Gantt faces the death penalty for allegedly chopping the 75-year-old man so severely with a hatchet the weapon went through the man’s skull and pierced his brain. The crime rises to the level of capital punishment because Gantt “ransacked” the Brentwood Street house after he looked for money, authorities said. He came up with about $150 in coins Jones’ tossed in a Twizzlers container so he and his wife could treat themselves every once in a while, according to Prosecutor Mike Gmoser.
Crime scene photos of the home showed chaos, papers, food and clothes tossed about. Jones’ lifeless body was barely recognizable. Debris was under him, around him and on top of him. His bloody head was caked with oatmeal and dog kibble, and a bright red cherry tomato from the refrigerator — left open in the melee — rested right next to Jones’ head.
After Gantt ransacked the house and turned on all the water faucets, he sat down on a bed and watched a pornographic movie he swiped from an acquaintance earlier on the morning of May 2, Gmoser said.
When she arrived home from dog sitting at their daughter’s house, Jones’ widow, Betty Jones, testified she found everything torn apart in her house, but she couldn’t find her husband.
“I opened the door to hell,” she said. “I started screaming for my husband.”
She ran next door and hasn’t been back in her house since.
Jones’ daughter and other family members gasped when Deputy Butler County Coroner Dr. James Swinehart confirmed the lethal blow - a three-and-a-half inch long gash to the top of Jones’ head - exactly matched the dimensions of the rusted-looking hatchet Gantt allegedly took from another home he visited in the early hours of that morning.
Gmoser said Gantt tried to hide his crime by setting the house on fire. He piled “stuff” on top of the stove, lit it and ran.
“He was making a funeral pyre for this old man,” Gmoser told the jury.
The fire never ignited, but Gantt went around telling just about everyone he encountered the rest of that day he had killed a man, authorities said.
The final witness Wednesday was Jeff Brown, who happened upon Gantt when he and his girlfriend were walking to Sloans Market later that morning. He said he noticed blood on the inside of the hoodie Gantt was wearing and the man spontaneously confessed.
“This gentleman came up to us and said he killed somebody. He said you all don’t know me, but I really did kill somebody,” Brown testified and when further prompted said, “He said he hit him with a ax.”
Judge Keith Spaeth told jurors they will hear more testimony today and closing arguments will be made Friday. Depending on how long the case takes, the jury might be sequestered, Spaeth said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4525 or dcallahan@coxohio.com.
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