The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 18

The Cincinnati Enquirer METRO B2 Saturday, May 22, 1999 TfliSfUTE beating death no SOU! AMR EPORT COMPILED FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS in May 6, he died. It's now a homicide case, Cincinnati police Sgt. Tony Carter said. Police interviews have led to murder warrants acainst three men whose last known M- Salazari address was 10 N. Main St.

in Walton, Ky. Police say they also may be living on the 1400 block of Holman Street in Covington. Police say they also have ties to Verona in Northern Kentucky and Harrison in Ohio. They are: Mario Salazari, 26, also known as Mario Salazar Herrera. He is a 5-foot-8, 145-pound Hispanic man Ecuadorean man was working here BY TANYA BRICKING The Cincinnati Enquirer Mesias Gonzalez's body already has been sent back to his homeland of Ecuador to be buried.

But the way he died has a Cincinnati connection, and local homicide detectives are looking for three suspected killers. Mr. Gonzalez, 20, walked away from a Corryville fight April 24 feeling groggy. He passed out, and his friends couldn't rouse him. They took him to University Hospital.

He slipped into a coma, and on A Beechcraft single-engine aircraft is lifted onto a flatbed truck after it crashed into a neighborhood in west Columbus Friday. The pilot, D. Michael Fischer, 49, condition at Ohio State University Medical Center with an injured right leg, hospital Administrator Ken Phillips said. Passenger Gilbert Holcomb, 45, of Columbus, was in critical condition at Riverside Methodist Hospitals with a broken back and broken ribs, hospital security Lt. Chris Verrilli said.

4'a i Jfl C-SwL- "vA their whereabouts is asked to call the police homicide unit at 352-3542 or Crime Stoppers at 352-3040. Callers may remain anonymous. Mr. Gonzalez's friends raised the, money to send his body back for hjs parents to bury in his small hometown in Ecuador. He had been in Cincinnati-for about eight months, living in Forest Park and working as a skilled plasterer at Synthetic Stucco Corpv Friends describe him a quiet, har py person who might have been mistaken for the wrong person after he left a Corryville bar and was His death is the 13th homicide case Cincinnati police have investigate, ed this year and the first in Corryville since 1997.

G. Vehr hired as UC lobbyist Blackwell aide from Cincinnati BY HOWARD WILKINSON The Cincinnati Enquirer Greg Vehr, the chief aide to Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, will be the University of Cincinnati's new lobbyist. Mr. Vehr, a Cincinnatian who was Mr.

Blackwell's chief of staff in both the state treasurer's office and the secretary of state's office, will carry the title of vice president of governmental relations. He takes a job that has been vacant since 1997 when M.J. Klyn retired. She had lobbied for UC with state and local government for 22 years and is credited with bringing about $2 billion in state funding to the state university campus. "It's an exciting opportunity," said Mr.

Vehr. "I told Ken (Black-well) that this is one of the few things that could tear me away from this office." Mr. Vehr is a brother of Nick Vehr, the former Cincinnati councilman who is heading an effort to bring the Olympics to Cincinnati in 2012. 1 Up the ladder Greg Vehr, a 1984 graduate of Miami University, began his politi- cal career as an aide to then-coun-cilman Steve Chabot in 1985. Afterward, he succeeded his brother as executive director of the Hamilton County Republican Party and was a lobbyist for the Cincinnati Board of Realtors when Mr.

Black-well was appointed state treasurer in 1990. Mr. Vehr went with Mr. Black-. well to the secretary of state office in January, after Mr.

Black4 well was elected to' that office in, November. UC President Joseph Steger said. 1 he was "delighted" to have Mr. Vehr as the university's chief ist. "His experience indicates the-, depth of his abilities," Mr.

Steger said. As vice president, Mr. Vehr will be a member of the UC presidents-, cabinet. Mr. Vehr, who has lived in lumbus since 1990, will move hi family back to Cincinnati and staf his new job Aug.

1. F. Martinez A. Hernandez with long black hair and brown eyes. Francisco Javier Rodriquez Martinez, 26 or 27, also known as Francisco J.

Rodriguez. He is a 5-foot-9, 175-pound Hispanic man with short black hair and brown eyes. Anibal Hernandez, 21, a 5-foot-4, 130-pound Hispanic man with long black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about The Cincinnati EnquirerYoni POzner much easier to recover money in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court than from federal authorities. That need not be true, an FBI spokesman said.

Forfeiture in Ohio requires a felony conviction, but federal law requires only probable cause that the money was involved in drug dealing. On the other hand, the Justice Department has informal procedures which an "innocent owner" can use to claim seized funds, and Mr. Felson said the government has not responded to those approaches. The suit asks Judge Herman J. Weber to, declare the city's practice unconstitutional and to award damages and attorney fees to Mr.

Simpson. No one at the city solicitor's office could be reached for comment and Edwin H. Boldt, the agent who supervises forfeiture cases for the FBI in Cincinnati, said he had not seen the suit. penalty Champaign County Coroner Josh Richards said the children died as a result of some type of violence on the day they disappeared. He found no evidence of struggle or that a weapon was involved.

Hold still, now: Eric Shaffer, project representative for the State of Kentucky's division of engineering, photographs animal models in the outdoor diorama for the Discovery Trail at Big Bone Lick State Park in Boone County. The models are of post-ice age creatures. to recover seized money iMFiJtliiiilliilnmn nr Tne Associatea PressGeraid Weaver of Dublin, Ohio, was in serious South Elementary student who lived with her mother, Angle Bar rett of Reswin Drive, has been examined by Butler County coro-ner's officials, Fairfield Police Sgt Ken Colburn said Friday. He said coroner's officials are continuing their investigation and would not comment further. Police are investigating the death, but they have not classified it as anything other than accidental, Man charged with lying to immigration A British man has been charged with making false statements to U.S.

immigration officials by not disclosing a 1994 conviction for indecent assault on two girls. A federal grand jury in Cincin nati this week indicted Ian Waddup, 37, on charges of telling the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service that he had never been convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude. If he had admitted to the 1994 conviction, he would have been pn hibited from entering the United States. Mr.

Waddup was convicted in March on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a 15-year-old Hamilton girl. Police said he flew to the United States to meet the girl after establishing contact with her in an Internat chat room. In April, Hamilton County Juve nile Court Judge Sylvia Hendon suspended 90 days of his 180-day sentence and credited him for time served since his Feb. 9 arrest in Springdale. Public Works' future under discussion Disbanding Cincinnati's Depart ment of Public Works and replacing it with a Department of Transpor tation and Engineering will be dis cussed during a meeting of the Public Works Committee Monday at 2 p.m.

in council chambers at City Hall. The new department would be responsible for regional coordination of transportation issues. It also would encompass the transportation planning, design, engineering, regulatory and construction mange- ment functions now handled by Public Works. City Manager John Shirey also would like to see the creation of a Department of Public Services to handle trash pickup and sanitation functions, maintenance of streets, traffic signals, streetlights and snow removal. Retired prosecutor hired in abuse case AKRON, Ohio The city hired a retired prosecutor Friday to review the internal police investigation of a wife-beating allegation against Police Chief Edward Irvine.

Frederic Zuch retired in 1997 after a 30-year career as an Akron police officer and prosecutor for Akron and Summit County. He will be paid $200 hourly, Law Director Max Rothal said. The chief's wife, Geneva Irvine, was treated in October for injuries which she originally blamed on a beating at the hands of her husband. She later recanted the allegation and no charges were filed. suaded officers that Mr.

Simpson, of Ohio 232, New Richmond, was really the dealer. Assuming the $5,241 found on Mr, Simpson was drug money, officers confiscated it. Mr. Simpson's role became clear and he was allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay a $25 fine. Mr.

Felson said Mr. Simpson's cash came from a personal injury settlement six days earlier. When Mr. Simpson sought its return, Cincinnati had given the cash to the FBI. If his suit fails, the FBI will return about 80 percent to the city and keep the rest.

Mr. Simpson's suit, filed in U.S. District Court, says this city practice of using federal agencies to put money out of easy reach violates the Fourth Amendment ban on illegal seizures and the 14th Amendment right to due process. Mr. Felson and Mr.

Newman said Cincinnati does this because it is Lawmakers renewing partial-birth ban COLUMBUS One year after the U.S. Supreme Court led stand lower court decisions that struck down Ohio's ban on a late-term abortion procedure, lawmakers are trying to renew the law. Rep. Jerry Luebbers, D-Cincin-nati, introduced a bill this week that would create a new offense he dubbed "partial birth infanticide." The bill, which is co-sponsored by a majority of Ohio House members, would impose criminal and civil penalties on doctors who perform the procedure. Partial-birth abortions, while relatively rare in Ohio, should be banned because many of the fetuses can live outside the womb, Mr.

Luebbers said. The bill's opponents say the legislation is another attempt to limit a woman's right to an abortion. In finding fault with the previous law banning the procedure, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled it would unduly interfere with that right. UC football player indicted in rape University of Cincinnati football player DeMarco McCleskey was indicted Friday on charges of raping a UC student in her dorm room.

Mr. McCleskey, 18, faces two counts of rape and one count of aggravated burglary. If convicted, he could be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison. Police have said the incident occurred May 9 when the woman's room was entered through an unlocked door. The 19-year-old woman filed a report with university police accusing Mr.

McCleskey of attacking her between 1:30 and 2:30 a.m. in Calhoun Hall. Mr. McCleskey, who has been indefinitely suspended from the team, was UC's top running back last season. The Oklahoma native joined UC last year and was named to Conference USA's all-freshman team.

Police search yields fetus in freezer The Cincinnati Police Division's homicide unit discovered a fetus in a freezer Thursday when detectives served a search warrant at a North Fairmount home. Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge David Stockdale issued the warrant based upon information from an informant who told police about the fetus. According to the search warrant, police searched the home on the 1500 block of Vinton Street for the body of a black female infant. Details about the fetus are unclear, said Sgt. Tony Carter, a homicide supervisor.

Police must have the evidence examined to determine who the mother was and how long the fetus had been in the freezer. No charges have been filed. V-year-old's death under investigation A 7-year-old Fairfield girl found dead in her bed by her mother Thursday morning did not die from injuries, according to a preliminary coroner's report. The body of Arielle Franklin, a Lotteries Ohio (Drawintjs May 21. 19991 Pick 3: 9 5 1 Pick 4: 6 5 8 Buckeye 5: 11 12 2627 Tonight Super Lotto jackpot will be $8 million.

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Information: to seek death dia attention. On Sept. 6, 1997, a farmer found the children's unclothed, badly decomposed remains side-by-side near Nettle Creek Cemetery, about 3 miles from the house. Suit seeks Clermont man says police thought is was drug cash BY BEN L. KAUFMAN The Cincinnati Enquirer Clermont County resident Shawn Simpson sued Cincinnati this week, claiming city policy makes it unconstitutionally difficult to recover money mistakenly seized during drug arrests.

Attorney Stephen R. Felson asked a federal judge to certify Mr. Simpson's suit as a class action because so many people have been victimized by overzealous police. Money used in or meant for drug deals can be confiscated and kept by law-enforcement agencies. Persons who say their money was taken mistakenly can seek its return, going to court if necessary.

Mr. Felson and co-counsel Robert B. Newman said their client was arrested by Cincinnati police on July 10 when he bought some marijuana. Mr. Newman said the seller per Prosecutor Stepfather indicted in kidnapping, deaths of girl, 1 1 boy, 4 The Associated Press URBANA, Ohio A prosecutor said triday he will seek the death penalty against a man charged with kidnapping and killing his two stepchildren who disappeared from their home nearly two years ago.

Kevin Neal, 32, was indicted on 11 counts, including aggravated murder, kidnapping and offenses against a corpse, said Champaign County Prosecutor Nick Selvaggio. "We're alleging that Kevin pur posely with prior calculation and design caused their deaths," said Mr. Selvaggio. He declined to release details about what led to the indictments by the grand jury, which met on Thursday. Mr.

Neal is serving a seven-to-15-year sentence for sexual battery at an Indiana prison in an unrelated case. Authorities want him returned to Ohio for trial, although the timing is uncertain, Mr. Selvaggio said. Mr. Selvaggio said he met with family members of the victims, including the childrens' mother, Sue Neal, to tell them about the indictment.

"It was a very emotional time for them. They were relieved that the investigative phase had concluded and the prosecution was beginning," Mr. Selvaggio said. "Sue reacted as you would expect a mother to react she sobbed." India Smith, 11, and her half-brother, Cody, 4, vanished on July 9, 1997. Mr.

Neal said they disappeared from their yard while he was cleaning the house. Authorities and hundreds of volun teers looked for the children in a search that received widespread me- BACK PAIN RELIEF Dayton's Backsaver Dealer Give the gift Of comfort and relaxation. Our back care product consultants can show you more than 400 posture-perfect solutions for a pain-free lifestyle 'round the clock. We can help you reduce stress at work, relax at home, sleep more soundly, exercise without injury and even make coach feel like first class when you travel. Visit your nearest RELAX THE BACK store and ask about our 1 2 month interest-free financing.

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