AKRON BEACON JOURNAL
No Deals For Witnesses, Officials Say
No promises made, murder-case judge told
Wed, Mar. 21, 2007
By Ed Meyer
Beacon Journal staff writer
RAVENNA - Portage County authorities said Tuesday they had promised ``absolutely nothing'' to prospective witnesses in connection with the decades-old murder case of Randy Resh and Bob Gondor.
The two men are awaiting new trials, ordered by the Ohio Supreme Court, in the 1988 rape and murder of Connie Nardi, 31, a mother of two from Randolph Township.
In the final hearing before the scheduled start Tuesday of Resh's retrial, defense lawyers asked Monday for government documentation of any ``deals'' promised to state prison inmates so they could prepare for cross-examination if the inmates testify.
But in a response filed with Common Pleas Judge Laurie J. Pittman, who will preside at the Resh trial, assistant county prosecutor Thomas Buchanan said the state ``has promised its witnesses absolutely nothing in return for their truthful testimony in this matter.''
Buchanan said that no ``written or oral promises of consideration have been made to any witness in return for their testimony.'' Therefore, he said, there was ``no evidence'' to disclose to the defense.
Last week, the Akron Beacon Journal obtained documents from Grafton Correctional Institution -- where Resh and Gondor were for the past several years -- saying that assistant county prosecutor Gene Muldowney and a county investigator, Ron Craig, had visited March 6.
That visit took place four days after Pittman issued a gag order in the case. Buchanan and County Prosecutor Victor V. Vigluicci had requested the order.
After the visit, supporters of Resh and Gondor said they were contacted by family members of two Grafton inmates, saying prosecution representatives attempted to obtain damaging information about the men in exchange for favorable input at the inmates' parole hearings.
According to prosecution filings on the court's Web site, Eddie Young, a Grafton investigator, was subpoenaed as a witness in the Resh retrial.
Young was listed on the Grafton records as the prison's ``escort'' for the March 6 visit by Muldowney and Craig.
Vigluicci has declined to comment, citing the judge's gag order.
Gondor's trial is scheduled for April 18 before Judge John A. Enlow.
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
Used with permission.
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