BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BELLEVUE -- Early Saturday, someone broke into Cathleen Mitts' home, beat her with an aluminum baseball bat as she slept in her bed, then, apparently remorseful, called 911 from the dying woman's kitchen.
Moments later, Bellevue police officers responding to that call spotted Daniel Chenot running down a nearby alley. The 25-year-old Newport man, who was on parole in Kenton County for other burglaries, was apprehended and charged with two counts of burglary, fleeing police and assault.
That latter charge probably will be upgraded to murder today, Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Jack Porter said Sunday, because doctors at University Hospital declared Mrs. Mitts brain-dead Sunday morning. The 50-year-old mother of three remains on life support until doctors can remove her organs for donation.
When life support is turned off, the homicide will be the third in 20 years in Bellevue, a city of 7,000.
"The entire incident is incredibly tragic," Bellevue Sgt. William Cole said.
Mr. Chenot, who was placed on suicide watch, is being held without bond in the Campbell County Jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned this morning in Campbell District Court.
Bellevue Police Chief Rick Sears said Mr. Chenot stated he was responsible for the beating -- as well as several other crimes.
Police said Mr. Chenot told them he spent the night drinking at Miller's Fill-Inn bar on nearby Donnermeyer Drive. When it closed, he said, he headed to the Foote Avenue home of a teen-age girl he knew casually and picked up a knife he found on a backyard grill.
He told police he wanted to break into the girl's home because "he fantasized about cutting pretty women on the face," Sgt. Cole said.
He told police he searched for duct tape in a nearby pickup, intending to tape a window to smash it quietly. He couldn't find any and slashed the tires of the pickup in frustration.
He decided to try his luck elsewhere.
At about 3:40 a.m. in the 300 block of Washington Avenue, he scaled a locked fence that encircled the home of Mrs. Mitts and her husband, Ed, and broke into the family's garage. He couldn't find anything he wanted -- except a baseball bat, he later told police. Noticing that the Mitts' front door was open, he used the stolen knife to slash the screen and unlock the screen door.
Once inside, he said, he saw someone lying in bed. He beat the sleeping woman in the head three or four times with the baseball bat he had taken from the garage, he told police. After he turned on the lights and saw how badly hurt she was, he panicked.
"He tried to awaken her. He put his head on her chest to listen to her heart," Sgt. Cole said.
After making the 911 call, he ran from the Mitts' home, he told police, tossing the bat into a sewer at Taylor and Eden avenues. After a short foot chase, police caught him at Fairfield and Foote avenues.
Mr. Chenot later led police to the bat, which was recovered and is being tested for fingerprints and blood evidence, Sgt. Cole said.
Mr. Mitts had fallen asleep while watching television in another room. He didn't hear the attack and didn't awaken until police pounded on his door to check on his wife, Sgt. Cole said.
Besides the charges related to the attack on Mrs. Mitts, Mr. Chenot, who lived with a girlfriend in the 800 block of Washington Avenue in Newport, was charged with attempted burglary and criminal mischief for the incidents on Foote Avenue.
He also stated he committed a burglary and rape that occurred Sept. 19 on Ross Avenue. He allegedly used a knife and broken shovel to threaten a woman before sexually assaulting her. He has now been charged with rape and burglary in that incident.
Police did not test Mr. Chenot's blood alcohol level, saying he was clearly drunk and admitted he "had been intoxicated for the previous two weeks," Sgt. Cole said.
"He understood what he was doing," he said. "He was able to put things together, to figure out how to break into a home."
Prosecutors have not decided what punishment to seek. But Mr. Porter said: "This sounds to me, initially, like a death penalty case."
Authorities also plan to investigate Mr. Chenot's possible involvement in other unsolved burglaries and rapes in Northern Kentucky, Sgt. Cole said.
