By Jim Hannah
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEXINGTON - Prosecutors called an additional witness Thursday to bolster their claim that Adele Craven ordered her husband killed because she feared a custody battle over their children if she filed for divorce.

Adele Craven

Prosecutor Luke Morgan of the attorney general's office implied Ms. Craven began worrying about a possible custody battle with her husband, Stephen Craven, after being called as a witness in a custody hearing involving another couple.

Patrick Magevney said Ms. Craven had testified in a custody hearing on his behalf the day before Mr. Craven was killed. Mr. Magevney's ex-wife is the half sister of Della Dante Sutorius, who was convicted of killing her husband in a "black widow'' case in Hamilton County.

When Mr. Morgan began a line of questioning to draw out the parallels between Ms. Craven and Ms. Sutorius, Kenton Circuit Judge Patricia Summe told the prosecutor to move on to another subject.

Ms. Sutorius is serving a life sentence in Ohio after being convicted in June 1996 for shooting her wealthy husband as he slept on a basement couch.

Prosecutors in the Ohio case contended Ms. Sutorius killed her husband and then tried to make it look like suicide. Ms. Sutorius' attorneys' unsuccessfully argued that the doctor killed himself.

While prosecutors in the Kentucky case don't believe Ms. Craven pulled the trigger, they do allege she oversaw her husband's brutal killing. Mr. Craven was found beaten and shot to death on the basement floor of his Edgewood home on July 12, 2000.

Ms. Craven's defense contends her former lover, Russell "Rusty" McIntire, acted alone in hiring a hit man to kill Mr. Craven. Ronald Scott Pryor was found guilty of murder in April. He could be sentenced to death next month.

Mr. Magevney testified that he had advised Ms. Craven in summer 2000 that she should not get a divorce and risk a custody battle. The two even joked, according to the prosecution, that they could get a "two for one deal" in hiring a hit man to knock off both their spouses.

Mr. Magevney said Ms. Craven had asked him if he knew of a hit man, but he said he never reported it to police because he thought it was a joke.

"It is just hard to believe (Ms. Craven) made (the killing) happen," Mr. Magevney said. "It was all said in a joking matter. She would walk around and laugh about it."

The only other witness Thursday was Kenton County Police Detective Wayne Wallace.

A tape of an interview Ms. Craven gave to Detective Wallace was played to the jury, but was barely audible.

During the interview, which had been sealed for more than two years, Ms. Craven repeatedly denies any involvement in her husband's death.

The trial continues today with Detective Wallace.

E-mail jhannah@enquirer.com