Wednesday, April 14, 1999
Sentence delayed in manslaughter
Judge: Freeman not lucid enough
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BURLINGTON — Larry Ray Freeman, who has confessed to burying Diane Washer near Gunpowder Creek almost five years ago, wasn't lucid enough to be sentenced Tuesday for first-degree manslaughter.
He couldn't stand and was having hallucinations because of medication that a jail doctor had prescribed for him, said Campbell Circuit Judge Joseph “Jay” Bamberger. The judge did not know how long Mr. Freeman had been taking the medicine.
Mr. Freeman had urged deputies with the Boone County Sheriff's Department to take him to the courtroom, but he was in no shape for a court appearance, Judge Bamberger said.
Mr. Freeman, 27, of Union, faces between 10 and 20 years in prison.
Relatives of Mrs. Washer immediately stood when Judge Bamberger mentioned the medication problems and pushed back Mr. Freeman's sentencing to Monday. They felt that the court's schedule was being rearranged solely for Mr. Freeman's convenience.
“Everything has been for Larry Freeman's convenience for the last year,” said Joy Spry, Mrs. Washer's sister.
Mrs. Washer's daughter, Lisa Baynum, shed tears.
“Someone has the power to postpone (this) as long as he wants,” she told Judge Bamberger, insisting that authori ties have seemed more concerned with protecting criminal rights over victim rights.
Mrs. Washer died from a fatal blow to the back of her head on July 20, 1994. Her
relatives have said Mr. Freeman committed murder that night and not first-degree manslaughter. That belief is despite the fact that lead investigator, Deputy Todd Kenner of the Boone County Sheriff's Department, has said murder would've been an inappropriate charge.
Mrs. Washer was declared missing in August 1994, but it would take about three years before 17 of her bones would be found along Gunpowder Creek, at the base of Big Jimmy Hill in rural Boone County.
The Boone County Sheriff's Department wasn't able to delve into the investigation of how she died until July 1998, after Mrs. Washer's bones had been identified through a lengthy mitochondrial DNA testing process.
The agency arrested Mr. Freeman in December. He has said that he and Mrs. Washer met at a Covington bar on July 20, 1994, and went driving into rural Boone County, drinking, smoking pot and taking pills.
He has said he blacked out and didn't become conscious until he crashed and saw Mrs. Washer flying out the passenger door. He buried her under a pile of rocks near the top of Big Jimmy Hill after he got out of the car and discovered her dead, he said.
Deputy Kenner has said Mr. Freeman's story bears more weight than the contention that he murdered Mrs. Washer that night. He also said that it would have been tough to pin Mr. Freeman with any charge harsher than first-degree manslaughter because of some basic facts in the case:
Almost five years have passed since Mrs. Washer died, and all that's left of her is 18 of her bones. Besides the 17 found in 1997, another was found on a search Saturday.
Meanwhile, Mr. Freeman has been on and off suicide watches and been prescribed with medication ever since he pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter in March, said Boone County Jailer John Schickel.
The jailer would not say what kind of medication Mr. Freeman has been taking. Yet he said that Mr. Freeman is in good physical health and has never suffered the type of reactions he apparently had Tuesday.
“We don't know if it's legitimate or if he's faking,” Mr. Schickel said. “Overall, his physical health is quite good.”
Judge Bamberger has said the jail doctor has promised to alter Mr. Freeman's medication so that he can be sentenced on Monday.
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