristic threatening and fourth-degree assault in 1986.
Carmen Trotta, chairman of the neighborhood watch group in the Lookout Farm Subdivision, said he, like many of his neighbors, was relieved to know that a suspect had been arrested in Mrs. Williamson's murder.
While there were two burglaries in the neighborhood about six months ago, authorities could not recall a violent crime there.
