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Friday, January 27, 2012
Moraine man convicted of killing neighbor
DAYTON — A Moraine man accused of beating his neighbor and friend to death was convicted Friday of murder and carrying a firearm while a fugitive from justice.
The jury acquitted Shawn Kortz of the third count, tampering with evidence. Kortz will be sentenced Feb. 8 by Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Barbara P. Gorman.
The jury got the case Thursday night, but elected to go home after choosing a foreperson. Jurors started deliberating about 9 a.m. Friday and reached their verdicts about 2 p.m.
Kortz testified Thursday he remembered showing his “man cave” to his neighbor and friend, Michael Hollon. The next thing he remembered, Kortz said, was staring at himself in the bathroom mirror, shirtless and wondering why he was covered with blood.
He took a shower to wash the blood off him, an act the prosecutors said was tampering with evidence, but that defense attorney James Staton said was that of a confused man who did not know what was happening.
Kortz, 40, of 2269 Wienberg Drive, was 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 Thursday, 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.
Sink also pointed to Kortz’s actions after Hollon’s death: showering, not calling police, fleeing the state. She said those were indications of guilt.
Staton told the jury that it was a terrible case, but Kortz did not know what he was doing. Staton said 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.
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. Kortz had swelling and cuts on his hands, but Hollon did not, Deschler said.
TweetThree women indicted in scheme to steal identities of mentally disabled people
DAYTON — Three Dayton women are accused of stealing the identities of more than 30 people, most of them mentally disabled, then filing fraudulent income tax returns claiming about $170,000 in refunds between March 2008 and March 2009, according to federal authorities.
Karen T. Taylor, 50, Laquanna R. Bradshaw, 30, and Tiffany L. Cole, 26, were indicted Jan. 11, though those indictments were sealed until Wednesday.
All three have been arrested, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Carter M. Stewart said Friday. Taylor and Bradshaw were arrested Wednesday and released on bond following an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael R. Merz. Cole is currently incarcerated on unrelated forgery charges and will appear before a magistrate judge in early February, Stewart said.
“IRS Criminal Investigation has made investigating refund fraud and identity theft a top priority,” said Darryl Williams, Special Agent in Charge for the IRS’ Cincinnati Field Office. He added that these crimes were “even more heinous” because the defendants targeted “mentally impaired individuals.”
Williams said his office was investigating several similar schemes, and news of the indictments followed the sentencing Thursday of Rickie S. Rutledge, 55, of Dayton, to 32 months imprisonment in a separate tax fraud scheme that involved preparing false returns in the names of other taxpayers. Rutledge was also ordered to pay $81,000 in restitution to the IRS. His co-conspirator, Donna Dunn, was sentenced to five years of probation in August.
Taylor was employed as an office cleaner and allegedly obtained the personal identifying information while performing her cleaning duties, Stewart said. He did not identify the company.
Bradshaw and Cole filed false income tax returns on others’ names using the information supplied by Taylor. Those returns reported significant income from work the victims allegedly performed as household help, though no W-2 forms were filed with the returns. Those returns also contained fictitious dependents in order to qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, Stewart said.
The refunds were deposited into bank accounts controlled by the defendants, who then withdrew the money and spent it for their own personal benefit, Stewart said.
All three defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to obtain false claims for income tax refunds. In addition: — Taylor is charged with six counts of willfully filing false claims and six counts of identity theft. — Bradshaw is charged with four counts of willfully filing false claims and one count of identity theft. — Cole is charged with six counts of willfully filing false claims and five counts of identity theft.
The conspiracy counts are punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The other charges are punishable by up to five years in prison. All of the counts are also punishable by a fine of up to $250,000.
Stewart said that people who suspect they may have been the victims of identity theft should immediately contact the IRS, either through the website at irs.gov or at 1-800-908-4490.
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