The court-approved trip, which is scheduled for Saturday, is the latest step toward freedom for Bornhoeft since Nov. 7, 2000, when a Warren County jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting death of Jamey Johnson, 23, of Dayton.
During his trial, authorities said Bornhoeft had his ex-wife, Shawn “Candy” Johnson, on the phone as he fired three shots at close range from a .357-caliber revolver into the back of Johnson’s head while he slept in a Lebanon apartment. Bornhoeft then threatened to turn the gun on himself during a three-hour standoff that ended when he surrendered to Lebanon police.
Bornhoeft currently lives in a private home in a west Cincinnati suburb. The museum visit — his first trip outside Ohio since the trial — was granted with misgivings by a Warren County Common Pleas judge.
‘Cold blood’ killer
“I’m keeping my fingers crossed,” Judge James Flannery said in a telephone interview. “I don’t want to let somebody out that shot somebody in cold blood.”
Unlike in Michigan and other states, Flannery said Ohio law fails to provide any options for judges to incarcerate defendants, such as Bornhoeft, after they have regained their sanity.
“Until such time as the Legislature sees fit to act, the Court is quite limited in its options in dealing with a defendant, such as Mr. Bornhoeft, who has committed the execution of his former wife’s new husband but was able to convince a jury that he was insane at the time of the act,” Flannery wrote in granting Bornhoeft’s conditional release on Oct. 22, 2009.
In the ruling, the judge also said he felt bound by the Ohio law to grant Bornhoeft a conditional release from confinement within the state system.
Bornhoeft was committed to a maximum-security mental hospital in November 2000 after the jury’s verdict.
During the trial, both sides called experts who offered different opinions on Bornhoeft’s sanity. His defense lawyers also produced a string of e-mails between him and his ex-wife indicating she was considering a reconciliation, even as she prepared to marry Jamey Johnson.
The Bornhoefts had three children together before their divorce. Bornhoeft’s lawyers told the jury he was driven insane by the family break-up and her mixed signals.
After the verdict, Bornhoeft pulled out a razor blade he had hidden inside his mouth and handed it to one of the deputies guarding him. He has never disclosed what he planned to do with the blade.
Doctors examining Bornhoeft quickly determined he was sane enough to qualify for lesser security settings. Still judges rejected motions for modifications in his confinement, as recently as February 2006, when Flannery noted Bornhoeft’s security rating within the state system had been increased “because of recent behavioral problems.”
In December 2006, however, Flannery set Bornhoeft at a level that allowed him to enter the Mental Health Recovery Services of Warren and Clinton Counties’ “community support network.”
Conditional freedom for a killer
In July 2008, Bornhoeft was allowed “unsupervised off-ground movement” in Warren and Hamilton counties. He purchased a three-bedroom home in Colerain Twp. in Hamilton County in June 2010, after Flannery granted the conditional release, records show.
Bornhoeft was ordered to follow a plan set up with Doug Reed, a forensic monitor and assistant chief clinical officer with the mental health agency.
He was also confined to Hamilton, Warren, Montgomery and Greene counties, except with permission from Reed, who monitored his activities.
Bornhoeft continues to be barred from contacting his ex-wife. He and his lawyer told authorities they were unaware of her current location.
Flannery expressed concerns about Bornhoeft ex-wife’s safety, but noted he was limited on his rulings unless prosecutors produce evidence Bornhoeft remains a threat.
“Of course, there is no guarantee for her safety short of placing the defendant in prison and this Court is without the power to do that,” Flannery wrote.
So far, he said the evidence has indicated Bornhoeft has been living and working “without incident.”
Flannery said he also suggested legislative action to state Sen. Shannon Jones, R-Clearcreek Twp., while she served as a state representative.
In an interview, Jones said she has researched the issue and reviewed the Michigan law. However she has yet to identify broad-based support for the changes advocated by Flannery.
“It’s still one of those issues on my radar screen,” Jones said. “What I don’t know is how widespread his perspective is amongst the legal community in Ohio.”
Bornhoeft previously traveled to Canton, Ohio, for a family function in April 2010.
On Jan. 21, Reed urged Flannery to permit Bornhoeft to visit the Creation Museum.
“It seems to be a chance for a positive experience, and he has no religious delusions. There is also no family member of his, or his victim in Kentucky,” Reed wrote to Flannery.
Still prosecutors opposed the request for out-of-state travel, noting the 2000 deadly shooting and his ex-wife fears for herself, as well as her family in Tennessee.
Neither Johnson nor her husband’s family could be reached for comment.
Flannery decided Bornhoeft could leave on Feb. 12 for the museum after 8 a.m. and return by 6 p.m.
“He must call his forensic monitor (Reed) upon his arrival in Kentucky and upon return to his residence,” Flannery said in the ruling.
Parents: Leave him alone
His parents urged their son be left alone.
“He’s moving on with his life,” said his father, James Bornhoeft.
The Creation Museum was Bornhoeft’s choice as his first destination due to his involvement with a church, his father said.
“I think he needs to be left alone. The fact is he’s doing well now,” Joy Bornhoeft said.
Opened in 2007, the 70,000-square-foot museum “brings the pages of the Bible to life, casting its characters and animals in dynamic form and placing them in familiar settings,” according to the museum website.
“He would be welcomed, just like any other guest,” said Melany Ethridge, a museum spokeswoman.
“This has been a long process,” said Bornhoeft’s lawyer, Rob Kaufman. “All my experience with him, he has been very compliant and willing to do whatever he has to to prove he is not a risk, not dangerous.”
Bornhoeft needs to continue to comply with his mental health plan and court restrictions “so that eventually the court will release supervision entirely,” Kaufman said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2261 or lbudd@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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