Wednesday, January 05, 2000
Killer's sister gets probation for help
Aid to police averts prison time
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — Karla Edwards confronted in court Tuesday one of the two women who buried the body parts of her slain sister in garbage bags.
She showed Melissa Botts a family photograph of 33-year-old Cheryl Ann Durkin, who was killed and dismembered by Mrs. Botts' brother, James Lee Lawson, in February 1998.
“Melissa, that's what was in those bags,” Mrs. Edwards said at Mrs. Botts' sentencing hearing in Butler County Common Pleas Court. “My sister was not garbage. She was a person.”
Largely because of Mrs. Botts' cooperation with authorities in the murder investigation, Judge Matthew Crehan spared her a prison sentence. He sentenced her to five years' probation, but could have sent her to prison for up to five years.
Mrs. Botts, 23, of Middletown, had pleaded guilty in March to tampering with evidence.
Mr. Lawson, 30, of Middletown, was convicted in December of murder, gross abuse of a corpse and obstructing justice, and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. His mother, Ellen Peck, 47, is serving a four-year prison sentence for obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence.
Mr. Lawson had thrown Ms. Durkin's torso into the Great Miami River shortly after killing her. Her torso was found floating in the Great Miami in Hamilton in April 1998.
Mrs. Botts helped her mother bury the body parts in June 1998 in a wooded area in Preble County and in a wooded area near Brookville Lake, Ind.
Mrs. Botts, who has two children, apologized in court.
Judge Crehan read during the hearing a letter that Mrs. Botts had written to him.
“My actions are something that I will never forget and will have to live with for the rest of my life,” she wrote. She said she wanted to try to right the wrong she had committed and to set a good example for her children.
Judge Crehan said he believed her remorse was sincere. She had no previous record.
He said her husband's death in an automobile accident in March 1998 made her more vulnerable to pressure from her mother and her brother.
Sheriff's authorities had told Judge Crehan the case would not have been solved without Mrs. Botts' cooperation.
Considering all these factors, he said, a prison sentence could not be justified.
Mrs. Edwards declined to comment after the hearing.
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