By Jim Hannah
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEXINGTON - Adele Craven took her sons, Daniel and Joseph, to play arcade games, race go-karts and try their hand at miniature golf with the man who helped kill their father just hours earlier.

Adele Craven

That information came to light Tuesday as the prosecution works its way through a list of witnesses in the trial of Ms. Craven. The 37-year-old Edgewood woman faces the death penalty if found guilty of presiding over her husband's killing nearly 2‡ years ago.

Joyce McIntire took the stand Tuesday to say she spent the evening Mr. Craven's body was found with her husband, Russell "Rusty" McIntire, and their young son at two Northern Kentucky arcades and sport centers with Adele Craven and her two children.

Ms. McIntire, who filed for divorce after her husband pleaded guilty to murder in connection with Mr. Craven's killing, said she didn't remember anything out of the ordinary about Ms. Craven's behavior that night.

The prosecution says Ms. Craven was having an affair with Mr. McIntire and that the two hired a hit man to kill Stephen Craven. The Delta Air Lines pilot was found beaten and shot to death in the basement of his Edgewood home July 12, 2000.

Mr. McIntire, 34, of Erlanger has pleaded guilty to murder without the possibility of parole for 25 years in exchange for testifying against Ms. Craven.

Ronald Scott Pryor, 35, of Independence was found guilty of murder for being the triggerman in the killing and could be sent to Death Row.

After days of testimony about her husband's sexual encounters with Ms. Craven, prosecutors repeatedly apologized to Ms. McIntire Tuesday as they questioned her about Ms. Craven.

Another woman took the stand Tuesday to say Ms. Craven appeared at her doorstep the afternoon of July 12, 2000, and asked to spend the afternoon with her because she "didn't want to go home."

Susan Crooks, an acquaintance of the Craven family, testified that Ms. Craven showed up several hours late to paint the interior trim of her windows. Ms. Crooks said when she told Ms. Craven it was too late in the day to start painting, Ms. Craven offered to do any odd jobs around the home for free.

Uncomfortable

"It just felt a little awkward," Ms. Crooks said when asked by prosecutors if she felt comfortable with Ms. Craven inviting herself over.

Ms. Crooks, who has since moved out of the Greater Cincinnati area, had hired Ms. Craven to paint the trim in her living room.

By the end of day, the prosecution had called 23 of its list of 60 potential witnesses. Still to testify is Kenton County Police Detective Wayne Wallace, who led the homicide investigation.

E-mail jhannah@enquirer.com