“I been waiting on y’all for a long time.”
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[Sergeant Al Graeber] was a good man. . . . He was a good police officer. . . . He was like a little bulldog. . . . He was all cop. . . . Al’s job was his life.
—Captain Steve Moody
John Balser, of course, had told the detectives many names, but Sapp was certainly not one of them.
The next day, on the long ride to take William Sapp back to Orient Correctional Institution, Lieutenant Moody asked him, “How are we going to get Balser to come up off of this?”
Sapp replied, “You go there. You tell him Bill said, ‘It’s okay to tell, Jimmy Boy.’”
Steve Moody and Steve Schumaker left Orient and drove to Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, where John Balser was incarcerated, to pay him a visit.
They had brought a photo array of mug shots with them and now laid them in front of Balser.
Lieutenant Moody asked John, “Is there anyone here who looks familiar?”
Moody watched John’s eyes and saw that he was looking directly at the picture of William Sapp, but he pointed to a picture of another man with whom he had been in the Clark County Jail.
“This guy looks familiar,” John said.
“Well, John, I bet he does,” Moody answered. “You were up on the floor with him. We know who did it now, John. We know. We’ve got the DNA.”
Incredibly, Balser looked at Lieutenant Moody, pointed to Sapp’s picture, and said, “Mooo-nee, I’ll bet you if you test—I’ll bet you five hundred dollars if you test this guy’s DNA—that’ll be the guy.”
Moody was disgusted. “John, I wouldn’t bet you anything. You know, Jimmy Boy, that that’s the guy. Why, out of all these years, didn’t you tell us?”
John’s answer was quite simple: “’Cause he treated me like a brother.”
Several days later the Crime Scene Unit was dispatched to the home of Wanda Marciszewski, on East Euclid Street, to do a “consent to search” for possible evidence from the Phree Morrow and Martha Leach homicides. The focus of the search was jewelry that the young girls might have been wearing on August 22, 1992.
Among the many miscellaneous items of jewelry that were confiscated, the investigators found the necklace that Martha had been wearing the night she was brutally murdered. The piece of jewelry that Sapp referred to when he said, “I know she (Wanda) stooped down and took the necklace off of one of them.”
Sergeant Michael Haytas also followed up on Sapp’s claim that he had hidden the rebar that he beat Helen Preston with in a “culvert” in Clark State Community College’s parking lot. Even though it had been over four years since the attack, he found it exactly where Sapp said it would be.
It was approximately sixteen inches long and two inches in diameter. When viewed as the construction material that it was, it was little more than interesting, but the investigators had seen the chilling results of what it could do when used as a weapon.
On Monday, April 7, 1997, William K. Sapp was indicted by the grand jury on nine counts of aggravated murder, four counts of rape, four counts of kidnapping, three counts of tampering with evidence, three counts of abuse of a corpse, two counts of attempted aggravated murder, and two counts of arson.
At this point in time, the public had no idea how the investigators had tied Sapp to the murders. They couldn’t figure out why it had taken almost five years. They didn’t know that not one of the other participants had ever mentioned Sapp’s name. They didn’t know that Sapp had told detectives, six months earlier, about the attack on Helen Preston. They didn’t know that Sapp had left his “signature.” Or that his blood had been drawn and his DNA matched the semen found in Phree and Martha. And they didn’t know that, only days earlier, he had confessed.
There was much controversy and criticism surrounding the fact that Clark County prosecutor Stephen Schumaker would not discuss the events leading to Sapp’s arrest in the murders of Phree Morrow, Martha Leach, and Belinda Anderson. He was indeed aware that the public wanted, and maybe even needed, the answers to many questions. The murders of the two girls had haunted the city for many years.
The citizens of Springfield had not known that they had a serial killer in their midst. They didn’t know until Sapp was indicted by the grand jury that there was a horrifying connection between the children’s murders and the murder of Belinda Anderson and the attack on Helen Preston.
And Schumaker was not about to try the case in the media.
Since the first newspaper headline proclaiming that two girls’ bodies had been found, I, Carol J. Rothgeb, had been saving the articles, thinking about writing a book. With the arrest of William K. Sapp, I knew that I would write a book—something I had talked about and dreamed about off and on for twenty-five years.
All eight of the defense attorneys in Clark County with certification to try death penalty cases had already represented other defendants charged with the murders and rapes of Phree Morrow and Martha Leach. Therefore, since the indictment against Sapp included death penalty specifications, they were not eligible to represent Sapp.
Late Friday afternoon, April 11, Judge Richard O’Neill filed documents with the clerk of courts stating that two Dayton attorneys, Dennis Lieberman and Sharon Ovington, would be representing William Sapp.
On April 18, 1997, William Sapp was arraigned in Judge O’Neill’s courtroom. Several sheriff’s deputies checked the courtroom thoroughly to make sure no one had managed to hide a weapon under the seats, or anywhere else in the courtroom, before the public was allowed to enter to watch the proceedings. The small gallery only accommodated about fifty people and it filled up quickly, mostly with members of the victims’ families.
Debi Segrest from the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office asked Belinda’s brother, Richard Anderson, if he was “going to be good.” He replied, “You know what I want to do.” She said, “Yes, I know. But are you going to be good?”
Sapp’s court-appointed attorney Dennis Lieberman informed the court that his client would remain mute on the plea.
Judge O’Neill entered a plea of not guilty for Sapp.
There, for the first time, I saw the man who was accused of these horrendous crimes. The fear finally had a face. The brutal, and frightening, reality was that he looked like a laborer or a factory worker—not a monster.
Sergeant Barry Eggers recalled the day that he and Steve Moody had been in William Sapp’s apartment on Miller Street—the day Karen agreed to help with a composite drawing. He had gone back later—by himself—looking for Karen, to follow up on the information she had given them. Karen wasn’t home, so Eggers was in the house alone with Sapp.
“I think about that—and not being ready—not knowing that there was this kind of person there and not being prepared for a confrontation. He could’ve probably had me very easily. If he’d have thought at that time that we were looking at him as a suspect—that whole meeting may have been different. But he obviously felt safe that we didn’t have a clue,” Eggers stated.
In November 1997 Dennis Lieberman and Sharon Ovington filed a motion to suppress the videotaped statements of William Sapp. They said they believed his statements to detectives were a result of coercion and they claimed that, at times, Sapp was “incoherent, mentally unstable, and incapable of recalling statements he had made moments before.”
The attorneys also claimed that Sapp was “borderline mentally retarded” and not competent to waive his rights: “In the course of interrogation, the police made false promises to the defendant that he would receive the psychiatric care he desperately needs, in order to elicit statements from him.”
According to the court documents, the defense attorneys also said that the detectives administered “mind-altering” drugs, such as Prozac, to Sapp during the interrogation.
Other court documents revealed that doctors prescribed the Prozac for Sapp. He was already on the medication before he was brought back to Springfield to be questioned.
In December 1997 the defense attorneys sent a memo to the court saying that they could be prepared to try the case the following month, but a more thorough psychological exam of Sapp was necessary. The psychologist couldn’t meet with Sapp again until January 16. The defense lawyers alleged that they could not represent Sapp fully without a proper psychological examination.
Judge O’Neill postponed the suppression hearing and the trial. They were rescheduled to start in April 1998.
In March of that year, the trial was once again postponed when Lieberman told the court that they were having difficulties scheduling the specialists necessary for tests and preparation for trial.
Judge O’Neill moved the trial date to July 13, but the suppression hearing would still be in April.
On March 2, 1998, Sergeant Al Graeber officially retired from the police department at 4:00 in the afternoon. Five hours later, at 9:00 that evening, he died. He had been on extended sick leave, suffering from lung cancer.
The previous month, the city commission had named February 10, 1998, “Al Graeber Day,” in recognition of his many accomplishments during his twenty-eight-year career. That same day he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Springfield Police Department.
It was the last of many awards he had received over the years.
His longtime friend and partner, Steve Moody, would later say, “I believe Al knew he was sick long before he was diagnosed. I believe that once we interviewed Bill Sapp and that came to fruition . . . I truly believe that that’s what kept him going. It was aggressive lung cancer, but I think he fought it for a lot of years. He was always the first one here in the morning and, a lot of nights, the last one to leave.”
Al Graeber left behind his wife, Sharon, and his four daughters.
The suppression hearing started on schedule on Tuesday, April 14, 1998.
Lieutenant Pat Sullivan of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office testified about the execution of the search warrant of the house on Kinnane Street, on February 27, 1996, at 12:01 A.M. He said that Karen, William Sapp’s wife, told them that he wasn’t home.
But they found him hiding behind the furnace, handcuffed him, and read him his rights. Sapp did not invoke his right to counsel. Lieutenant Sullivan said that Sapp appeared normal that night. After they handcuffed him, they took him to the main part of the house and removed the cuffs. They sat him at a table, reread him his rights, and questioned him.
Jacksonville, Florida, detectives Hinson and Davis gave testimony pertaining to Sapp’s admission of guilt in the homicide of the Florida “bag lady” and the attack on Helen Preston.
Robert Hinson testified that Sapp wanted to talk to the detectives and that Sapp understood everything when he waived his rights.
Lieberman asked each of the detectives if they were aware of Sapp’s previous illegal drug use, including crack cocaine and LSD, and whether or not they were aware that Sapp had been prescribed Prozac and lithium for a mental illness, which could have had an effect on him.
Both detectives replied that they were unaware of his drug use.
Dr. James Gibfried, a psychiatrist, told the court that he examined Sapp and prescribed refills of lithium and Prozac, enough to last for his stay in Springfield (April 2 through April 4, 1997). He stated that the drugs would not have an effect on Sapp’s understanding of his rights.
Over the next several days, sixteen hours of Sapp’s chilling videotaped statement was played for the court. Periodically, throughout the playing of the tapes, Sapp wrote notes on a tablet and gave them to his attorney Sharon Ovington.
On the last day of the suppression hearing, Lieutenant Moody took the witness stand and testified that William K. Sapp had voluntarily waived his rights on at least three separate occasions, including when he was picked up from the prison and transported back to Springfield for questioning. Sapp never invoked his right to remain silent nor did he ask to have an attorney present.
Lieutenant Moody also told the court that Sapp did not appear to be intellectually impaired and that he believed Sapp understood his rights.
Judge Richard O’Neill denied the motion to suppress Sapp’s videotaped confession.
During the playing of the videotapes, the people in the gallery—the victims’ family members and myself—were allowed to sit in the jury box so that we could have a better view of the large screen.
The sound of his voice on the videotapes, with the light Southern accent acquired from living in Florida for ten years, is worth noting. Much of the time he spoke in soft, hushed, whispering tones. It is not at all difficult to imagine how threatening and menacing he must have sounded to his terrified victims as he raped, maimed, and killed.
During his statement to the detectives, there were times when he showed—or attempted to show—something akin to remorse. But in the courtroom—if he did, indeed, feel any guilt or remorse—there wasn’t a hint of it exposed.
Remarkably, after hearing Sapp tell the detectives about the atrocious things his mother had done to him, some members of Belinda Anderson’s close-knit family expressed a certain degree of compassion and understanding—for the child that he had been. However, this was not for the adult, who, we all agreed, had to take responsibility for his own actions.
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I think that was part of the strategy. . . . I think he [Mr. Lieberman] very much wanted a female co-counsel. . . . That didn’t work because of what Mr. Sapp did . . . and was. . . .
—Steve Schumaker
As Sapp’s trial date grew near, more problems arose. In June 1998 Dennis Lieberman informed the court that he had received a report from a psychologist who concluded that William Sapp was incompetent to stand trial at that time.
Judge O’Neill ordered psychological evaluations for Sapp, and both sides were asked to submit names of psychologists or psychiatrists to the court.
When Sharon Ovington came into the courtroom before the proceedings began, she took a seat at the end of the defense table, as far away from William Sapp as possible. Sapp remained shackled throughout the proceeding.
Lieberman informed the judge that Sharon Ovington wished to withdraw from the case “due to matters best kept confidential.”
When Schumaker suggested that Ovington address the court, she told Judge O’Neill that after “some communication” with Sapp, she could no longer zealously represent him. She did not reveal the nature of the communication.
It was very probable that Dennis Lieberman’s strategy had been to have a female co-counsel sitting next to William Sapp and talking to William Sapp in order to send a message to the jury that, despite the horrific accusations against their client, he was not out to destroy all women. As it turned out, the jurors would never see a female within arm’s reach of Sapp.
Although I was never able to learn exactly what they said, the “some communication” with Sapp that Ovington referred to was, not surprisingly, threatening letters.
Judge Richard O’Neill had no choice, except to put the trial on hold, until Sapp’s competency was resolved one way or the other. Also, so that he could find another attorney outside of Clark County with the proper credentials to represent Sapp—and to give the new attorney time to get up to speed on the case.
The judge appointed another Dayton attorney, Gary Hruska, to replace Sharon Ovington.
Meanwhile, after being postponed twice, Jamie Turner’s competency hearing finally took place in April 1998, almost two years after he was arrested the second time. Four psychologists testified during the proceedings. It was the opinion of two of the psychologists who testified in Judge O’Neill’s courtroom that Jamie Turner was not competent to stand trial. It was the opinion of the other two that Jamie was competent to stand trial.
During the hearing Jamie periodically turned and scowled at the handful of people seated in the gallery.
Four months later, Judge O’Neil
l ruled that Jamie Turner was competent to stand trial for his involvement in the murders of Phree Morrow and Martha Leach.
On August 18, 1998, David Marciszewski, “bulked up” at 170 pounds and now wearing glasses, testified in front of the Clark County grand jury for the second time. He was, as usual, a mild-mannered and very nervous man.
Schumaker: There was another individual that we really weren’t able to talk to you about last time by the name of Bill Sapp?
David: I knew his mom and his younger brother. I didn’t know him very well, but I seen him around and stuff. (Sapp’s mother had been David Marciszewski’s neighbor years earlier, before he lived on Light Street.)
Schumaker: Now, what about Martha Leach and Phree Morrow? How do you know them, David?
David: I didn’t know them.
Schumaker: Okay, did you meet them that night?
David: Oh, yeah.
Schumaker: Where did you first see them?
David: The bakery. I was the only—the one that went in and got the cookies for the two girls. And the girls was waiting outside. One of the guys had a van. We all went in the van and drove over [to Linden Avenue]. Well, the girls were forced in the van.
Schumaker: And who all was in the van?
David: Bill Sapp. And I was in the van too. Jamie Turner, Alex Boone, John Balser.
Schumaker: And how were they forced in the van, David?
David: Well, I didn’t force any of them. I helped one in the van, the smallest one. I’m not sure how to put this.... They like were picked up and almost thrown in there.
Hometown Killer Page 27