WOODLAWN — An ex-boyfriend was charged with murder Tuesday after the body of a 33-year-old Springfield Township woman was discovered in the back seat of a sport utility vehicle in a restaurant parking lot.

At a chili restaurant in Woodlawn, police and a coroner's official look over a sport utility vehicle where the body of Greta Leah “Melissa” Wallace was found Tuesday. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        Police charged Christopher Echols, 33, of the 1500 block of Merrimac Street in Evanston, in the death of Greta Leah “Melissa” Wallace. Mr. Echols admitted to the crime, according to court documents.

        Court records show that Mr. Echols had been charged with domestic violence in 2000 after Ms. Wallace claimed he had hit her.

        More recently, in April this year, Ms. Wallace obtained a protective order against Mr. Echols, who was living with her at the time.

        She said he threatened her life, “has hit me in the past (and) called my place of employment once on the 19th of March trying to get me fired.” She said he also was harassing her at home.

        The order required Mr. Echols to stay away from her home and workplace and to not contact her by phone, fax, voice mail or e-mail.

        The case was dismissed less than a month later after Ms. Wallace did not show up in court.

Echols

        The body of Ms. Wallace, who lived on Meredith Drive, was discovered in a Chevrolet sport utility vehicle shortly before noon by an auxiliary Sharonville police officer. The car was parked in the Skyline Chili parking lot, 9907 Springfield Pike.

        She died between 9 and 11:30 a.m. Tuesday by means of physical force, police said. The cause of death is pending final results of an autopsy by the Hamilton County Coroner's Office.

        Police said Mr. Echols drove the victim to various parts of the city Tuesday morning. Homicide investigators are interested in talking to anyone who may have seen the vehicle in or around the Elda Landfill in Winton Hills.

        Cincinnati police are leading the investigation because it is believed the homicide occurred somewhere in the city. It is the city's 31st homicide of 2002, compared with 19 at this time in 2001 and 61 for all of last year.

        “We do have reason to believe (the slaying) occurred somewhere in Cincinnati,” Cincinnati Police Sgt. Lisa Thomas said.

        A large area around the truck was cordoned off for hours while police swarmed the dark blue, four-door vehicle.

        Mr. Echols was charged with domestic violence in July 2000 when the two were living on New Bedford Road. He hit her in the face twice, according to court documents. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail. A temporary protective order was lifted after Ms. Wallace did not show up for court hearings in November 2000 and January 2001.

        Anyone with information is asked to call the Cincinnati Police Department's criminal investigations section at 352-3542, or Crime Stoppers at 352-3040.

        Enquirer reporter William A. Weathers contributed.

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