Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Man Says Son Killed Self to Avoid More Prison

Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
Author: Gina Mace, Special to the Beacon Journal

Dateline: BARBERTON    Marc A. Ross asked his dad for a favor before he killed himself early Wednesday during a standoff with police.

Russell Ross said his son told him he had a gun to his head and he wasn't going back to prison.

''He said, 'Dad, remember I love you,' '' Russ Ross said. ''He has an 18-year-old son. He said, 'Try to straighten him out. Try to get him to stay straight.' ''

And then Russ Ross said the phone line went dead.

Teen's Artwork Ties Holocaust to Current Events

Akron Beacon Journal (OH)


Author: Gina Mace
Dateline: SPRINGFIELD TWP  A bloody hand print hangs in the center of the drawing, overshadowing somber-faced African tribal figures.

The hand print is covered with words to describe the systematic annihilation of millions of people.

Wretched. Merciless. Violence. Horror. Sorrow.

More than 60 years ago in Germany during the Holocaust. Today in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Courtney Lowers, 16, created the emotionally charged white-charcoal-on-black drawing that earned the Springfield High School sophomore a tie for first place honors in the Division II Individual category of the 2005 City of Akron Holocaust Arts and Writing Contest.

Dark Secrets of Christopher Below -- Part I

Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
DARK SECRETS OF CHRISTOPHER BELOW

Author: Craig Webb and Gina Mace , Beacon Journal writers

Dateline: MEDINA  Many of the women in his life remember him, first of all, as a Southern gentleman -- a tall, brown-haired Southern gentleman with piercing blue eyes who had an uncommon ability to charm his way into their hearts and homes.

There seemed to be no reason to suspect anything sinister lurked beneath that surface.

Thirteen years ago, when he was but 25, it was that charm that ensnared a married Medina woman of the same age into a summerlong affair, and it was his intriguing tales of adventure that kept her interested.

But when guilt got the better of Kathern Fetzer and she decided to bring the episode to an end, a strikingly different side of Christopher Below emerged.

Part II: Vanishing Point

Akron Beacon Journal (OH)

VANISHING POINT

AFTER HEATHER TEAGUE DISAPPEARED ALONG THE OHIO RIVER IN 1995, POLICE THOUGHT THEY HAD SOLVED HER MURDER. THEN THEY HEARD ABOUT CHRISTOPHER BELOW

Author: Craig Webb and Gina Mace, Beacon Journal writers
Dateline: HENDERSON, KY.   

Tim Walthall never met Heather Teague.

Yet their lives intersected on a warm, sunny day in August 1995 in a horrifying moment that passed without significance to anybody in faraway Medina County, Ohio.

It was a perfect day for the blue-eyed, long-haired former beauty queen to find a secluded spot to work on her tan.

She parked her red compact car at Newburgh Beach on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River near Henderson and walked through a stand of willow trees and down a steep bank, plunking her chaise longue along the water's edge.

Alone with the sounds of the river pushing over the nearby dam, the slender 23-year-old removed her cutoff shorts, placed them by her shoes on the sand, and lay down on her stomach, loosening her bikini top.

In Indiana, across the wide expanse of river, Tim Walthall, the owner of a metal fabricating company, had strolled over to a wall of windows in his spacious riverfront home. His wife was busy making hamburgers for lunch.

Walthall had noticed that the thermals -- the visible air waves created by the differences in air and river temperatures -- were nonexistent that day.

So he picked up his binoculars to take advantage of the clear view a mile or so across the river and spotted four ATV riders, making their way over the sand dunes on the distant shore.

Walthall remembered watching them as they cleared a dune not far from the remote spot where a young woman could be seen sunbathing.

As the last of the vehicles turned away from the beach, though, Walthall also caught a glimpse of something peculiar: Somebody's head popped up from a clump of high, dense weeds about 15 feet behind the woman.

Walthall watched -- as did the man in the weeds -- as the ATVs passed from sight.

Puzzled by what he was seeing, Walthall opted to get his more powerful telescope for a better view of the long-haired, bearded man as he inched his way toward the unsuspecting woman. Walthall said the man would take five to six steps then crouch again in the weeds.

"I told my wife, 'Someone's stalking that woman,' " Walthall remembered. "I thought maybe it was her boyfriend trying to scare her."

Part III: The Terrible Silence

Akron Beacon Journal (OH)

PART III:  THE TERRIBLE SILENCE
THE DARK SECRETS OF CHRISTOPHER BELOW

Author: Craig Webb and Gina Mace, Beacon Journal writers
Dateline: HENDERSON, Ky. 

 By the time Christopher Below was willing to confess that he shot Kathern Fetzer and left her body in a Dumpster, Medina Detective Scott Thomas knew there was much more to the story than Below was telling.

Thomas just didn't know how much more -- and still doesn't.

For years, those who investigated the Fetzer case were bothered by not knowing how much significance they should place on an item that was found months after Fetzer vanished in November 1991 -- an item Below left behind in his abandoned Lodi apartment.

Whether by accident or design, Below left a briefcase with a 5-year-old South Carolina poster that sought the public's help in learning the whereabouts of Kristina Joanne Porco.

Kristina, they discovered, was a petite, 16-year-old girl with long, dark hair who had been missing since Nov. 29, 1986.

Beloved Apple Orchard Owner Dies

Aron Beacon Journal (OH)

Author: Gina Mace
Dateline: GREEN 

She treated the fruit in her orchard the same way she treated the people in her life, her family and customers said -- with patience, kindness and love.

Julia Dunlap, a fixture and owner of Dunlap's Orchard for more than 40 years, won't be there to greet customers this year.

Hearing Includes Memorial

Akron Beacon Journal (OH)

Author: Gina Mace, Special to the Beacon Journal
Dateline: MEDINA 

The muffled sobs of David Heinricht's grieving family were the only sounds heard for about 50 seconds Friday in the Medina County courtroom of Judge James L. Kimbler.

Heinricht's father, Guy Argenziano, asked Kimbler for the moment of silence to honor his son during the sentencing hearing of his killer, Shaun Cleland.

Cleland, 25, pleaded guilty in April to aggravated murder, kidnapping and aggravated burglary in an arrangement that dismissed a death-penalty specification.

On Friday, the Brunswick man sat next to his lawyers, on the edge of his seat. He spoke once, at the end of the hearing.

"I'm truly sorry for the death of this young man," Cleland said.

Garden Awash in Memories

Akron Beacon Journal (OH)

Author: Gina Mace, Special to the Beacon Journal
Dateline: CUYAHOGA FALLS

The dedication of the Rain Garden Reserve was a homecoming of sorts for two Falls families.

Patrick McVan and his late wife, Peggy, raised their children in the Seventh Street home that was demolished to make way for what the city is calling a community conservation rainscape.

The Bojo family -- Rod, Shelley and daughter Michelle -- returned Friday to help plant a white swamp oak on the site of their former property as part of the 21st annual Arbor Day festivities.

They are one of three Sixth Street families who sold their homes to make way for one of the largest neighborhood gardens in the nation to soak up rainwater.

Mobility Scooters on Road Raise Red Flag

Akron Beacon Journal (OH)

Author: Gina Mace, Special to the Beacon Journal

Janet Hill can be found with her little brown dog, Betsy, cruising in the bicycle lane on Sackett Avenue on her medical scooter.

Hill, 76, wears a white jacket over her petite frame and covers her short hair with a white hat.
Her red three-wheeled Pride Sundancer scooter has taillights and rearview mirrors on the handlebar.

''I can see cars coming more than a block away,'' she said.

But not everyone is convinced motorists can see Hill and others who traverse the community in such scooters. The city wants the scooters to be equipped with bright orange bike flags.

Tax Sharing Plan Opposed

Akron Beacon Journal (OH)

Author: Gina Mace, Special to the Beacon Journal

Dateline: STOW  City Council wants businesses to know they are welcome to move to Stow --  no matter where they are located.

And they don't think the city should be penalized if the business moves from another Summit County community.

Calling it ''blackmail'' and ''one of the worst pieces of legislation . . . ever,'' members of Stow council Thursday held up legislation that would allow Mayor Karen Fritschel to sign a countywide tax-revenue-sharing agreement.