By Sheila McLaughlin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEBANON - A new attorney for Rhonda Ricketts said Wednesday that he can produce witnesses who say they took her in over the years to help her escape her abusive ex-husband.

Jon Paul Rion, who was recently hired by Ricketts' son and other relatives, said he intends to pursue a battered women's defense and is bringing in experts soon to interview Ricketts.

The 50-year-old mother of four, who was arraigned Wednesday on a charge of aggravated murder, has gained support from battered women's advocates after claiming that she shot her ex-husband in self-defense after sustaining beatings.

"Society was quiet for the last 20 years while Rhonda was being abused. That quietness, what happened during those 20 years when no one was talking, I think is very important to this case," Rion said.

Appearing by video camera in her first hearing since she was indicted May 30, Ricketts pleaded not guilty Wednesday in the May 13 slaying of Steve Ricketts, a foreman at AK Steel.

She remains in the Warren County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

At the request of Assistant County Prosecutor Leslie Meyer, Hasselbach barred Ricketts from having any contact with five relatives, including three of her children who have turned against her.

Steve Ricketts was shot once in the back while lying in bed at his Silverwood Farms Drive home, police said. Ricketts claimed she was a victim of continuing domestic violence, and that she shot her ex-husband after he struck her in the face that day.

The couple's two teenaged children have disputed claims that their father beat their mother, but Ricketts' son, Christopher Skinner, said he witnessed the abuse.

"I don't know what the children saw and what they didn't see, what was kept from them, what was done in private," Rion said.

"But I have spoken to people that have had to put her in hiding for multiple days because of the fear that family members had of this man."

E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com