Friday, January 28, 2000
Fugitive sought in killing
Police want to question Stamper
BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Leon Stamper
|
COVINGTON — The search for an accused sex offender may intensify because police say the fugitive knew the victim of a Covington homicide.
Police said Thursday that fugitive Leon Stamper Jr. knew
Estill Davidson, a Covington man who was found dead in his house Wednesday evening. Mr. Stamper had worked with one of Mr. Davidson's sons. And two weeks ago — the day after Mr. Stamper fled Cincinnati and Covington police — officers checked Mr. Davidson's house after an anonymous caller reported that Mr. Stamper was there.
They didn't find him. But the allegation of his presence was enough to make Mr. Davidson's grieving relatives call Mr. Stamper a suspect. Police would say only that they would like to question him about Mr. Davidson's death.
“Right now, what the connection continues to be is rumor and innuendo,” said police spokesman Lt. Col. Bill Dorsey.
Mr. Stamper, 41, has been on the lam since Jan. 13, when he sped away from several Cincinnati police officers. He is wanted in Cincinnati on charges of robbery and felonious sexual penetration. And the car he wrecked in Covington at the end of the chase was thought to be spotted at the mugging of an elderly College Hill woman, Cincinnati police said.
“We've got no idea where he's at,” Lt. Col. Dorsey said. “I think he could be a lot of places.”
Evidence technicians had not processed Mr. Davidson's truck as of Thursday afternoon to see if it held any clues about who might have taken it. The black Ford F150, with a parking permit for the disabled, disappeared from Mr. Davidson's house and was found early Thursday morning near the courthouse in Covington. An officer unaware of the possible connection between the truck and the homicide had ticketed the truck for improper parking.
The body of Mr. Davidson, 67, was found about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday by a daughter. Authorities think he likely knew his killer because detectives found no signs of forced entry into his house. He had been shot several times and found in his bathroom, where detectives think he might have run to try to escape his killer.
Mr. Davidson's family said money is missing from the house, but Lt. Col. Dorsey said he did not know if that was true.
The victim shared his house with upstairs tenants. They have been questioned but are not suspects.
He had many disputes with tenants over the years, according to court records. He evicted a man in August for failing to pay the orally agreed-upon $300 a month for the second floor of his Russell Street house. In 1997, a female tenant was charged with allegedly kicking in the door of Mr. Davidson's part of the house and stealing his coat. She was found not guilty.
In 1996, Mr. Davidson was charged with hitting a tenant in the head with a board during a drunken fight. That charge was dropped.
Police ask that anyone with facts about a possible connection between Leon Stamper and Mr. Davidson's death call them at (606) 292-2222 or 491-TIPS (491-8477).
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