2012 senior class photos
2012 West Carrollton graduation
Home of the Week
Home > Blogs > Dayton Courts: Legal and crime news > Archives > 2009 > December > 02
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Prison inmate charged with trying to arrange slaying
DAYTON — An inmate who started a two-year prison stretch last month has been indicted on charge of conspiracy to commit murder.
The grand jury handed down the indictment on Tuesday, Dec. 1, which was Robert Rose’s 27th birthday.
Rose was admitted to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction on Nov. 2 after he was convicted in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court on charges of burglary and soliciting and on another burglary charge in Clark County Common Pleas Court. He is still at the correctional reception center, where inmates are first sent before they are assigned to specific institutions.
According to the indictment, Rose was incarcerated in the Montgomery County Jail between Sept. 14 and Oct. 20 when he solicited another inmate, Elmer Phillips, to kill another man. He offered Phillips $5,000, a car and a place to live, the indictment said.
Rose called the intended victim several times from the jail on Oct. 3 and left threatening messages for him, warning him to stay away from Rose’s girlfriend, the indictment said.
Phillips arranged for Rose to speak with an undercover detective posing as a hit man at the jail on Oct. 15. Rose offered the detective money and a car, and held up a piece of paper with the intended victim’s address, the indictment said.
On Oct. 20, Rose had a piece of paper in his jail cell with contact information for the “hit man,” the indictment said.
A warrant has been issued to transport Rose to the county jail so that he can be arraigned on Dec. 15, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court records.
Permalink | |
Grand jury indicts man accused of killing social worker
DAYTON — The man accused of killing social worker Stephen Branham was indicted Wednesday, Dec. 2, on charges of aggravated murder and other felonies.
A Montgomery County grand jury also approved two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of being a felon in possession of a weapon against Cordell Mitchell Jr.
Mitchell, 21, has been in jail since Sept. 24, when the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force arrested him at 915 Steele Ave. Sheriff Phil Plummer said Mitchell has confessed to the killing and handed over what is believed to be the weapon that was used.
Investigators said Mitchell and another man tried to rob Branham near his residence on Sept. 6.
Branham, 46, had just returned from a club when he confronted Mitchell and was shot twice, Plummer said. The second suspect, who is known to investigators, could also face charges in the slaying.
Permalink | |
Woman who had sex with boy sentenced to probation, due to her poor health
DAYTON — The woman who celebrated her 55th birthday by having sex with a 12-year-old boy was sentenced Wednesday, Dec. 2, to five years probation with strict supervision.
Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Mary Katherine Huffman said she would have sentenced Gloria J. Murphy to prison, but Murphy’s poor physical condition would send her straight to a medical ward, which would not be punitive enough.
“There would be no meaningful punishment,” Huffman said, before promising that probation would be “a lot tougher than being in prison.”
Other than appointments to the probation department or for medical treatment, “you’re not going to be out of the house,” said Huffman, who also designated Murphy as a Tier 2 sex offender.
Murphy, of 5440 Rawlings Drive, pleaded guilty Oct. 23 to one count of sexual imposition of a person under age 13. Her other charge, rape of a child under age 13, was dropped under the terms of a plea agreement.
Murphy, who uses a walker and an oxygen tube, appeared frail. Her attorney, Richard Skelton, asked that she be allowed to stay seated during the brief hearing. Huffman granted the request Huffman.
Skelton said Murphy had suffered at least one stroke and had been admitted to a hospital seven times since the incident occurred in January. Murphy also suffers from irreversible pulmonary disease, he said.
“She barely can take care of herself at this time,” Skelton said. “I know that does not erase what happened in this case.”
Murphy apologized for the incident, and Huffman noted that Murphy had taken full responsibility, never offering excuses. But Huffman said that her medical condition was the only thing that kept her from a prison sentence.
“Your behavior is not excused simply because you are a female,” Huffman said. “To say that you exercised poor judgment would be a gross understatement.”
The charge is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. Under Ohio law, there is no presumption for or against prison for a third-degree felony.
“Gloria, you’ve really messed my son up,” the victim’s father said during a brief victim impact statement. Murphy remained silent and did not look at the man, who said that Murphy manipulated him to get his son into her house so that she could take advantage of him.
The father said that he and his son forgive Murphy, but added that the boy is attending “ongoing counseling you don’t know nothing about.”
Dayton police arrested Murphy at 8 a.m. on Jan. 30 after the boy notified an adult that he had sex with Murphy, according to police.
The encounter happened late Jan. 28 — Murphy’s birthday — and lasted into the early hours the next day, according to Dayton police. Murphy did not force the boy to have sex, but since he is younger than 13, it is considered rape, police said.
Permalink | |
