Prisoner convicted of murdering cellmate

LEBANON - A Lebanon Correctional Institution inmate could receive the death penalty after a three-judge panel in Warren County Common Pleas Court convicted him of aggravated murder Friday.

Daniel Hairston, 27, killed his cellmate, Ronald Rogers, 32, in January. The sentencing portion of the case will begin Monday.

Hairston cut Rogers on the neck several times with a homemade knife before choking him with his arm, Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel said. Hairston and Rogers were arguing.

Hairston was already serving life for a 1995 murder in Cuyahoga County.

Warren County Common Pleas Judges Neal Bronson and James L. Flannery and visiting Judge David Sunderland returned the verdict after deliberating for more than 21/2 hours.

Drug team searches deputy's house

DEERFIELD TWP. - The residence of a Warren County sheriff's deputy was searched Thursday by the Warren County Drug Task Force.

Armed with a search warrant, task force agents confiscated evidence they did not reveal at the home of Michael Moore and took it to the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab for testing. The case may be presented to a grand jury as early as next week, said Task Force Capt. John Newsom.

Moore has been a deputy assigned to Deerfield Township since 2000. He has been on leave of absence without pay since August.

Man sought for inquiry into shooting death

HAMILTON - Police are seeking a 23-year-old Hamilton man, Rikki Joseph Sneed, who they said has information regarding a shooting that has been ruled a homicide.

The body of Frenchman Minniefield was discovered early Thursday in a rear lot in the 500 block of South Second Street.

Anyone with information should call the Hamilton Police Department's Investigations Section at 868-5811, ext. 1464.

Prison sentence given in pornography case

Daniel R. Clark, 30, of Liberty Township has been sentenced to 21 months in prison and fined $1,500 for possession of child pornography.

Clark was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court. In March, FBI agents searched Clark's home and found multiple computer files that showed minors engaged in sex. He pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography in September.

Judge S. Arthur Spiegel ordered that Clark cannot have recreational access to a computer and must register as a sex offender.

Victims identified in fatal house fire

WINCHESTER - The names of the two people who died in a house fire in Brown County were released Friday.

Robert Pirtle, 48, of Winchester, and Christopher Combs, 31, of Sugar Grove, died of smoke inhalation, officials from the Brown County Sheriff's Office said.

Pirtle and Combs were in Pirtle's mobile home on Schweighart Road when a fire broke out around 1 a.m. Thursday. The residence is located at the eastern edge of Brown County near Adams County.

The fire is being investigated by the Brown County Sheriff's Office, the Brown County Coroner's Office and the State Fire Marshal's Office.

Brown County Coroner Dr. Timothy McKinley said Friday that investigators believe the fire was probably accidental.