Wednesday, October 06, 1999
Time of death at issue in man's trial for murder
Defense: Suspect would have been in school
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — The time of Ann Zwiefelhoefer's death has emerged as an important element in the murder trial of Kevin W. Walls.
In a videotaped deposition played in court Tuesday, Butler County Coroner Richard Burkhardt said the 83-year-old stabbing victim died no earlier than 4 p.m., March 7, 1985.
But during cross-examination, defense attorney Drew Engel produced a copy of a 1985 newspaper story that quoted Dr. Burkhardt saying Mrs. Zwiefelhoefer may have died as early as 10 a.m. that day.
The time is significant because defense attorneys have said they will show that Mr. Walls, then 15 years old, was at Garfield Junior High School that day until the school's regular dismissal time of 2:53 p.m.
Mr. Walls, 30, of Hamilton, is standing trial before Judge Matthew Crehan of Butler County Common Pleas Court. The jury trial began Monday.
Mr. Walls is charged with aggravated murder and aggravated robbery. If convicted, he would not face the death penalty because of his age when the crime was committed.
Police charged Mr. Walls with the 1985 crime last year after matching his fingerprints with 13 prints lifted from objects in Mrs. Zwiefelhoefer's house on March 8, 1985, when her body was discovered, prosecutors say.
A new state crime lab computer that went into use last year enabled the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI) to match the fingerprints.
Mr. Walls has been confined at the Dayton Correctional Institution for the past four years, serving a three-to-15-year prison sentence for robbery.
After being stabbed nine times, Mrs. Zwiefelhoefer bled to death on the living room floor of her Hamilton house, Dr. Burkhardt testified in his deposition.
He said he could not pinpoint an exact time of death. Mrs. Zwiefelhoefer's death certificate says the time of death was unknown.
Her body temperature and muscle stiffness at 4 p.m., March 8, indicated that she had died 15 to 24 hours earlier, Dr. Burkhardt said.
He told Mr. Engel he did not remember telling a newspaper in 1985 that she had died 20 to 30 hours earlier.
Another prosecution witness, Clifford Huff, owner of Hamilton Window & Door, said he talked to Mrs. Zwiefelhoefer on the telephone between 2:15 p.m. and 3 p.m. on the day she was killed.
Mrs. Zwiefelhoefer's niece and two grandchildren took the witness stand Tuesday and looked at police photos of the inside and outside of their house the day her body was found.
The photos showed drawers and cabinet doors open and objects on the floor.
They said Mrs. Zwiefelhoefer never would have left the house in that condition.
Series of rapes has area spooked
Mixed use weighed for former Mclpin's
Spielberg magic may come to Newport
Smog's effects on health assessed
Taft says cash from kids just fine
Transplant reflects faith, skill
Women, men stand up to domestic violence
City tax plan nears a vote
Clerk shot in robbery
HMOs' liability up for debate
Kenton OKs adult-business law
Mason schools expect to run $1 million in red
Time of death at issue in man's trial for murder
Lioness of the theater
Lupus: Unpredictable, misunderstood
TV viewers should make contact with 'Roswell'
Chicken Soup authors want veterans to share stories
GET TO IT
Boone Co. faces vote on mining
Bunning seeking Paducah answers
Covington in court fight over nightclubs
Ex-official asks for schools probe
Middletown schools budget higher
Petitioners opposed to new Kenton jail
Reds get politicians' praise for 'inspirational' season
TRISTATE DIGEST
