Tuesday, October 05, 1999

Prosecutor: Fingerprints point toward the killer

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Hamilton man on trial in 1985 slaying

BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        HAMILTON — The fingerprints left in the home of an 83-year-old Hamilton woman 14 years ago will be the focus of the murder trial of Kevin W. Walls this week.

        A niece and a neighbor of Ann Zwiefelhoefer found her body in a pool of blood on her living room floor March 8, 1985. She had been stabbed nine times and bled to death.

        Using new technology, authorities last year matched 13 fingerprints lifted from Mrs. Zwiefelhoefer's home with those of Mr. Walls, who was 15 when she was killed, Butler County assistant prosecuting attorney Dan Eichel said Monday in his opening statement.

        “There were telltale fingerprints left behind at the scene by the murderer,” Mr. Eichel told the jury in common pleas court. “They are the silent witnesses.”

        Mr. Walls, 30, of Hamilton, is charged with aggravated murder and aggravated robbery. He had served almost three years of a three- to 15-year sentence for robbery at the Dayton Correctional Institution when he was charged last year with Mrs. Zwiefelhoefer's slaying.

        If convicted, he would not face the death penalty because of his age when the crime was committed.

        Someone had forced the front screen door of her house open with the intention of rob bing her, Mr. Eichel said.

        Police pursued dozens of leads and tips, and examined the fingerprints of 230 people in an effort to match them with those at the victim's home, he said.

        The case remained open until a new state crime lab computer matched Mr. Walls' fingerprints last year with those lifted from a money jar in her kitchen and from several other objects in the home, Mr. Eichel said.

        But in his opening statement, defense attorney Jeff Bowling questioned the validity of the fingerprint match.

        “Many fingerprints in the house have never been identified,” he said.

        There also is no way to tell when the fingerprints matched with Mr. Walls' were placed on the items, he said.

        Evidence pointed to another Hamilton man who has been a prime suspect in this case, Mr. Bowling said. But Mr. Eichel said police eliminated him as a suspect when his fingerprints didn't match those on objects in the house.

        Also, said Mr. Bowling, a neighbor saw a man walk up on Mrs. Zwiefelhoefer's porch at 1:30 p.m. the day she was killed. Two composite sketches of this man drawn by a police artist from the neighbor's description don't look even remotely like Mr. Walls, he said.

        Mr. Eichel said the neighbor didn't get a good look at the man and wouldn't recognize him if she saw him again.

       

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