Saturday, October 30, 1999
Body may have been in park four days
BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — Investigators think the Fort Wright man found dead in Devou Park probably lay there four days before he was discovered.
Police identified the body Friday as that of James Berte, a 65-year-old airport cleaning-service worker. He was found dead Wednesday after an anonymous call led police to him. He was probably slain where he was found, not killed elsewhere and moved, said Lt. Col. Bill Dorsey.
Mr. Berte's maroon Buick Riviera was found in the park a week ago today. It was wedged between two trees. Police said they towed it then and tried to find out what might have happened to it, but they couldn't find Mr. Berte to ask him.
It wasn't until Thursday, the day after Mr. Berte's body was found, that investigators linked the car with the dead man. A friend of Mr. Berte showed up that day to tell police Mr. Berte had been missing for several days. Be cause the body carried no identification, detectives could not link the car and the man until they got the friend's help.
Investigators do not yet have a motive for the killing, Lt. Col. Dorsey said. Mr. Berte suffered trauma, but police will not describe more specifically how he died. They want to make sure some facts are known only to them and the killer, Lt. Col. Dorsey said.
They think Mr. Berte and another person were in the car together before the slaying, he said, as opposed to the car being stolen and wrecked after Mr. Berte was dead. The friend is not a suspect, Lt. Col. Dorsey said.
Mr. Berte worked for Oriental Cleaning at the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. He had no close surviving relatives, police said. He has no criminal record in Kenton County.
The killing in the park put officials in the position of defending it as safe. Detectives Police ask anyone with information to call 292-2222.
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