BY PHILLIP PINA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Prosecutors gave Dorthea Slaughter a photograph of her mother to identify in court Tuesday, and for nearly four minutes, her eyes focused only on the image.
Before her sat her father, Herschel Slaughter, accused of beating Antoinette Slaughter to death. As lawyers shuffled through the courtroom and even after she answered a few questions, Ms. Slaughter's eyes did not move from the picture.
It was a photo of her mother's bloodied body on her bed. It was the scene Dorthea Slaughter found on Dec. 13, 1997. Antoinette Slaughter, 44, of Mount Auburn died early that morning after being struck with a 3 1/2-foot, 6-pound metal bar. Her body rested in a pool of blood. That day, the scene made Dorthea Slaughter "hysterical." The trial of Mr. Slaughter, 48, charged with aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and aggravated murder with death-penalty specifications, started Tuesday before Judge Fred Cartolano of Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
The victim and Mr. Slaughter were married about 18 years before they divorced in 1988. They had three daughters in a relationship marred by domestic violence, said assistant county prosecutor Bill Anderson.
The couple got into an argument on Dec. 12, the night before her death. Antoinette Slaughter told her ex-husband he could not come back that night, because her boyfriend was coming over, Mr. Anderson said in his opening statement to the jury.
Mr. Slaughter left her apartment and that evening made a deal to sell a woman a stereo system. Later that night, Mr. Slaughter broke into his ex-wife's apartment, Mr. Anderson said. She was in bed, asleep.
"He beat his wife's head at least four times. She was left to die," Mr. Anderson said.
Mr. Slaughter's attorney, Nicholas Perrino, in his opening statement, said Mr. Slaughter spent the night using drugs and drinking. He walked by his ex-wife's apartment later and felt something was wrong while looking in a window. He entered the apartment and spotted her body. He left, and later told his mother.
The trial's first witness was Dorthea Slaughter. She told jurors she got a phone call about 6:20 a.m. Dec. 13, from Mr. Slaughter's mother, who told her something was wrong with Antoinette Slaughter. Dorthea Slaughter found her mother in bed with a sheet pulled over her head. Dorthea Slaughter pulled the sheet back and saw her mother's beaten head. She immediately covered her up and ran for help.
Police noticed that her mother's stereo was missing. Mr. Slaughter had sold the radio early that morning for $50, Mr. Anderson said.
