Friday, April 14, 2000
Grand jury to get fatal shooting case
BY Janice Morse
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — Two rows of somber-faced relatives stood and several waved goodbye as officials led murder suspect Jeffrey Daniel Bornhoeft, 30, back to his jail cell after a brief court hearing Thursday.
Warren County Municipal Judge Mark R. Bogen sent the case to a Warren County grand jury based on the testimony of a Lebanon police officer. The officer, Donald A. Brown, said he heard Mr. Bornhoeft state that someone was dead inside 478-B Georgetown Drive last Friday.
The judge said he found sufficient evidence that Mr. Bornhoeft may have committed aggravated murder — a charge carrying a minimum sentence of life with parole possible after 20 years.
Mr. Bornhoeft, a Mason father of three who worked as a mechanic, is accused of killing his ex-wife's husband, James Leonard Johnson, 23, in his bed at the American Village Apartments. Mr. Bornhoeft is being held without bond.
Warren County Assistant Prosecutor Mike Powell said he was unsure when the grand jury would hear the case; he would not say whether prosecutors would seek the death penalty.
Kevin W. Thornton, co-counsel for Mr. Bornhoeft, said he thought prosecutors might do so. But, Mr. Thornton said, that depends on whether investigators think they can prove Mr. Bornhoeft committed murder during another serious felony — a condition that can call for a death sentence.
Mr. Thornton said his client has “a history of psychological problems in his relationship with these two individuals,” referring to Mr. Bornhoeft's ex-wife, Shawn, and her new husband.
That's why defense lawyers might consider a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, Mr. Thornton said.
Mr. Bornhoeft's only previous conviction involved holding his wife at gunpoint in November 1998, officials said. For that misdemeanor assault charge, Mr. Bornhoeft spent three days in a Tennessee jail and paid a $10 fine, said Lebanon Police Chief Ken Burns.
The couple's divorce was final in December. But Mr. Thornton said Mr. Bornhoeft and his ex-wife continued an on-again, off-again relationship that his client found “extremely difficult.”
Police say Mr. Bornhoeft shot Mr. Johnson, then called his ex-wife at her job. Her co-workers reported the shooting.
When police arrived, Mr. Bornhoeft got out of his truck and, holding a long-barreled revolver, threatened to kill himself in the apartments' parking lot. Three hours later, Mr. Bornhoeft handed over his gun and surrendered.
Mr. Bornhoeft was under a suicide watch in the county jail until Monday or Tuesday, Mr. Thornton said, and is “still a bit stunned” by everything that happened.
“Some of it's sunk in already,” Mr. Thornton said. “He knows he's facing a lot of time.”
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