By Reid Forgrave
The Cincinnati Enquirer

UNION TOWNSHIP - A longstanding feud between two members of a private fishing and social club near Eastgate Mall ended Saturday evening in a fatal shooting in front of club members, police said Sunday.

Hours after the 7 p.m. shooting at the Hamilton County Anglers' Club, 4700 Tealtown Road, Mark A. Albert, 42, of Anderson Township, confessed to shooting Larry Colwell, 40, of Union Township, once in the head with a handgun, police said.

Colwell died at University Hospital at about 4:30 Sunday morning, and Union Township police upgraded the charges against Albert from felonious assault to aggravated murder.

Police described the slaying as traumatic for the group of witnesses who'd been gathered around a camp site on the fishing club's property when the killer walked up to Colwell, shot him, then drove off.

"(Albert) clearly had his mind made up on what he was going to do," said Sgt. Scott Gaviglia of the Union Township police.

Albert was in the Clermont County Jail Sunday awaiting a bond hearing this afternoon at the Clermont County Municipal Court in Batavia.

Gaviglia would not reveal specifics Sunday on the connection between Albert and Colwell, citing the investigation.

"There's been an ongoing feud between the two," he said.

After shooting Colwell at a hilltop campsite 100 yards from the lake, Albert tossed the gun into the muddy fishing lake then drove off, police said.

Union Township police were nearby and arrested Albert as he tried to flee. As of Sunday evening, police had not recovered the gun.

It was the fourth homicide of 2003 for this township of nearly 50,000 residents. The township typically has two or three homicides a year, most of them domestic-related, Gaviglia said.

Members of the club declined to comment Sunday about the shooting. But Gaviglia summed up their emotions:

"This sort of brazen act in broad daylight in front of witnesses - you just never see that happen."

E-mail rforgrave@enquirer.com