18-year-old Hannah Hill (1999)

[maverick1862]

In May of 1999, 18-year-old Hannah Hill left her home in Akron, Ohio and never returned. Six days after Hill was reported missing, police found her body in the trunk of her car. She appeared to have been beaten, strangled, and possibly raped.

--it took 48 hours to process the missing person's report filed by Hill's mother, and in that time, calls that would have linked the disappearance to an illegally parked car came in, but the connection was not made. And once her body was discovered, additional mistakes and oversights ultimately allowed her death to go entirely unpunished. The chief suspect, arrested less than 24 hours after Hill's body was found, was acquitted without the defense calling a single witness, and no further charges have ever been filed.

[maverick1862]

Suspect will not face new trial in murder of Hannah Hill
Originally posted February 15, 2002

AKRON, Ohio -- A day after Hannah Hill's body was found in East Akron, police arrested Denny Ross and many thought it was an open-and-shut case.

That was until his 2000 trial ended in a mistrial, and today, was thrown out completely.

Judge Jane Bond says she declared a mistrial because it was the right thing to do.

That when a juror admitted to knowing information about the case, outside of the evidence, and was attempting to influence others, Bond had to declare a mistrial.

"We cannot ask for public confidence when we permit juror misconduct," Bond says.

Bond says she tried to poll the jury to avoid a mistrial, but defense attorneys objected, which forced her to declare a mistrial.

But since her decision came after jurors agreed to a quit Ross of murder and rape charges, defense attorneys argued double jeopardy and had Bond removed from the case.

After 16 months of debate, visiting Lorain County Judge Joseph Cirigliano ruled Friday that a new trial would be double jeopardy.

In his ruling, he criticizes Bond, saying:

"The court must consider any verdict reached by the jury in its determination of whether the misconduct affected the jury and whether manifest exists," Cirigliano says. "The failure to take into account the jury's verdict is an abuse of discretion."

Bond says Cirigliano made a mistake.

"We got to this point because there were facts that he considered that controlled his decision," Bond says. "I think some of his facts are wrong."

For police, it's a stunning blow to a case that began with community outrage after Hill's body sat in the trunk of her car for days before being discovered. Hill's bloody clothes were found outside Ross' apartment.

"Now we'll confer with the prosecutor on what our next avenue is to take," Major Paul Callahan of the Akron Police says. "It's our belief and always has been that the right person was held in the murder of Hannah Hill."

Timeline

· Police found Hill's body on May 26, 1999

· They then charged Ross with murder, rape and kidnapping.

· After a one-week trial, the case is declared a mistrial on October 28, 2000

[maverick1862]

It took minutes for someone to beat and strangle 18-year-old Hannah C. Hill on May 20, 1999. then it took several more to put her body in the trunk of the car her father gave her, then park it on a city street.
Nearly a week later, Akron police discovered that a Geo Prizm they had ticketed for illegal parking contained Hill's body, posed in the trunk to shock whoever found it.
Hannah had been sexually assualted and strangled. As of May 1, 2007 Hannah's case is still unsolved.