The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 12

The Beacon Journal Page B4, Tuesday, April 12, 1994 flip Funeral home sues interior decorator Stewart Calhoun owners say contractor called them racial names, charged 400 markups, didn't supply goods said he told Cody that he and Garland had gotten into a fight and the sound was Garland slamming the door. King told Francis that he burned the body over a two-day period. Hogue said King said he burned the body near the isolated house. Hogue and Francis both said that King had told them he was upset with Garland because he had seen her with another man at the Main Street Saloon in Akron on March 20 the day King allegedly killed Garland. Francis said that King had confessed to him while the two were drinking beer at a Barberton bar March 31, and King was arrested the next day.

King reported Garland missing to police March 26. After listening to the testimony, Judge Michael Wiegand sent the case to Summit County grand jury to consider whether there is enough evidence to indict King. King remains in Summit County Jail on a $250,000 bond. Slaying Police recover gun from Akron storm sewer Continued from Page Bl a handgun from that storm sewer "that we believe Danny King used to kill Marilyn Garland." Also, Hogue testified that King told him he put the remains in the Tuscarawas River, not the Ohio Erie Canal, and put the drum near the couple's Canal Street home. Police are asking anyone who may have spotted a tarp or cloth, which could contain more bone fragments, near the Tuscarawas River to contact Barberton police at 848-6703.

Hogue and Francis testified that King had told them the couple's 3-year-old son, Cody, was in the home when the killing occurred. The gunshot awakened' Cody, King reportedly told Hogue. King The suit says the funeral directors were paying her 50 percent deposits on goods. But instead of putting the money on the goods, the suit says she was keeping the money. The suit says the markups she charged were so gross that they are tantamount to fraud and theft.

White denies doing anything underhanded. She also denies 400 percent markups. "I wouldn't be answering my own telephone if I could get away with that," she said. "Ask them what their markup is. Did you ever hear about a poor funeral director?" Stewart and Calhoun fired White in March.

According to the suit, she then caUed up the manufacturers who were supposed to supply the decorating items and placed personal holds on the accounts. That action, the suit says, wiU cause delays and additional cost to the construction project. White says the funeral home has received some things, including several figurines from a scene known as the Ruins of Rome. The suit seeks nearly $500,000. By Charlene Nevada Beacon Journal staff 'writer What the people who run the Stewart and Calhoun funeral home in Akron wanted was nice wallpaper, matching drapes and decorations for their $700,000 funeral home addition.

What they got, according to a suit filed Monday, was insults and 400 percent markups. And they are stiU waiting for their waUpa-per. The suit, assigned to Judge Glen Morgan, charges Cleveland interior decorator Kathleen White with breach of contract, taking money under false pretenses and calling the owners of the funeral home racial names. White denies making racial remarks to the owners of the funeral home, who are black. But she says she did hang up on them and call them some other names because she said they yeUed at her and got mad because they wanted a Rolls Royce decorating job on a Ford budget According to the suit, White who decorates funeral homes in 19 states was to order aU of the furnishings and be paid a 20 percent markup.

LANE SCHOOL) a -j Howe St. liH Detail gunmU at a stop sign at the comer of Dunham and Valley View roads about 7:30 a.m. He then started to turn left onto Valley View. A northbound car braked to avoid him and a crane truck behind the car, driven by Bruce L. Steinfurth, 46, braked to avoid the car.

The brakes on the crane truck Med and he went around the northbound car and struck the pickup truck head-on. Both trucks left the highway and rolled on their sides, with the crane from Steinfurth's truck crushing the cab of the pickup truck. The patrol said Steinfurth, of Northfield, was not injured. He was cited for defective brakes. Akron Caretaker's murder trial to begin today The trial of a caretaker charged with taking the life of the man he was to care for is to begin this morning in the Summit County courtroom of Judge Maureen O'Connor.

Michael Baker, 36, has pleaded guilty to stealing from Marvin Baughman, 74, but denies murdering him. Baughman's family thought he died of prostate cancer last summer. But after family members discovered money missing from his checking account, they had the body exhumed and discovered he had been injected with an amount of morphine 21 times the customary dose. Baker had left town after Baughman died last July. Franklin Township police tracked him down in Maine.

Last week Baker pleaded guilty to two counts of grand theft, passing bad checks, receiving stolen property and forgery. A jury was seated late Monday in the murder trial. Canton Jury chosen to hear trial of Estella Sexton A jury was chosen on Monday to hear the child abuse trial of Estella M. Sexton. Sexton, 47, is accused of having sexual contact with a then-8-year-old daughter for about a year starting Dec.

23, 1988, and torturing and abusing the child. The case has drawn attention because of two killings committed in Florida while the family was on the run from Stark County child-abuse investigators. Sexton's husband, Eddie Lee Sexton 51, and his 23-year-old son, William, are charged with the first-degree murder of Joel Good, 24, who was strangled in November near Tampa. Sexton's daughter, Estella M. "Pixie" Good, 24, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for smothering her 9-month-old son.

Estella Sexton is not charged in either killing. Three plead not guilty in separate slayings School New housing could replace Lane next year Continued from Page Bl ing. City Councilman Marco Som-merville, D-3, complained that the problem was so severe it was wrecking the neighborhood. He pushed for the $248,000 for the city to buy and raze the building. "This is a good day for the neighborhood," said Sommerville.

He said the problem has been his top priority since he joined the council in 1987. When Sommerville saw the demolition finally happening, he said, "I thanked God and then I thanked the mayor right after that." Woolford said the demolition should be complete by the end of the week. Most of the cost was paid by federal housing money, which required the city to prove that knocking down the old school Board Corporal punishment ban in teacher contract Continued from Page Bl some" children. Now, she said, more students will be suspended or expelled "rather than go to the office for one or two swats." Linda Kersker, who voted to do away with paddling, said the district is going along with the state. State legislators have mandated that if a district wants to keep corporal punishment next school year, its officials must first put together a task force to study the issue.

Kersker said her vote also reflected her personal belief. "If that's how you teach children to solve problems in this society, you're giving them the wrong Beacon Journal staff 'report Three area men charged in three killings pleaded innocent Monday in Summit County Common Pleas Court. Kevin Atchison, 21, of Barberton, pleaded not guilty and not guUty by reason of insanity' in the late March shooting of Tracy Webster, 30, of Barberton. He is charged with aggravated murder. Judge Jane Bond ordered that Atchison be evaluated to see if he is competent to stand trial.

She ordered a sanity evaluation at the same time and set a May 23 hearing date to review the psychological reports. Webster was shot outside a Barberton bar. Also pleading not guUty to aggravated murder was Robert Perm, 24, of Akron. He is charged AIDS activists file false arrest lawsuit Two AIDS activists who were 'arrested at former President George Bush's campaign rally in tetrongsville on Oct. 28, 1992, filed federal court suit on Monday 'f6r $2 million each, contending they were falsely arrested and were denied their First Amendment rights of free speech, ri" The charges against James E.

DeLong of Akron and the Rev. H. Paul Schwitzgebel of Canton were dismissed last Nov. 18 by the city of Strongsville. Each was charged with disorderly conduct, and Schwitzgebel, a United Church of Christ minister, also was charged wjth resisting arrest.

They were protesting what they said was the administration's lack of support fp(r AIDS research. Defendants include Strongs-yiile Walter F. Ehrnfelt, the Ohio Republican Parry and the Bush-Quayle '92 Election Committee. Arbitrator chosen jn school dispute An arbitrator has been chosen 1 in the contract dispute between Akfph Board of Education and the t700 teachers of the Akron Education Association. Frank Keenan, a Cincinnati attorney, will hear negotiators for school board and the teachers lunioti present salary proposals for two-year contract.

He must choose one of the two packages A date has not been set, but a hearing will be held in May. The board and teachers ratified a contract in February that for an immediate 2 percent with further salary proposals sent to an arbitrator. County delays boost in insurance premium A Summit County Council panel Monday stalled action on legislation raising the payroll deduction for health care that nearly 600 county employees must pay. The council's personnel committee iJecided to take up the issue at a-' special hearing Monday afternoon; The measure would increase the hospitalization co-payment nonunion county employees pay, from a set dollar amount to 10 percentof whatever the insurance premium is. If approved, the change would raise the monthly co-pay for a single person on the county mutual health insurance plan by $6.18, from the current $12.28 to $18.46 per month.

The family plan would go up $14.74 a month, from $31.74 to $46.48. Cost for a single worker on the Kaiser Permanente health plan would go up $2.82 a month, from $14.38 to $17.20. For a family, it would rise $9.26 a month, from $38.96 to $48.22. ri.Ain' vi t. BARBERTON worker arrested in gun incident fc'Ah employee of Indus-fries Inc: in Barberton was arrested Monday after he arrived with a handgun tucked in his pants and carrying beer.

While Douglas W. Fisher, 21, of Copley apparently didn't point the gun at anyone, he threatened at least one person at the company, said Barberton Police Lt. Ray Todd. Fisher was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and aggravated menacing. incident began after Fisher, showed, up for work and was sent homabecause company officials believed he was intoxicated, Todd said.

After being sent home, Fjsher soon returned with the gun and the beer. Barberton Driver charged in passenger's death A 26-year-old Barberton man op Monday was charged in the traffic death of a passenger in a one-car accident. Anthony D. Supple was charged with involuntary manslaughter and aggravated vehicular homicide. Supple had earlier been charged with driving under the influence, police said.

On Feb. 6, Supple was driving southbound on Bevan Street and State Road in Coventry Township when his car went down an embankment and struck a tree, police said. Kevin L. Horton, 23, of Akron, died later that day. SagamomBillsTwp.

Valley View man dies In traffic accident A 44-year-old Valley View man was killed Monday in a traffic accident on Valley View Road. i A spokeswoman for the State Highway Patrol said Rodney A. Sheeler Med to stop his pickup Retiring school boss won't rehire principal Beacon Journal staff report STOW: When Stow-Munroe Falls Superintendent Dean Mizer officially announced his retirement Monday, parents at the school board meeting caUed for the reversal of one of his decisions regarding an elementary principal. Mizer said he will retire effective July 31. Mizer, 53, has come under fire for decisions not to renew the contracts of a popular principal and the district's business manager.

The school board, on Mizer's recommendation, last month voted not to renew the contract of Robert Morgan, principal of Fishcreek Elementary School, and business manager Fred Fries. No reason was given for either decision. Now, a group of parents has submitted a petition to the board with 218 signatures calling for a Beacon Journal was a good idea. "A lot of people living in Akron now are graduates of Lane," Woolford said, adding that too many of Ohio's old landmark schools have been demolished. In this case, however, the building was too damaged to be rescued.

Woolford said city planners will meet with community leaders to discuss redevelopment plans for the area. Next year the city could award contracts for the construction of homes on the site. Corporal punishment was banned in Akron's secondary schools two years ago. In other action: The school board delayed voting to rename the Buchtel High School athletic facilities after the late coach Bill Heideman because Heideman's family could not be present. They are expected to vote on the matter in two weeks, at the request of colleagues, students and friends who have petitioned the board for the name change.

Community activist Bob Deitchman told the board that the contract it signed selling Maple Valley School required the board to take a final vote on the matter at its March 29 meeting. The board took the controversial step of selling the vacant school in early March, but Deitchman said the fine print calls for another vote that was never taken. The board said it was unaware of the clause and would seek legal advice. Deitchman opposed the sale of the school. the death penalty in both cases.

Both Patterson and Cutcher said DuU's apology did nothing to change their view. DuU's attorney, Jeffrey Haupt, said Dull could have gotten a more severe penalty: no parole for at least 30 years or death. "My client was not the person who took the life," Haupt said. "The tragedy is for young people to realize that for individuals associated with the commission of a felony a rape, or aggravated burglary, or arson, in which someone dies they will be subject to the same penalties as if they'd killed the person." Before jury selection began in the Souders trial, defense attorney Jeffrey Jakmides asked prosecutors to disclose terms of the plea agreement and any statements Dull made to authorities. Mastriocovo said all of DuU's statements have been given to the defense attorneys except one.

DuU's attorneys had asked that his statements including a taped confession made the day after the Sept. 25 slaying not be aUowed as evidence in court. Haas ruled the confession inadmissible because Dull was not read his rights until after it was taped, but the information in the confession was contained in other statements. DuU told investigators that he and Souders split $2,400 cash after he helped Souders enter the closed restaurant, where Patterson was working alone. He told police Souders took Patterson to the office while he hid.

DuU said he heard a shot, then Souders emerged with two bags of money. LoDico said Souders would take the stand in his own defense. Anthony said jury selection probably would last until Thursday afternoon, when jurors will be taken to view the crime scene. Opening arguments may begin Friday in a trial that Haas said could last two or three weeks. with shooting Roland Bivins, 29, foUowing a dispute over a card game in late March.

Judge Patricia Cosgrove set an April 25 pretrial in that case. Pleading not guilty to voluntary manslaughter was Jimmy Hill, 69, of Moore Street. He is charged with killing 18-year-old Tymond L. Harris in late March. HiU was waiting to get buzzed into the door of a private club near his home when the shooting occurred.

He told police that the younger man ran at him and punched him. But some witnesses have told poUce HiU made it into the door after being attacked, then turned, went outside and shot his attacker. Bond set an April 25 pretrial for HiU. reversal of the Morgan decision. But it is unclear how effective their efforts will be because board members have said the reversal of a previous decision can be considered only on the recommendation of the superintendent.

Mizer has said he will not make that recommendation. Morgan, 66, worked as an elementary school principal at three other Stow schools for 25 years before retiring in 1986. He was asked to serve as interim principal at Fishcreek in December 1992, when then-Principal Thomas Dim-it was removed after he became the subject of an investigation by the teachers union and school board. Morgan was granted a one-year contract for the 1993-94 school year after beating out several other appUcants. The fight broke out Saturday morning after a Stow youth, 15, and an Akron man, 20, argued over a teen-age girl, poUce said.

The fight escalated to include three men and four teens from Akron against one man and five teens from Stow. A 17-year-old Akron boy was charged with disorderly conduct by fighting and referred to Summit County Juverule Court. Assistant Managing EditorRegion Doug Oplinger 996-3750 Day City Editor Karen Chuparkoff 996-3758 Day Suburban Editor Bonnie Bolden 996-3730 Night City Editor Phil Glende 996-3720 One charge filed, more raming, in beer-party brawl in Stow Barberton Old pact on laundry is a heated issue Barberton's council stepped into a heated labor issue involving Barberton Citizens Hospital on Monday night. Under a resolution approved at the session, the city will investigate whether the hospital will violate a 1949 agreement with the city by shutting down its laundry. The laundry employs 16 unionized workers who fear the shutdown could lead to further subcontracting of bargaining unit work.

A 1949 agreement prohibits the hospital from conveying, leasing or selling any hospital property, including buildings and equipment, to outside entities. Hudson Meditation considered for commencement A parent Monday night asked the Hudson school board to consider approving some type of meditation or motivational remarks for the high school commencement in June. Joe Betro, whose daughter Kristina is the senior class vice president, said he did not want the board to endorse a prayer, but he would like to have some type of nondenominational meditation. The board asked Superintendent Dennis Allen to see what the possibilities might be. CAROLYN AUNGST Akron Youth violence topic of public meeting Area residents will have a chance to talk about youth violence at a public meeting tonight of Akron Mayor Don PlusquelUc's Youth Violence Task Force.

The meeting will be from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Akron Buchtel High School on Copley Road. Dull Kenneth Souders will take stand in own defense Continued from Page Bl similar." "It's not fair. I'm not pleased. I thought a similar deal should have been offered to my client.

It wasn't," LoDico said, adding that "I'm not conceding any guilt on the part of Kenneth." The way the indictments for both Dull and Souders are worded, either one could have caused the death of Diane Patterson or aided and abetted the other in killing her. Patterson was shot once and stabbed three times. Prosecutors had said previously that each was pointing the finger at the other. "I'm upset that the state has decided to choose (who is the killer) in place of the jury," LoDico said. Mastriocovo said that "police believe Souders' involvement is greater." He declined to comment on whether Souders was the killer, or on whether he was offered a plea bargain.

Dale Patterson, the victim's brother, and Dale Cutcher of Delaware, Ohio, her boyfriend, said they are not happy about the plea bargain offered to Dull, but said they realize it was necessary. DuU's testimony will strengthen the case against Souders, said Patterson, a former North High wrestling coach who teaches art at Simon Perkins Middle School in Akron, "but it doesn't lessen the crime. It doesn't bring my sister back" Diane Patterson's family had asked prosecutors not to accept plea bargains but to "prosecute to the full extent of the law," seeking I By Eric Sandstrom Beacon Journal staff writer A Saturday fight involving four adults and nine teens has kept Stow poUce busy unraveling who did what to whom and why. One charge had been filed by Monday, but poUce said they anticipate charging several people at the GottschaU Road home where the mayhem occurred. Police were stiU interviewing the combatants Monday.

PoUce confiscated a knife and several guns. No shots were fired, but three people were injured, apparently by broken glass, and a fourth suffered a broken jaw. A 15-year-old Stow boy underwent abdominal surgery at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron and was discharged Monday. The house at 1536 GottschaU Road was Uttered with shattered beer bottles and broken furniture. "It's extremely lucky nobody was kUled," PoUce Sgt.

Gary MiUer said Monday. "It was not an organized gang. AU of a sudden everybody started beating on each other. Everybody there had been drinking." i.