BY JANE PRENDERGAST and EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- Hours after a Crestview Hills woman was found strangled in her bathtub, the man accused of killing her showed up at the Travelodge Riverfront in Newport with a bag of her jewelry, police say.
Freddie Scott Furnish went to the motel for a party the night of June 25 and brought Jean Williamson's rings and necklaces along, giving some of them to his friends to pawn, according to court testimony Tuesday.
Investigators were led to Mr. Furnish by a receipt found on Ms. Williamson's kitchen table. The receipt was for carpet cleaning performed May 19 by Mr. Furnish and another worker, said Officer Tony Embry of the Lakeside Park-Crestview Hills Police Authority. The case against Mr. Furnish was turned over to a grand jury after Tuesday's hearing. Judge Ann Ruttle of Kenton District Court ordered him to remain held without bond.
A housekeeper called police when she found Ms. Williamson's body the afternoon of June 25. Jewelry boxes in two bedrooms had been ransacked, Officer Embry testified, though no forced entry was found. Ms. Williamson lived in the Calumet Court house with a daughter.
Two daughters sat in a Covington courtroom Tuesday listening to Commonwealth Attorney Don Buring and public defender Mary Rafizadeh question Officer Embry.
Mr. Furnish, 30, was arrested June 28, but Ms. Rafizadeh said he was questioned about 12 hours before being charged. He neither admitted nor denied any involvement in the killing, Officer Embry said.
Several witnesses, including Chief Fred Anderson, saw Mr. Furnish walking in the area of Ms. Williamson's house the day she was killed.
Later Tuesday, about two dozen members of the Lookout Farm Neighborhood Watch Program met to discuss how they can better protect themselves. Suggestions included having residents turn the lights on outside their homes when they are away, notify neighbors when they leave town and make sure they know the background of people they let inside their homes to repair items.
Two signs posted inside the meeting room listed things residents should do to protect themselves.
Jim Walsh, vice president of the Lookout Farm Homeowners Association, started the meeting by saying, "I know it's quite a tragedy for our community."
Residents also discussed three robberies that have occurred there since December. One man, who did not want to be identified, asked about acquiring a 24-hour security checkpoint where incoming and outgoing vehicles are recorded.
But Rita Wahl said the checkpoint might give residents a false sense of security and result in less concerned neighbors.
Some residents said neighbors are closer today than they've been in years as a result of the slaying.
