Wednesday, August 19, 1998
A Hamilton County judge on Tuesday sentenced a North Fairmount man convicted of killing his ex-wife to life in prison.
Common Pleas Judge Fred Cartolano sentenced Herschel Slaughter, 48, on an aggravated-murder conviction to life imprisonment with eligibility for parole in 30 years. The judge added another 10 years to be served consecutively for an aggravated-robbery charge. A jury chose two weeks ago not to sentence Mr. Slaughter to death. He was convicted of killing his ex-wife, Antoinette Slaughter, on Dec. 13 in her Mount Auburn apartment.
Missing housekeeper took bus to Mexico
SPRINGDALE -- A 32-year-old Glendale housekeeper who disappeared Friday while shopping at Tri-County Mall has been located, police said.
The Mexican woman, who speaks "very little English," worked for a Glendale resident. Her employer dropped her off at the mall Friday with $100 cash, a bag of laundry and the employer's telephone number. But the woman was not heard from after that, police said. Springdale police said the woman, Yolanda Silva, was located Monday night after a relative in Texas notified police that she had traveled from Tri-County Mall to Mexico.
"What happened was she lost her (employer's) number; and since she could speak very little English, she panicked, and the only place she knew to go was the Cincinnati bus depot," said Springdale Patrolman Al Maupin. "She went there and caught a bus to Mexico." Police said they were told Ms. Silva was on her way back to Ohio from Mexico.
Board approves loan for Browns stadium
COLUMBUS -- Lawmakers cleared the way for continued construction of the new Cleveland Browns stadium Tuesday with the state Controlling Board's approval of a $21.7 million low-interest loan.
The 20-year loan, which carries a 5 percent interest rate, is the remainder of the state's commitment to pay 15 percent toward the football stadium's $247 million price tag.
The Browns are scheduled to begin their first season in 1999. The city has been without a National Football League team since Art Modell moved his team to Baltimore after the 1995 season.
The state already has paid $15 million toward the stadium project. Cleveland City Council, which must agree to accept the money, was scheduled to vote on it today, said Diane Downing, stadium project manager.
Lawmakers had delayed the request twice since late July. Several members raised questions about the propriety of the state's spending money on stadiums while under an Ohio Supreme Court order to fix the way it pays for public schools.
Prison stabbing list grows from 13 to 19
CLEVELAND -- A newly disclosed court document says there have been 19 stabbings at a private prison in Youngstown since March, not 13 as the warden testified last week.
Jimmy Turner, warden of the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center (NOCC), told a legislative committee that 13 stabbings, including two deaths, had occurred before he took charge in late March. Mr. Turner said there has been one inmate stabbing since then, which he said was self-inflicted.
But a document filed in a federal court case in March reports 19 stabbings, including the slayings, from May 1997 to March 15, 1998. The document is part of a lawsuit filed by inmates against Corrections Corp. of America (CCA), the prison's operator.
Cincinnati civil rights lawyer Alphonse Gerhardstein released the document, which shows a total of 45 assaults at the prison.
Mr. Gerhardstein, who represents the inmates in their lawsuit, said Tuesday he made a list that documents all the assaults at the prison. Because CCA did not challenge his findings, the document was entered into evidence.
Mr. Gerhardstein said he released the document to challenge Mr. Turner's remarks about the 13 stabbings. He also sent a letter outlining his concerns to Peter Davis, executive director of the state's Correctional Institution Inspection Committee, the legislative panel investigating the July 25 escape of six inmates from NOCC.
"We're dealing with a company with credibility problems," Mr. Gerhardstein said. "We need independent eyes and ears to watch out for the staff and inmates at the prison and to make it safer." Mr. Turner said he never saw the court document until Tuesday. He said that when the state panel asked him how many stabbings had happened at the prison he was uncertain.
"I didn't know how many stabbings had been there when they asked me," he said. "I turned to my attorney and he told me 13, and I repeated that to the panel."
Mr. Davis said after reviewing the court document that it appeared that "there is even poor communication between CCA and its own internal folk."
Brother indicted in Delhi Twp. death
A Hamilton County grand jury indicted a Delhi Township man Tuesday in the shooting death of his older brother Aug. 9.
Daniel J. Cooney, 38, was indicted on a charge of aggravated murder Tuesday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. He is accused of using a .22-caliber handgun to shoot his 45-year-old brother, Kenneth Cooney, in the Delhi Pike home they shared.
Mr. Cooney could face a sentence of life in prison with eligibility for parole after 20 years.
Tuesday night, Mr. Cooney was being held in the Hamilton County Justice Center in Cincinnati on a $1 million bond.
