A 46-year-old old Hyde Park man called Cincinnati police Saturday and, in a calm voice, told them he had killed his roommate of 20 years.

        Randy Davis of 1318 Edwards Road — just blocks from Hyde Park Square — was charged with the murder of 57-year-old Kenneth A. Schmidt and taken to the Hamilton County Justice Center, where he awaits arraignment.

Davis

        According to a police 911 tape, Mr. Davis called police about 11:30 a.m. Saturday and said he had killed his companion of 20 years on Wednesday.

        “It's a long story, but we'll work it out,” Mr. Davis said. Police arrived while Mr. Davis was still on the phone with the dispatcher and found Mr. Schmidt's body in a first-floor bedroom.

        “I made sure of it,” Mr. Davis said on the 911 tape. “I bludgeoned him to death with a two-by-four. I can't believe it myself.”

        Mr. Davis said on the 911 tape that he and his friend were gay and had spent the last 20 years living together. But recently, the couple had difficulty.

        “He just drove me out of my mind, literally,” Mr. Davis told the dispatcher.

        It was the first slaying in the quiet, upscale Cincinnati neighborhood since May 1994 when 27-year-old Maria Olberding was stabbed to death with a 13-inch butcher knife as she jogged down a Hyde Park street.

        Within minutes, David Kohls was stopped by a passerby at gunpoint.
       
       

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