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Moraine fatal beating case goes to the jury
DAYTON - Shawn Kortz told the jury he remembered showing his “man cave” to his neighbor and friend, Michael Hollon. He also remembered staring at himself in the bathroom mirror, shirtless and wondering why he was covered with blood.
What he doesn’t remember, Kortz testified, was what happened to Hollon, whose battered body was found in the lower level den of Kortz’s Moraine home.
“I thought he’d passed out,” Kortz said. “I rolled him over that’s when I saw his face. I freaked out at that point.”
Kortz has been on trial this week before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Barbara P. Gorman. The jury got the case Thursday night, but decided to start deliberations Friday morning.
Kortz, 40, of 2269 Wienberg Drive, is charged with murder, tampering with evidence and carrying a firearm while a fugitive from justice. He is accused of killing Hollon, 48, on Sept. 19, 2010, then fleeing to Kentucky, where he led authorities on a chase until he was captured near Georgetown.
Kortz, the sole defense witness, took the stand Thursday afternoon. He told defense attorney James Staton that he had been awake for more than 30 hours at the time of Hollon’s death, because he had been making deliveries in New England before driving back to Springfield, Ohio, then to his home. Unable to sleep, he was drinking heavily. Those factors combined to cause memory loss and blackouts, Kortz said.
Assistant county prosecutor Robert Deschler accused Kortz of having “selective memory.”
During her closing argument, assistant county prosecutor Jill Sink noted that Hollon suffered 15 broken ribs, a broken nose, an inch-and-a-half long laceration on the brow above his right eye, and deep bruising on the sides of the head and neck. He also had cartilage injuries consistent with an attempt to strangle him, she said.
“He knew well what he was doing, Sink said. “You cannot inflict this kind of damage and not know.”
Sink also pointed to Kortz’s actions after Hollon’s death: showering, not calling police, fleeing the state.
“That’s not what an innocent man does,” Sink said. “A guilty man washes blood from himself after he has killed his friend.”
Staton told the jury that it was a terrible case, but it Kortz did not know what he was doing. Staton pointed to the fact that, after his shower, Kortz put on the same pair of shorts, even though they had blood on them.
He said that Hollon’s injuries could have happened during a fight between the two men, particularly if they fell down on the furniture. He pointed to pictures of a table with a glass top and a recliner that had been flipped over.
“It’s two guys fighting,” Staton said. “This whole thing could have been over in 20 seconds.”
Staton said Hollon’s autopsy revealed that he had cirrhosis of the liver and extensive heart disease, including two arteries that were 90 percent blocked and one that was 50 percent blocked. Hollon’s health made it less likely he could survive a fight, Staton said.
But Deschler called that blaming the victim. He said the ribs and nose fractures would have hindered Hollon’s respiration.
“Michael can’t breathe and he wants to blame Michael’s heart,” Deschler said.
Kortz had swelling and cuts on his hands, but Hollon did not, Deschler said.
“Michael is not defending himself,” Deschler said. “He’s not throwing any punches.”
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