Justice knows no deadline for retired Cincinnati Police Sgt. Pete Ridder. Sara Ridder, his daughter, was shot to death in April, one of 28 unsolved slayings in Cincinnati this year.

        Her ex-boyfriend, William Boyles, was to stand trial today in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court on separate charges that he beat Ms. Ridder and threatened her with a knife during a fight March 18. But the trial was continued to Sept. 17.

        Mr. Boyles has not been charged in Ms. Ridder's death. But Mr. Ridder says he is just grateful that Mr. Boyles remains behind bars.

        “I just have to be patient and have faith that justice will come out,” Mr. Ridder said Sunday from his East Price Hill home. “I'm not in any rush. I want there to be a good case and a conviction. You only get one shot.”

        Ms. Ridder, a 24-year-old Cincinnati 911 dispatcher, was found shot to death inside her Westwood apartment April 15. . Mr. Boyles is being held at the Hamilton County Justice Center on $850,000 cash bond on four charges: two counts of aggravated burglary, one count of felonious assault and one count of domestic violence, according to his attorney, Richard Goldberg.

        Mr. Goldberg said Sunday that he asked for the trial delay because he didn't get information on the case from the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office until recently and needed more time to review it and prepare for trial.

        Mr. Boyles, of Price Hill, was wearing an electronic monitoring device that alerts authorities if he came within 75 feet of Ms. Ridder or her home. Hamilton County probation officials have said there is no evidence Mr. Boyles was near Ms. Ridder when she was killed.

        Mr. Goldberg said Sunday that his client did not kill the mother of his three children and denied that he hired a killer.

        So far, there have been no significant breaks in the case, Mr. Ridder said.

        “It is just a slow process,” said Mr. Ridder, 49, a former president of the Fraternal Order of Police. . “The investigators are still working on it. I know that. I don't know if people aren't talking or what it is but it's by far not closed. It will never be closed until someone is arrested for it.”

        Despite Mr. Goldberg's insistence that Mr. Boyles had nothing to do with Ms. Ridder's death, her father staunchly believes he is responsible. He even calls Mr. Boyles his “main suspect.”

        “For me, I don't see any other direction,” Mr. Ridder softly but firmly said. “She had finally decided he was no good and wasn't going to have anything to do with him, and he lost control.”

        In the weeks leading up to her death, Ms. Ridder had ended her relationship with Mr. Boyles and was staying with relatives, hiding. But the weekend before her death, she returned home.

        “There's always that second-guessing yourself, the "what ifs,' how did she ever get involved with him in the first place,” Mr. Ridder said. “That was always one of her greatest strengths and weaknesses. She always seemed to be attracted to those no one cared about. She was sweet and kind.”

        She met Mr. Boyles at 18,and by 22 she was a single mom of three children. But she wanted better for herself, her father said, and began working as a 911 operator.

        Now, Mr. Ridder and his wife are raising their grandchildren. They keep Ms. Ridder's spirit alive for the children by telling them anecdotes of what she was like as a child and showing them her photos. They also have saved her baby book, baby clothes and first birthday cards for them.

        “It's just hard to accept that she's gone. She would pull up and bring the kids in,” Mr. Ridder recalled, paused, then began speaking again, “and that's just not going to happen anymore. She's forever young. I remember her as a young adult.”

        He expressed his gratitude Sunday to those who have helped the family, especially for helping to raise $30,000 at a May fund raiser.

        “So many people that didn't know us or Sara came and gave. I still run into people I've known as a police officer - even people I have arrested - that have given me condolences,” he said.

        “I still believe there's more good in the world than evil.”

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