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Friday, August 28, 2009
Cold case: man indicted in 1993 homicide
DAYTON — A Montgomery County grand jury indicted a Dayton man Friday, Aug. 28, on a single count of murder for the 1993 shooting death of another man.
Damon Crawford, 38, also known as “Cocky,” was arrested at 12:15 p.m. Friday and booked into the Montgomery County Jail. He is charged with the Oct. 31, 1993 death of Ebony “Punkin” Fisher.
Fisher, 20, had been released from prison three weeks before his death. He had been serving a sentence for a carrying a concealed weapon conviction, his mother told the Dayton Daily News in 1993.
Fisher, who lived at 5512 Autumn Hills Drive, Apt. 7, was shot at 2:58 a.m. in the parking lot of Spunky’s, a Jefferson Twp. nightclub at 4765 Germantown Pike. He was shot in the back of the head while he was attempting to use a car telephone, police said.
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Missing woman: Defendant convicted of all charges
DAYTON — Though his girlfriend’s body has never been found, Harold Barker was convicted Friday, Aug. 28, of murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence.
The jury deliberated for about two hours before convicting Barker, 55, of all indicted charges. He will be sentenced Sept 9 by Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Barbara P. Gorman.
Shelley Sue Turner has been missing since Sept. 30, 2006. She was 38 at the time, and was last seen leaving her Morse Avenue home with Barker on that evening.
Prosecutors declined comment following the reading of the verdict. Assistant county public defender Mike Pentecost said that Barker still maintains his innocence.
The trial started Monday. During closing arguments on Friday morning, assistant county prosecutor Janna Huber said that Barker played the part of the grieving fiance, wearing a mask when he spoke with his girlfriend’s family and with police.
“But the burden of that mask was very heavy,” Janna Huber said during her closing argument. “That’s when he revealed who he really was. He was Shelly’s killer.”
During her closing argument, Huber focused on the testimony of Tonya Ruby and Victor Turner, who is not related to Shelly. Both testified that Barker told them that he killed his girlfriend.
Both have been convicted of felonies in the past, Ruby for drug possession and Victor Turner for murder. But both were truthful, and they were the longtime friends that Barker confided in, Huber said.
“He didn’t confess to the church choir,” Huber said. “He confessed to them.”
Ruby and Victor Turner do not know each other, and neither knew Shelly Sue Turner, Huber said.
Huber also said Barker’s story was not credible. Barker, who did not testify during his trial, told police that he and his girlfriend had been at Shag’s Tavern, 1926 S. Smithville Road. When they were outside the bar, a silver car pulled up and the driver called out to Shelly Sue Turner. She walked up to the car and talked the the driver, whom she addressed as “Bill.”
When Barker asked if she was leaving with him, she broke off their engagement, handed him her ring, then got into the car and “Bill” drove off, according to Barker’s statements to police.
That same night, Barker’s pickup truck was damaged from the inside. The rear-view mirror was broken and his windshield was shattered. Barker told police that he was angry after his girlfriend left him, and he punched the windshield.
Huber said that defied logic, as much of the damage to the windshield was in the top corner on the passenger’s side. She noted that Shelly Sue Turner’s blood was not found in the truck, but Barker’s was, also on the passenger side.
Huber also said that, though Barker told his girlfriend’s relatives that he had been looking for her in the days after her disappearance, he was actually hanging out with Ruby. The two had sex one night during the first week of October, and they socialized for seven to 10 days, Ruby testified.
“He kept that mask on for days and days and days,” Huber said. “Don’t reward the defendant for disposing of her body so well and putting on that mask.”
During his closing argument, Pentecost took aim at the testimony of Ruby and Victor Turner. Neither were credible, Pentecost said, and their stories were inconsistent.
Ruby testified that, after they had been hanging out for a few days, Barker told her that he got angry at Shelly Sue Turner and went to slap her, but accidentally hit her in the throat. After he struck her, she choked on her blood.
Victor Turner testified Barker told him that he chopped up his girlfriend, put her in a barrel and buried it where no one would find it.
Pentecost said that Barker, who had been drinking and using drugs during these encounters, was merely engaging in “drunk talk.”
Pentecost also said there was no physical evidence of Shelly Sue Turner inside Barker’s truck. A blond hair was found in the passenger side visor, but investigators never identified from whom it came, he said.
Without the testimony of Ruby and Victor Turner, all the prosecutors have is a missing woman and a broken windshield, and that’s not enough to convict for murder, Pentecost said.
“It’s speculation,” Pentecost said. “The proof is not there, and if the proof is not there, there’s reasonable doubt.”
Assistant county prosecutor Sandra Hobson, giving the state’s final closing argument, disagreed that Victor Turner and Ruby’s stories were inconsistent. One dealt with the manner of death and the other with the disposal of the body, Hobson said.
“Tonya has no reason to lie,” Hobson said. “Victor has no reason to lie.”
Hobson also said that Barker told Ruby that he had spent time with Shelly Sue Turner’s mother to establish an alibi. At the time he told her this, she did not believe his story and did not know that a woman named Shelly was missing, she said.
As for the windshield, it had four different points of impact, Hobson said. She also said that a bartender at Shag’s and a patron who knew Barker and Shelly Sue Turner both testified that the two were not the bar that night.
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Missing woman: The case goes to the jury
DAYTON — Harold Barker played the part of the grieving fiance, wearing a mask when he spoke with his girlfriend’s family and with police, an assistant Montgomery County prosecutor said Friday, Aug. 28.
“But the burden of that mask was very heavy,” Janna Huber said during her closing argument. “That’s when he revealed who he really was. He was Shelly’s killer.”
Shelley Sue Turner has been missing since Sept. 30, 2006. She was 38 at the time, and was last seen leaving her Morse Avenue home with Barker on that evening. Barker, 55, is on trial this week on charges of murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence.
Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara P. Gorman charged the jury with the case at 11:10 a.m. Friday.
During her closing argument, Huber focused on the testimony of Tonya Ruby and Victor Turner, who is not related to Shelly. Both testified that Barker told them that he killed his girlfriend.
Both have been convicted of felonies in the past, Ruby for drug possession and Victor Turner for murder. But both were truthful, and they were the longtime friends that Barker confided in, Huber said.
“He didn’t confess to the church choir,” Huber said. “He confessed to them.”
Ruby and Victor Turner do not know each other, and neither knew Shelly Sue Turner, Huber said.
Huber also said Barker’s story was not credible. Barker, who did not testify during his trial, told police that he and his girlfriend had been at Shag’s Tavern, 1926 S. Smithville Road. When they were outside the bar, a silver car pulled up and the driver called out to Shelly Sue Turner. She walked up to the car and talked the the driver, whom she addressed as “Bill.”
When Barker asked if she was leaving with him, she broke off their engagement, handed him her ring, then got into the car and “Bill” drove off, according to Barker’s statements to police.
That same night, Barker’s pickup truck was damaged from the inside. The rear-view mirror was broken and his windshield was shattered. Barker told police that he was angry after his girlfriend left him, and he punched the windshield.
Huber said that defied logic, as much of the damage to the windshield was in the top corner on the passenger’s side. She noted that Shelly Sue Turner’s blood was not found in the truck, but Barker’s was, also on the passenger side.
Huber also said that, though Barker told his girlfriend’s relatives that he had been looking for her in the days after her disappearance, he was actually hanging out with Ruby. The two had sex one night during the first week of October, and they socialized for seven to 10 days, Ruby testified.
“He kept that mask on for days and days and days,” Huber said. “Don’t reward the defendant for disposing of her body so well and putting on that mask.”
Assistant county public defender Mike Pentecost took aim at the testimony of Ruby and Victor Turner. Neither were credible, Pentecost said, and their stories were inconsistent.
Ruby testified that, after they had been hanging out for a few days, Barker told her that he got angry at Shelly Sue Turner and went to slap her, but accidentally hit her in the throat. After he struck her, she choked on her blood.
Victor Turner testified Barker told him that he chopped up his girlfriend, put her in a barrel and buried it where no one would find it.
Pentecost said that Barker, who had been drinking and using drugs during these encounters, was merely engaging in “drunk talk.”
Pentecost also said there was no physical evidence of Shelly Sue Turner inside Barker’s truck. A blond hair was found in the passenger side visor, but investigators never identified from whom it came, he said.
Without the testimony of Ruby and Victor Turner, all the prosecutors have is a missing woman and a broken windshield, and that’s not enough to convict for murder, Pentecost said.
“It’s speculation,” Pentecost said. “The proof is not there, and if the proof is not there, there’s reasonable doubt.”
Assistant county prosecutor Sandra Hobson, giving the state’s final closing argument, disagreed that Victor Turner and Ruby’s stories were inconsistent. One dealt with the manner of death and the other with the disposal of the body, Hobson said.
“Tonya has no reason to lie,” Hobson said. “Victor has no reason to lie.”
Hobson also said that Barker told Ruby that he had spent time with Shelly Sue Turner’s mother to establish an alibi. At the time he told her this, she did not believe his story and did not know that a woman named Shelly was missing, she said.
As for the windshield, it had four different points of impact, Hobson said. She also said that a bartender at Shag’s and a patron who knew Barker and Shelly Sue Turner both testified that the two were not the bar that night.
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