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Modern technology to search for clues in abduction, killing of Creston girl, 12
By Phil Trexler
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Wednesday, Jan 07, 2009
WOOSTER: Authorities have agreed to re-examine a girl's 1981 abduction and murder in which an executed man was considered the prime suspect.
Evidence collected by Wayne County authorities in the slaying of Tina Marie Harmon, 12, will be tested under the modern microscopes of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification. The process is expected to take three to six months.
Wayne Sheriff Thomas Maurer notified the girl's survivors on Tuesday, about six weeks after the Harmon family held a news conference in which they said the case had never officially been closed.
Authorities have consistently pinned Tina Harmon's murder on former Akron city worker Robert Buell, who was executed for the 1982 abduction and murder of Krista Lea Harrison, 11, also of Wayne County.
Buell, 62, denied killing Krista Harrison as he was about to be executed in 2002. He was never charged with Harmon's murder. Two other men were convicted, but later exonerated by law enforcement once Buell
was arrested.
Randy Harmon, the brother of Tina Harmon, said he was relieved that law enforcement has finally agreed to seek testing using DNA technology not available in the 1980s.
''I'm very happy,'' Randy Harmon said. ''At least we got something going.''
Krista Harrison was abducted from a park next to her Marshallville home in July 1982. Her body was found six days later on a rural Holmes County road.
About nine months earlier, Tina Marie Harmon was reported missing in Creston after going to a grocery store. Her body was found five days later in Navarre.
Buell was also accused, but never charged, with the 1983 abduction, rape and murder of Deborah Smith, 10, of Massillon.
County Prosecutor Martin Frantz said he had long considered the case closed and was satisfied with Buell as the prime suspect. He said Buell was never prosecuted, primarily because of his placement on death row for Harrison's death.
He also said there was more evidence linking Buell to Harrison's murder than Harmon's. The one link was unique orange carpet fibers found on each girl's body that matched fibers from Buell's van.
Frantz said the new DNA testing may link Buell to Harmon. It might also prove inconclusive, he said.
He was unsure of the specific evidence being shipped to the state crime lab in Richfield. Some of it is assumed to be her clothing. Generally, DNA experts will be searching for bodily fluids: blood, semen, saliva, sweat.
The state maintains a database of DNA from convicted criminals and Buell's is assumed to be part of the collection. The DNA can be used for comparison to DNA uncovered from the evidence analysis.
Frantz said Buell's DNA could be found during the examination. But just as likely, he said, DNA could be located from people not necessarily associated with the killing.
''We need to do a careful job of interpreting the results,'' he said. ''People watch CSI and they always get definitive answers and they think this [DNA] stuff is talismanic and that it is going to come back with clear-cut interpretations. You know the world is not like that.''
Maurer could not be reached for comment. He issued a news release Tuesday and said his department will work with Ohio BCII to examine the evidence.
Maurer's statement said that in light of the family's questions raised to reporters in November, he agreed to work with state officials seeking a conclusion to the case.
The Harmon family is split on who they believe is the real killer. James Renner, author of the recently released book, The Serial Killer's Apprentice, investigated Buell in connection with the Krista Harrison case.
He concluded that Buell may have been innocent and that the true killer may have been a relative who bears a resemblance to Buell and lived in his home in Franklin Township.
Renner continues to help the family reach out to law enforcement in search of finality. Maurer said that is the department's goal.
''Using today's technology may allow us to obtain lab results that may give a final closure to the Harmon family,'' Maurer's statement said.
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.
WOOSTER: Authorities have agreed to re-examine a girl's 1981 abduction and murder in which an executed man was considered the prime suspect.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 07:33 AM, 01/07/2009
So according to Frantz. the only the the test can prove everthing but Buell's innocence.I guess according to him the only way for justice to serve is for the accused to found guilty.
Posted 08:35 AM, 01/07/2009
I think every incarcerated persons case should have the benefut of having the evidence reviewed by new technology even one person wrongfully convicted is to many.look at how many Summit Prosecuter cases have been overturned
The Great City in, OH
Posted 11:24 AM, 01/07/2009
sickofallofhaters
Posted 07:33 AM, 01/07/2009 ....I guess according to him the only way for justice to serve is for the accused to found guilty.
____________
The family would want the killer prosecuted and not the case attached to some poor slob who is going to cook for another case where the evidence is strong against him.
It will not open new wounds for the family because the existing wounds have not close.
Therefore, if the test should prove he is not the killer, then the family would like to find out who is and have them properly prosecuted; it's not an unreasonable request.
Barberton, OH
Posted 10:26 AM, 01/08/2009
It took them over 20 years to decide to close this case?
