THE ORGANIZED CRIME TASK FORCE FILES: PART 5 (WHO REALLY KILLED THE MARSH FAMILY?)

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You're listening to an amazing podcast from an
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amazing podcast company leaked law enforcement
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documents Cold case mafia hits and newly uncovered
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evidence that could potentially reverse a triple
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murder conviction This is an exclusive five -part
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series the organized crime task force files part
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five decommissioned but new evidence found The
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facts from this story were compiled from information
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contained within investigative task force files
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from the Ohio Attorney General's Organized Crime
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Investigation Commission. Included are details
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about crimes which have never been publicly released.
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These files were provided to us by a source who
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wishes to remain anonymous. Throughout this exclusive
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five -part series, we've explored a variety of
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decades -old murder investigations in and around
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Youngstown, Ohio. that were each probed by an
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organized crime task force 20 years after the
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fact. These task force investigators were given
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funding, directive, and authority by the Ohio
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Organized Crime Investigations Commission to
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look into certain crimes that were long considered
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unsolvable in a valley long known as Crime Town,
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USA, where the mafia and public corruption ruled
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for nearly the entire 20th century. After five
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long years of solid detective work, some of these
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cases were officially solved and closed, by the
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Organized Crime Task Force. Others, despite best
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efforts, were not. In our final examination of
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leaked files from those investigations, we focus
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on a case never actually investigated by the
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task force at all. A case that involves a then
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booming General Motors Lordstown plant and three
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murders a judge would later call demonic and
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inhumane. The Marsh murders occurred on December
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14, 1974 at their family home on South Turner
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Road in Canfield Township. At that time, 33 -year
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-old Benjamin Marsh was a security guard at the
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General Motors Lordstown assembly plant. It's
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very important to understand a few things about
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GM Lordstown. Aside from being the Mahoning Valley's
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largest employer with over 12 ,000 workers at
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the factory's height, it was also a huge money
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-making spot for the mafia. In the 1970s, the
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Cleveland crime family laid claim over the plant
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before the Pittsburgh Coast Sinostra eventually
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took control of the area. We've spoken to scores
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of former employees at the plant who told us
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about the open gambling that would go on. Sports
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betting was a year -round earner, and the numbers
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racket, known more widely as the lottery or the
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bug around the Mahoning Valley, was itself a
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massive source of income for organized crime
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at the plant. Erie, Pennsylvania hitman, Ray
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Ferrito, was offered a slice of the gambling
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at GM Lordstown by the Cleveland crime family
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in the late 70s, just a few years after the Marsh
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murders occurred. Frito was to get a share of
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the lucrative revenue stream as a reward for
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killing the Cleveland mobs Irish rival Danny
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Green in a Dennis parking lot just 50 miles north
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of the GM Lordstown plant. Following the car
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bomb death of Green in 1977, Frito turned government
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witness ratting out Youngstown heavyweight Ronnie
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the Crab Carabia and Butchie Cisterino, who both
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received life sentences in the Green killing.
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Concurrent with Ronnie Carabia's incarceration,
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came to prison parole of career Youngstown mobster
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and Pittsburgh affiliated racketeer Joey Naples,
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who moved into the former Cleveland and Caribbean
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territories around the Mahoney Valley, including
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GM Lordstown. As told to a task force detective
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later, Cleveland burglar Phil Christopher was
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also promised some of the action in GM Lordstown
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plant. Christopher says he was offered a piece
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of the Lordstown gambling pie from Joey Naples.
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if he could eliminate a local threat to Naples
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named Joe DeRose Jr. Like Ferito, Christopher
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never claimed the GM Lordstown Prize. Following
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the mistaken murder of Joe DeRose Sr. by other
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Naples associates, Phil Christopher says he gave
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up his surveillance of Joe DeRose Jr. and went
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back to Cleveland, abandoning his life as a double
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-crossing hitman. Aside from the gambling operations
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at GM Lordstown, There were allegations of prostitution
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around the plant as well as investigations into
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altered vehicle identification numbers, stolen
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cars, and if you ask anyone who worked there,
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in its heyday, they could tell you about the
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box trucks that often arrived on paydays filled
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with hot merchandise offloaded at discounted
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rates. This was an easy way for the mob to fence
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stolen goods. Vending machines backed by organized
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crime figures also dominated the plant. And then
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there were the drugs. We spoke with former GM
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Lordstown employee Gary Bonnell, who knew Benjamin
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Marsh personally. He says not long before the
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murders, Marsh discovered cocaine being shipped
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out of newly made vans on the plant. According
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to Bonnell, Benjamin Marsh took this discovery
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to his superiors at GM, then gathered more information
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as he waited for his bosses to act. Instead,
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Marsh and his family were brutally murdered.
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It wasn't until a full decade later in 1984,
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when GM officials initiated an investigation
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with the Trumbull County Sheriff's Office because
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they were, quote, concerned about the safety
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at the plant. After a year -long investigation,
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17 workers were nabbed off the Lordstown assembly
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line on November 7, 1985. Following 44 grand
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jury indictments for drug, theft, and stolen
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property charges, most of the arrests in 85 were
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for parking lot deals and other small transactions
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between employees. But 11 years earlier, Benjamin
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Marsh, allegedly stumbled upon something much
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bigger, finding large amounts of cocaine being
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shipped out of newly made vehicles that were
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then sent out to dealerships around the country.
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Benjamin's friend and GM colleague, Gary Bonnell,
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has since written a book, Truth Not Deception,
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in which he says that Benjamin Marsh was going
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to testify before a grand jury in 1974, but soon
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ended up dead. To that point, Carol Marr, a neighbor
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and friend of Benjamin and Marilyn Marsh, told
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local news outlet WFMJ, that shortly before the
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murders, Marilyn was fearful to go home at night
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alone. Carol was quoted by WFMJ from the June
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24th, 2013 interview, saying in reference to
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Marilyn Marsh, quote, I think she did know something.
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And I think she was afraid because we understood
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that Ben was to appear in a court hearing and
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testify against the drug ring at General Motors.
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And I think she knew that and she was afraid,
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end quote. Benjamin Marsh had worked the midnight
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shift at the plant the night before the murders
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and was home by himself when his killer arrived.
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The house had an attached garage with a man door
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that was broken into. Marsh's killer surprised
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him in his bedroom and proceeded to shoot the
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GM security guard four times, once in the arm
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and three in the chest. Marsh's body also had
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several deep gashes on his arms and head, most
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likely defensive wounds. At some point during
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the killing of her husband, 32 -year -old Marilyn
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Marsh returned home with her two young children,
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Heather, four years old, and one -year -old son,
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Christopher. Marilyn's body would be found in
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a short archway between the foyer and kitchen.
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She was shot in the head from behind. Heather's
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body was found close by. The Mahoney County coroner's
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investigator determined that the little girl
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had been beaten to death. The youngest Marsh,
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baby Christopher, was the only one left alive,
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a witness who couldn't speak. The infant son
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was found crawling around the blood -soaked crime
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scene over 24 hours later. Canfield Township
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is traditionally a very safe area in Mahoney
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County, an affluent suburb only 12 miles from
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Youngstown. The Marsh murders were investigated
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by the Mahoney County Sheriff's Office with assistance
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from the GM Security Division. Law enforcement's
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theory was that a burglar had broken into the
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house not expecting anyone to be there and ended
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up killing Benjamin Marsh because he was in the
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wrong place at the wrong time. just as his wife
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and daughter were upon their arrival home. Spearheading
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the case for the Mahoney County Sheriff's Office
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was Detective Ed Nemeth. While Wayne McIntosh
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and James Cunningham assisted from General Motor
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Security Team, we've had the opportunity to review
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Detective Nemeth's original investigation files
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and some familiar names appear in a major way.
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Bobby Parks, his brother Paul Parks, and their
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associate Ed Ferris. all of whom were detailed
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extensively in Part 4 of this series. On March
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18, 1975, GM Security Chief McIntosh and James
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Cunningham contacted the Sheriff's Office about
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a new lead. One of their informants at the Lordstown
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plant said that one night while he was sitting
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at the Tropic's nightclub in Youngstown, he overheard
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people talking openly about the Marsh case. When
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Detective Nemeth followed up on this lead a few
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weeks later, The informant advised that he did,
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in fact, overhear a man speaking of the killings.
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The man had stated that he knew the person who
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killed the Marsh family was the same person responsible
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for the killing of Robert Talbert. A few others
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were then seen approaching this man at the bar,
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telling him to keep his mouth shut, or someone
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would shut it for him. On April 14, 1975, Detective
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Ed Nemeth received a tip then an attempt would
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be made to steal GM's copy of the Marsh Homicide
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file from Wayne McIntosh's car in the GM Lordstown
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parking lot. Nemeth then created a dummy file
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to be put in place of the true investigation
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file. This dummy file was given to Chief McIntosh
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with the instructions to lock the true file in
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a safe and leave the other in his car. In the
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dummy file, Nemeth had changed the name of the
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witness, creating a fake persona and wrote that
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the witness was staying at the Penn -Ohio Motel.
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Two days later, Wayne McIntosh called Detective
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Nemeth and informed him that his car had in fact
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been broken into on the grounds of General Motors
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Lordstown and that the dummy file was stolen.
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Nemeth then moved forward with the next phase
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of his sting operation, pretending to be the
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witness. Detective Nemeth got a room at the Penn
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-Ohio Motel and waited inside while other deputies
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set up surveillance around the exterior. That
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night, there was no activity. The next night,
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again, no activity would report. Then on the
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night of April 18th, Nemeth received a call in
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his motel room. The person on the other end of
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the phone told him to, wait a minute, and hung
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up. Detective Nemeth advised the team outside
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that he had been contacted by someone who was
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on their way. Within minutes, Bobby Parks approached
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the motel room door and was stopped by the deputies
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outside. When Ed Namath opened the door, he spotted
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Paul Parks and Ed Ferris running away. All three
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men were apprehended and taken into custody by
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Mahoney County Sheriff's deputies, but no charges
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were ever filed. Instead, their lawyers arrived
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and the suspects were all released. Among the
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lawyers to show up that night was Carmen Policy,
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who represented notable racketeers Ronnie Karabia,
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and Joey Naples at various times throughout his
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illustrious career as a criminal defense attorney
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in Youngstown before eventually becoming a successful
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executive in the NFL. In this case, Bobby Parks,
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Paul Parks, and Ed Ferris had escaped from the
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grasp of law enforcement yet again. Bobby Parks
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was suspected and at various times in his life
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convicted of several other murders. He killed
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some like Lloyd McCullough in 1967 out of anger,
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and others like Patricia de Blasio in 1977 for
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money. Like the old TV gunslinger of the late
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50s, Paladin, Bobby Parks even had a business
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card that read, have gun, will travel. At one
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point, the FBI thwarted at least one of Parks'
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would -be hits in California and linked him to
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another plot in Michigan. The ability to get
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away with murder was one of the Parks brothers'
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hallmarks. While researching them for this series,
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we found an FBI file that said that the Parks
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gang was involved in murder, armed robbery, arson,
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rape, and bribery of public officials, including
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prosecutors, judges, and local police officials.
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The file further stated that once arrested locally
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in Mahoney County, bribes to prosecutors, judges,
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and the police department have been used to keep
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members of the gang from serving time in prison.
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At one point, the Parks brothers had their own
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strife between each other. Sometime after his
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release from a short prison stint for the McCullough
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killing, Bobby Parks was shot by his brother
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Paul. The local newspaper reported that Bobby
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was admitted to the hospital with a bullet wound
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to his left abdomen. The shooting occurred in
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1972. Not long afterwards, the beef was squashed
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between the brothers and they continued to commit
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crimes together. Bobby Park's luck finally ran
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out when he was convicted in the 1977 double
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murders of Patricia de Blasio and Mary Muffley.
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It stemmed from a contract taken out on the life
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of Dr. Leo de Blasio by his bitter ex -wife,
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Dorothy. She hired Parks to kill Leo and his
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new bride, Patricia, in 1977. That's when Bobby
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Park showed up to the doctor's office in Gerrard,
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Ohio, just outside of Youngstown, and opened
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fire. Dr. Leo de Blasio was shot in the face,
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shoulder, and neck. but survived the assassination
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attempt. His new wife was not as fortunate. Patricia
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de Blasio died instantly when she was shot in
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the head. Receptionist Mary Muffley was also
00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:24.299
shot in the head and died a few days later. Dr.
00:13:24.440 --> 00:13:27.740
de Blasio survived the 1977 shooting but died
00:13:27.740 --> 00:13:30.480
of a heart attack just a few years later. Bobby
00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:32.419
Parks could have gotten away with these killings
00:13:32.419 --> 00:13:36.059
but his own wife Elizabeth Liz Parks came forward
00:13:36.059 --> 00:13:38.879
and cooperated with law enforcement. She was
00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:41.360
scared. Having overheard Bobby and his brother
00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:44.379
Paul talk about a lot of things, including murders.
00:13:45.500 --> 00:13:47.740
She heard them say that she knew too much and
00:13:47.740 --> 00:13:50.200
even suggested bumping her off for insurance
00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:53.179
money. That's when she decided to cooperate with
00:13:53.179 --> 00:13:55.860
law enforcement and go into hiding via the Federal
00:13:55.860 --> 00:13:59.440
Witness Protection Program. The Organized Crime
00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:02.059
Task Force started talking with Liz Parks when
00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:04.940
it became clear in their investigation that Bobby
00:14:04.940 --> 00:14:07.909
and his brother Paul Parks were behind the 1974
00:14:07.909 --> 00:14:12.570
murder of Robert Talbert. On December 4th, 2001,
00:14:13.250 --> 00:14:15.870
the task force investigators visited Liz, who
00:14:15.870 --> 00:14:18.669
was still in witness protection. They spent a
00:14:18.669 --> 00:14:21.250
few hours recording their conversation, getting
00:14:21.250 --> 00:14:24.570
three tapes worth of information. The detectives
00:14:24.570 --> 00:14:26.909
went over a complete history of her relationship
00:14:26.909 --> 00:14:30.509
with Bobby Parks, detailing his violent and abusive
00:14:30.509 --> 00:14:33.769
ways. They also inquired about his relationship
00:14:33.769 --> 00:14:36.970
with Robert Talbert. Liz answered every question
00:14:36.970 --> 00:14:39.970
asked of her and agreed to testify in court once
00:14:39.970 --> 00:14:43.029
again against her former husband if the task
00:14:43.029 --> 00:14:46.950
force needed her to do so. During tape two of
00:14:46.950 --> 00:14:49.470
their conversation, the detectives brought up
00:14:49.470 --> 00:14:51.509
something Liz had mentioned to them in a previous
00:14:51.509 --> 00:14:54.230
discussion. The following is a recreated interview
00:14:54.230 --> 00:14:57.230
based on the December 4, 2001 recorded meeting
00:14:57.230 --> 00:15:00.570
between Elizabeth Parks and task force detectives
00:15:00.570 --> 00:15:05.990
Dave Moore and Frank Martucci. Liz, when we,
00:15:06.250 --> 00:15:08.710
when Detective Martucci and I had spoke to you
00:15:08.710 --> 00:15:11.529
last, you had mentioned another conversation
00:15:11.529 --> 00:15:14.409
that you had overheard Bob make. Could you tell
00:15:14.409 --> 00:15:17.409
us a little bit about that conversation? It's
00:15:17.409 --> 00:15:19.429
reference, uh, something to do with the union.
00:15:19.690 --> 00:15:21.850
You had mentioned that you overheard them. Yes.
00:15:21.950 --> 00:15:25.429
Just take it from there. Uh, he was talking to
00:15:25.429 --> 00:15:28.570
Paul about the guy. It was some guy. And somebody
00:15:28.570 --> 00:15:31.409
wanted this guy killed. And he went ahead and
00:15:31.409 --> 00:15:33.669
went into the house to go and do it and waited.
00:15:34.090 --> 00:15:36.610
I guess he had watched the house several times,
00:15:36.950 --> 00:15:38.970
been over to make sure no one was there but him.
00:15:39.309 --> 00:15:41.190
And the woman went back with her daughter after
00:15:41.190 --> 00:15:43.309
leaving the house, maybe she forgot her purse
00:15:43.309 --> 00:15:46.389
or something, and went back into the house. And
00:15:46.389 --> 00:15:48.330
by then Bob had already committed that crime
00:15:48.330 --> 00:15:50.710
with that man and proceeded to shoot the woman
00:15:50.710 --> 00:15:53.190
from what I understand and beat the four -year
00:15:53.190 --> 00:15:56.090
-old girl with the pistol or butt of the gun.
00:15:56.809 --> 00:15:59.100
Okay. Do you remember an approximate year when
00:15:59.100 --> 00:16:01.360
you overheard that conversation? It was about
00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:05.820
the same time, 76, 77. Okay, an approximate month?
00:16:06.059 --> 00:16:09.659
In the winter time. That I do remember. Okay.
00:16:10.679 --> 00:16:13.759
You said he was talking to Paul. That would be
00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:18.399
Paul Parks, his brother. Yes. From there, the
00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:20.779
task force investigators asked a few more related
00:16:20.779 --> 00:16:23.379
questions, but Liz could not recall the answers.
00:16:23.850 --> 00:16:26.789
The focus of the interview then veered off track
00:16:26.789 --> 00:16:29.629
momentarily before the investigators returned
00:16:29.629 --> 00:16:32.389
to this line of questioning with some more pointed
00:16:32.389 --> 00:16:35.250
follow -ups. We're talking about what Detective
00:16:35.250 --> 00:16:37.429
Moore was talking about initially here on the
00:16:37.429 --> 00:16:39.649
tape, the gentleman that the wife had returned
00:16:39.649 --> 00:16:42.690
home. Uh -huh. Basically, the way he made it
00:16:42.690 --> 00:16:44.710
sound was that he had just went in the house,
00:16:45.029 --> 00:16:47.490
shot the guy, and started to leave. I mean...
00:16:47.490 --> 00:16:49.850
Did he say where he shot him? In the bedroom.
00:16:50.269 --> 00:16:52.750
That... I do remember because I remember him
00:16:52.750 --> 00:16:55.289
telling Paul that she ended up coming. I keep
00:16:55.289 --> 00:16:57.889
thinking garage for some reason, like came in
00:16:57.889 --> 00:16:59.730
through the garage and she was in the living
00:16:59.730 --> 00:17:02.710
room. Something about he was almost all the way
00:17:02.710 --> 00:17:04.970
out the door. He was headed towards the door
00:17:04.970 --> 00:17:07.029
and she just popped right back in with the little
00:17:07.029 --> 00:17:10.130
girl. And then that's whenever he had no choice,
00:17:10.130 --> 00:17:12.950
he said, but to actually shoot her and beat that
00:17:12.950 --> 00:17:16.710
little girl to death. So you remember Liz. He
00:17:16.710 --> 00:17:19.150
told you that he shot that gentleman in the bedroom.
00:17:19.589 --> 00:17:22.119
Uh huh. and as he was leaving that residence
00:17:22.119 --> 00:17:25.200
that's when the came back when he confronted
00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:28.279
the wife in the small child do you remember him
00:17:28.279 --> 00:17:32.200
saying daughter yes the little the little girl
00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:35.779
the daughter uh -huh go on if we can talk about
00:17:35.779 --> 00:17:38.990
it again what you remember him telling Paul Did
00:17:38.990 --> 00:17:41.869
he say what happened after he no that was basically
00:17:41.869 --> 00:17:43.930
about all he said because it was just really
00:17:43.930 --> 00:17:46.509
graphic that he was telling It was like you couldn't
00:17:46.509 --> 00:17:49.430
have told him that and have the say oh You just
00:17:49.430 --> 00:17:51.589
think you did it because it seemed like he actually
00:17:51.589 --> 00:17:53.670
knew what was going on because of the detail
00:17:53.670 --> 00:17:56.329
He was telling Paul. He wasn't just like picking
00:17:56.329 --> 00:17:59.730
a you know page here and skipping a page there
00:17:59.730 --> 00:18:02.450
I mean he just stated like he had drawn out all
00:18:02.450 --> 00:18:05.470
this is how he did it came back out she walked
00:18:05.470 --> 00:18:09.410
in and shot her and then Um, he said something
00:18:09.410 --> 00:18:12.049
about he startled her or she startled him or
00:18:12.049 --> 00:18:15.009
something. So I don't... I know he wasn't expecting
00:18:15.009 --> 00:18:17.170
her in that house because just the way he talked
00:18:17.170 --> 00:18:20.349
and the way he made it sound. Did he say... Like,
00:18:20.789 --> 00:18:23.269
he didn't want to do it, but he had no choice.
00:18:23.630 --> 00:18:26.490
Okay. And then you remember him describing what
00:18:26.490 --> 00:18:29.970
he had done to the child also? Uh -huh. Beating
00:18:29.970 --> 00:18:33.230
the... I keep thinking the butt of the gun, that
00:18:33.230 --> 00:18:35.829
part that he beat the child with. So I don't
00:18:35.829 --> 00:18:38.170
know how accurate that is. I don't know if he
00:18:38.170 --> 00:18:40.190
was telling the truth because I never read about
00:18:40.190 --> 00:18:42.450
these people. Back then, I didn't read the papers.
00:18:42.609 --> 00:18:45.410
I was always working, always at home. I don't
00:18:45.410 --> 00:18:47.970
even think he got the paper, in fact. But what
00:18:47.970 --> 00:18:50.410
about the incident you talked about? He had staked
00:18:50.410 --> 00:18:52.789
the house out a couple times. Did you say that
00:18:52.789 --> 00:18:55.490
at the beginning of the tape? At their house?
00:18:55.769 --> 00:18:58.069
Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure he probably did because
00:18:58.069 --> 00:19:00.710
that's... That's what he would do. He would leave
00:19:00.710 --> 00:19:03.029
the house and he had the addresses on him all
00:19:03.029 --> 00:19:05.509
the time. Certain addresses just like the one
00:19:05.509 --> 00:19:07.970
with this one here. You'll see that there's an
00:19:07.970 --> 00:19:10.670
address in there. You're referring to the de
00:19:10.670 --> 00:19:14.170
Blasio? De Blasio, yeah. Okay. You'll see in
00:19:14.170 --> 00:19:16.430
the newspaper article there, there's another
00:19:16.430 --> 00:19:18.630
address because he couldn't spell very well.
00:19:19.430 --> 00:19:21.869
So he would, I guess he understood his own writing
00:19:21.869 --> 00:19:24.589
because I couldn't understand. Made no sense
00:19:24.589 --> 00:19:28.140
to me. He would have an address, certain time,
00:19:28.359 --> 00:19:30.960
or time, the person left and the time the person
00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:33.740
came home, or how long it took to drive there
00:19:33.740 --> 00:19:36.740
and how long it took to drive back home. He would
00:19:36.740 --> 00:19:38.920
have just weird stuff wrote down, just like he
00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:41.380
did with that one there. Do you remember what
00:19:41.380 --> 00:19:44.440
Paul's reaction was? If you can remember, Liz,
00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:48.440
what Paul's reaction was when he described confronting
00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:51.660
the mother and the child. Uh -uh. Probably just
00:19:51.660 --> 00:19:54.019
silence or some, because I don't remember him
00:19:54.019 --> 00:19:56.920
saying anything. If we asked this before, if
00:19:56.920 --> 00:19:59.799
we didn't, do you remember ever conveying that
00:19:59.799 --> 00:20:03.079
story? And I think we talked before, too. Off
00:20:03.079 --> 00:20:05.920
the tape, that was the time period during the
00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:09.339
de Blasio trial. Uh huh. Do you remember conveying
00:20:09.339 --> 00:20:12.500
this story about the husband, wife, and child?
00:20:12.839 --> 00:20:16.180
Yeah. Do you remember who you told that to? What
00:20:16.180 --> 00:20:19.259
agency? I'm almost positive the FBI that was
00:20:19.259 --> 00:20:21.460
in Youngstown, because I would drive over to
00:20:21.460 --> 00:20:24.059
their, um, looked like a shopping center out
00:20:24.059 --> 00:20:26.519
front, but if you pulled into the shopping center
00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:29.339
and you went around in the back, the FBI's office
00:20:29.339 --> 00:20:31.980
would be right there. And I went there, I couldn't
00:20:31.980 --> 00:20:34.920
tell you how many times. Uh, I would find more
00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:37.339
information a little bit here, a little bit there,
00:20:37.339 --> 00:20:39.819
and didn't want to call or anything. So they'd
00:20:39.819 --> 00:20:41.779
meet me over there and we'd go ahead and talk
00:20:41.779 --> 00:20:44.299
for any length of time, and then I'd leave. Have
00:20:44.299 --> 00:20:47.430
you ever told anybody else? I'm sorry I interrupted
00:20:47.430 --> 00:20:50.029
you. Oh, that's all right. I just know for a
00:20:50.029 --> 00:20:52.970
fact I talked to them about it and the US Marshals
00:20:52.970 --> 00:20:55.150
that were investigating it. Then I went down
00:20:55.150 --> 00:20:57.890
to Arkansas and told them and they showed me
00:20:57.890 --> 00:21:00.470
all these pictures. But like I said, none of
00:21:00.470 --> 00:21:03.049
the pictures made any sense. I didn't know any
00:21:03.049 --> 00:21:05.869
of those people. Again, the conversation gets
00:21:05.869 --> 00:21:09.349
off track momentarily before the task force investigators
00:21:09.349 --> 00:21:12.069
bring it back to the specific line of questioning
00:21:12.069 --> 00:21:15.069
about this murder she heard Bobby and Paul discuss.
00:21:15.450 --> 00:21:19.210
When when you heard this conversation between
00:21:19.210 --> 00:21:22.589
Paul and Bob Did you tell any other family member
00:21:22.589 --> 00:21:26.210
or were you stunned to hear to hear? Stunned
00:21:26.210 --> 00:21:30.049
to hear what you know listening to what you were
00:21:30.049 --> 00:21:33.569
Yeah, I was shocked, but I went ahead and I know
00:21:33.569 --> 00:21:35.950
I talked to Paul's wife about a couple of things
00:21:35.950 --> 00:21:38.950
But I just made it sound like oh, did you read
00:21:38.950 --> 00:21:41.650
that in the paper? Did you hear about that? Anybody
00:21:41.650 --> 00:21:43.809
that could do something like that and usually
00:21:43.809 --> 00:21:46.750
there wasn't any response as far as oh So and
00:21:46.750 --> 00:21:49.789
so did it even though she knew I just know she
00:21:49.789 --> 00:21:52.450
knew because the way Paul liked to talk Bob was
00:21:52.450 --> 00:21:55.069
just the opposite He never would tell me anything.
00:21:55.130 --> 00:21:58.109
I'd have to find out bits and pieces did Bob
00:21:58.109 --> 00:22:02.630
ever Did he? Did you hear him discuss after he
00:22:02.630 --> 00:22:06.329
fled from that that residence where he went or
00:22:06.329 --> 00:22:09.319
no? The only thing you can remember is reference
00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:12.099
to that small child. Yeah. The bedroom where
00:22:12.099 --> 00:22:15.099
the assault took place on the husband. How the...
00:22:15.099 --> 00:22:17.920
Just how that wasn't supposed to happen. You
00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:21.480
don't have any idea who paid him. No. Like I
00:22:21.480 --> 00:22:23.759
say, I tried for a long time afterwards to try
00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:25.980
to figure out if he talked, because like I said,
00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:29.220
I very seldom talked in the house. I just listened
00:22:29.220 --> 00:22:31.980
a lot, and I mean a very good listener, because
00:22:31.980 --> 00:22:34.250
I'd write down things and keep it hidden. And
00:22:34.250 --> 00:22:36.250
if I'd find out some more, I'd write it down
00:22:36.250 --> 00:22:38.529
again and keep it hidden for future references.
00:22:39.210 --> 00:22:41.250
And then whenever I did finally have all the
00:22:41.250 --> 00:22:43.470
stuff, that's whenever I called them and let
00:22:43.470 --> 00:22:46.170
them know, this is what I found out. This is
00:22:46.170 --> 00:22:48.250
what we can do now that we have some evidence.
00:22:48.789 --> 00:22:50.970
And on this one here, the de Blasio and nothing
00:22:50.970 --> 00:22:54.369
on the other one. That is effectively all that
00:22:54.369 --> 00:22:56.970
was discussed about this particular crime, in
00:22:56.970 --> 00:22:59.490
which, according to Liz, Bobby Parks was hired
00:22:59.490 --> 00:23:03.930
to kill a man sometime before 1976. or 1977,
00:23:04.470 --> 00:23:07.349
and proceeded to go to the man's home, killed
00:23:07.349 --> 00:23:09.369
him in his bedroom, and then murdered the man's
00:23:09.369 --> 00:23:11.569
wife and daughter when they arrived back at the
00:23:11.569 --> 00:23:14.509
house. She went so far as to say the little girl
00:23:14.509 --> 00:23:17.750
was beaten with the butt of a gun. It's important
00:23:17.750 --> 00:23:20.130
to note that these murders, which Liz Parks talked
00:23:20.130 --> 00:23:22.930
about in detail, did not match any of the cases
00:23:22.930 --> 00:23:26.849
on the task force investigation list. It's understandable
00:23:26.849 --> 00:23:28.990
that the detectives moved on in the recorded
00:23:28.990 --> 00:23:32.009
conversation to realign the focus of the interview.
00:23:32.680 --> 00:23:35.779
However, the details she mentioned do specifically
00:23:35.779 --> 00:23:39.579
match one case in Mahoning County history. The
00:23:39.579 --> 00:23:42.420
murders of Benjamin Marsh, his wife Marilyn,
00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:45.619
and their four -year -old daughter Heather. Again,
00:23:46.099 --> 00:23:48.460
it is important to remember that Liz Parks gave
00:23:48.460 --> 00:23:51.460
this information to the task force investigators
00:23:51.460 --> 00:23:57.180
in 2001. While Bobby Parks was serving two life
00:23:57.180 --> 00:24:00.319
sentences for the de Blasio and Muffley killings,
00:24:00.619 --> 00:24:02.720
He was charged with aggravated murder in yet
00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:07.720
another case gone cold. In 1987, William Frederick
00:24:07.720 --> 00:24:10.940
Spann, a Youngstown man, convicted of federal
00:24:10.940 --> 00:24:14.299
weapons violations, told an agent for the U .S.
00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:17.240
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms that
00:24:17.240 --> 00:24:19.579
he was with Bobby Parks on the night that Parks
00:24:19.579 --> 00:24:23.740
killed 46 -year -old Walter Packner. The bullet
00:24:23.740 --> 00:24:26.140
-riddled body of Packner, a Wells Fargo night
00:24:26.140 --> 00:24:29.019
watchman, was found in a wooded lot in Portage
00:24:29.019 --> 00:24:34.579
County, Ohio, on April 7, 1975. Just months after
00:24:34.579 --> 00:24:37.160
the March killings occurred and only about one
00:24:37.160 --> 00:24:40.940
week before Bobby Parks, Paul Parks, and Ed Ferris
00:24:40.940 --> 00:24:43.980
were arrested by Mahoney County Sheriff's deputies
00:24:43.980 --> 00:24:47.079
during Detective Ed Namasting's operation at
00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:51.500
the Penn Ohio Hotel. According to Spann, Bobby
00:24:51.500 --> 00:24:54.039
Parks invited him along for the ride as they
00:24:54.039 --> 00:24:56.160
were going to drop Walter Packner off somewhere.
00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:59.319
Spant says Parks drove his Cadillac about 45
00:24:59.319 --> 00:25:01.900
minutes to an hour away from Youngstown when
00:25:01.900 --> 00:25:04.700
he pulled into a wooded area, parked a car, and
00:25:04.700 --> 00:25:07.720
whipped out a .38 caliber pistol, which he pointed
00:25:07.720 --> 00:25:11.240
at Packner. At that point, Spant says Parks began
00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:13.680
screaming at Packner and led him out of the car
00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:17.660
at gunpoint. Spant remained in the Cadillac as
00:25:17.660 --> 00:25:22.420
he heard six gunshots. Moments later, Spant says
00:25:22.420 --> 00:25:25.220
Bobby Parks came back to the car, with some of
00:25:25.220 --> 00:25:28.059
Walter Packner's belongings, including the night
00:25:28.059 --> 00:25:31.940
watchman's holster and service revolver. Spann
00:25:31.940 --> 00:25:34.420
says Parks then told him to drive the Cadillac,
00:25:34.460 --> 00:25:36.700
directing him back to the Mahoning Valley and
00:25:36.700 --> 00:25:40.480
to the home of Ed Ferris. There, Bobby Parks
00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:43.380
took Packner's revolver inside and left it with
00:25:43.380 --> 00:25:47.160
Ferris before he returned to the car. Parks then
00:25:47.160 --> 00:25:49.900
dropped Spann off and told him, quote, You don't
00:25:49.900 --> 00:25:54.140
say nothing about this, end quote. William Spann
00:25:54.140 --> 00:25:56.900
kept his mouth shut for years, even after Parks
00:25:56.900 --> 00:25:59.200
was sentenced to life in prison for the de Blasio
00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:01.559
and Muffley killings. But he finally spilled
00:26:01.559 --> 00:26:04.359
his guts when he himself was arrested on a weapons
00:26:04.359 --> 00:26:08.759
charge in 1987. With Spann's claims, as well
00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:10.900
as some statements, Bobby Parks himself made
00:26:10.900 --> 00:26:13.680
to law enforcement, the Portage County Prosecutor's
00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:16.079
Office formally indicted Parks for the Walter
00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:19.319
Packner murder. The trial was set to take place
00:26:19.319 --> 00:26:22.700
in August of 1987. But in June of that year,
00:26:22.819 --> 00:26:25.019
a judge ruled that some of Bobby Park's statements
00:26:25.019 --> 00:26:28.720
to law enforcement could be suppressed. The prosecutor
00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:31.819
eventually decided to delay the trial while continuing
00:26:31.819 --> 00:26:34.299
to investigate the case in search of more evidence.
00:26:35.500 --> 00:26:38.259
Unfortunately, during that delay, there was a
00:26:38.259 --> 00:26:40.759
turnover in the prosecutor's office and a later
00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:42.940
prosecutor decided that a trial wouldn't be worth
00:26:42.940 --> 00:26:45.200
the effort as Bobby Park's was already locked
00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:48.680
away for life. We'll revisit Walter Packner a
00:26:48.680 --> 00:26:52.769
bit later. As mentioned, Bobby Parks was officially
00:26:52.769 --> 00:26:55.009
charged with aggravated murder for the killing
00:26:55.009 --> 00:26:58.630
of Packner, but a trial never took place. Neither
00:26:58.630 --> 00:27:00.609
were charges ever brought against Parks for the
00:27:00.609 --> 00:27:03.349
March triple murders. That case would remain
00:27:03.349 --> 00:27:07.230
unsolved for the next 39 years until 2013, when
00:27:07.230 --> 00:27:09.809
a man named James Ferrara was suddenly charged
00:27:09.809 --> 00:27:12.509
and convicted for the notorious March killings.
00:27:13.230 --> 00:27:16.509
So who is James Ferrara? James Ferrara is a Vietnam
00:27:16.509 --> 00:27:19.460
vet originally from Mansfield, Ohio. who worked
00:27:19.460 --> 00:27:22.619
as a GM Lordstown Union representative in 1983.
00:27:23.700 --> 00:27:26.180
At that time, Ferrara had a decade at the plant
00:27:26.180 --> 00:27:28.460
under his belt and was earning a good living,
00:27:28.920 --> 00:27:31.019
contributing to a nice pension with a comfortable
00:27:31.019 --> 00:27:35.059
life of retirement in his future. Then came the
00:27:35.059 --> 00:27:37.359
stupidest decision of my life, as he would later
00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:40.500
tell us. According to Ferrara, his trouble began
00:27:40.500 --> 00:27:43.339
when a co -worker named Joseph Weeks helped him
00:27:43.339 --> 00:27:46.299
move into a new apartment. Weeks was a Trumbull
00:27:46.299 --> 00:27:49.930
County native and at 35, he was half a year older
00:27:49.930 --> 00:27:53.869
than Ferrara. Joseph Weeks worked at GM Lordstown
00:27:53.869 --> 00:27:57.170
as well, but unlike Ferrara, he was associated
00:27:57.170 --> 00:28:00.130
with some questionable characters, including
00:28:00.130 --> 00:28:03.130
some big -time players in Ohio's cocaine game.
00:28:04.450 --> 00:28:06.789
Ferrara says Weeks concocted a plan to rob a
00:28:06.789 --> 00:28:09.769
drug dealer named Ed Hannah at Hannah's residence
00:28:09.769 --> 00:28:13.670
near Columbus, Ohio. Ferraro maintains that he
00:28:13.670 --> 00:28:16.029
agreed to help Weeks commit the robbery as a
00:28:16.029 --> 00:28:18.190
fill -in as a last -minute replacement in this
00:28:18.190 --> 00:28:21.430
game, as a way to repay the favor for helping
00:28:21.430 --> 00:28:24.730
him move. Regrettably, the staged robbery went
00:28:24.730 --> 00:28:27.569
wrong and both Ed Hannah and his alleged drug
00:28:27.569 --> 00:28:31.250
-dealing partner Fred Lemons wound up dead. As
00:28:31.250 --> 00:28:33.650
would later come out in trial, Joseph Weeks wasn't
00:28:33.650 --> 00:28:36.329
just the mastermind of the plan, he was a paid
00:28:36.329 --> 00:28:39.099
FBI informant the whole time. who had gotten
00:28:39.099 --> 00:28:41.380
close to Hannah and some of his celebrity drug
00:28:41.380 --> 00:28:44.779
-buying friends. An FBI agent even testified
00:28:44.779 --> 00:28:48.000
in Week's trial that NFL star Greg Pruitt was
00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:50.400
at one time in debt to Ed and Hannah for over
00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:54.859
$18 ,000 over drugs. Pruitt, a five -time parole
00:28:54.859 --> 00:28:57.240
-broiler and Super Bowl champion, later told
00:28:57.240 --> 00:29:00.019
reporters that the claim was ridiculous, but
00:29:00.019 --> 00:29:02.299
he did admit to knowing that Hannah dealt blow
00:29:02.299 --> 00:29:05.309
and that he partook in the drug himself. though
00:29:05.309 --> 00:29:07.809
he denied ever buying any directly from the murder
00:29:07.809 --> 00:29:11.430
victim. James Ferrara says the plan on Sunday,
00:29:11.470 --> 00:29:16.309
March 6, 1983, was for himself, Joseph Weeks,
00:29:16.410 --> 00:29:19.369
and a 26 -year -old Mark Jennings to visit Ed
00:29:19.369 --> 00:29:21.930
Hannah and Fred Lemons under the pretense of
00:29:21.930 --> 00:29:25.470
purchasing a kilo of cocaine. Ferrara was to
00:29:25.470 --> 00:29:27.990
bring a gun, and when the time was right, tie
00:29:27.990 --> 00:29:30.589
up the coke dealers, put them in a closet, and
00:29:30.589 --> 00:29:33.890
leave with the drugs. Instead, Ferrara says when
00:29:33.890 --> 00:29:36.410
he walked in the door, Weeks started barking
00:29:36.410 --> 00:29:39.130
orders to go after Lemons, putting Ferrara in
00:29:39.130 --> 00:29:42.569
a complete state of surprise. Ferrara says it
00:29:42.569 --> 00:29:44.789
soon turned into a struggle, and that the men
00:29:44.789 --> 00:29:47.990
began fighting back using martial arts. Ferrara,
00:29:48.009 --> 00:29:50.730
the Vietnam veteran, admits to shooting my way
00:29:50.730 --> 00:29:54.009
out, but has also stated, quote, I regretted
00:29:54.009 --> 00:29:56.329
what happened very much, and I think about it
00:29:56.329 --> 00:29:58.849
every day, adding there was no reason for anyone
00:29:58.849 --> 00:30:02.269
to get hurt. Reason or not, Ed Hannah and Fred
00:30:02.269 --> 00:30:04.569
Lemmings were both killed, and James Ferrara's
00:30:04.569 --> 00:30:10.150
life, as he knew it, was also over. Joseph Weeks,
00:30:10.250 --> 00:30:12.049
James Ferrara, and Mark Jennings grabbed the
00:30:12.049 --> 00:30:14.369
drugs and fled from Hannah's suburban condominium
00:30:14.369 --> 00:30:17.029
in Worthington, just 12 miles from Columbus,
00:30:17.049 --> 00:30:19.470
heading north. They didn't count on a neighbor
00:30:19.470 --> 00:30:21.410
of Hannah's watching them go in and out of his
00:30:21.410 --> 00:30:24.410
condo. The neighbor called police immediately,
00:30:24.789 --> 00:30:26.910
relaying the getaway car's description and license
00:30:26.910 --> 00:30:30.049
number. Just over an hour later, the car was
00:30:30.049 --> 00:30:32.599
spotted entering a truck stop in Ferrara's hometown
00:30:32.599 --> 00:30:35.819
of Mansfield, and the three were arrested. Joseph
00:30:35.819 --> 00:30:39.180
Weeks, the FBI snitch, went on trial first. He
00:30:39.180 --> 00:30:41.819
agreed to testify against Ferrara if needed,
00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:44.599
in exchange for a reduced charge of involuntary
00:30:44.599 --> 00:30:46.579
manslaughter with robbery and drug trafficking.
00:30:47.420 --> 00:30:49.619
The prosecutor in the case said Weeks never told
00:30:49.619 --> 00:30:52.500
his FBI handlers about the drug robbery plan
00:30:52.500 --> 00:30:54.799
and that he fooled the feds in an attempt to
00:30:54.799 --> 00:30:58.269
cover up his own criminal activity. Joseph Weeks
00:30:58.269 --> 00:31:00.869
was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to 29
00:31:00.869 --> 00:31:04.349
to 90 years in prison. Fellow Trumbull County
00:31:04.349 --> 00:31:06.890
native Mark Jennings, who was actually cousins
00:31:06.890 --> 00:31:10.049
with victim Ed Hannah's wife, also agreed to
00:31:10.049 --> 00:31:12.549
testify against Ferrara if needed and pleaded
00:31:12.549 --> 00:31:15.529
guilty to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter
00:31:15.529 --> 00:31:18.730
along with robbery and drug charges. Just like
00:31:18.730 --> 00:31:21.670
Weeks, Jennings also received 29 to 90 years
00:31:21.670 --> 00:31:24.509
in prison. But both men would be eligible for
00:31:24.509 --> 00:31:28.170
parole after serving at least five years. James
00:31:28.170 --> 00:31:30.349
Farrar pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated
00:31:30.349 --> 00:31:32.630
murder in the first degree. He was spared the
00:31:32.630 --> 00:31:35.410
death penalty by a three -judge panel, who instead
00:31:35.410 --> 00:31:37.930
sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility
00:31:37.930 --> 00:31:41.029
of parole after 20 years. The possibility of
00:31:41.029 --> 00:31:43.430
parole eventually became reality for Joseph Weeks
00:31:43.430 --> 00:31:46.130
and Mark Jennings. However, 20 years after his
00:31:46.130 --> 00:31:48.849
conviction in Franklin County, James Farrar got
00:31:48.849 --> 00:31:51.470
something other than parole. He was taken to
00:31:51.470 --> 00:31:53.329
Mahoning County and formally indicted for the
00:31:53.329 --> 00:31:55.470
murders of Benjamin, Marilyn, and Heather Marsh.
00:31:55.920 --> 00:31:58.299
crimes that he staunchly denied, maintaining
00:31:58.299 --> 00:32:01.480
his innocence to this day. Prosecution in his
00:32:01.480 --> 00:32:03.880
2013 trial said they had evidence that he committed
00:32:03.880 --> 00:32:07.380
the Marsh murders in 1974. They pointed to partial
00:32:07.380 --> 00:32:09.519
handprints on the outside of the Marsh's garage
00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:12.819
door, but all of the DNA evidence and fingerprints
00:32:12.819 --> 00:32:14.960
that were recovered from inside the Marsh home,
00:32:15.400 --> 00:32:17.960
which there was a considerable amount of, none
00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:20.640
could ever be linked to Ferrara. Neither was
00:32:20.640 --> 00:32:24.329
a motive ever established. Still, the 2013 jury
00:32:24.329 --> 00:32:26.769
found the evidence and case against him sufficient
00:32:26.769 --> 00:32:29.549
enough for conviction. James Farrar would have
00:32:29.549 --> 00:32:32.009
been eligible for parole for his 1983 crimes
00:32:32.009 --> 00:32:35.589
by this time, but Judge R. Scott Kirchbaum said
00:32:35.589 --> 00:32:37.750
the life sentence imposed for the Marsh killings
00:32:37.750 --> 00:32:39.910
would ensure Farrar would spend the rest of his
00:32:39.910 --> 00:32:58.069
life behind bars. When examining the task force
00:32:58.069 --> 00:32:59.970
investigative files which were leaked to us,
00:33:00.329 --> 00:33:02.710
it was noted that Liz Parks told detectives about
00:33:02.710 --> 00:33:04.849
her ex -husband's involvement in the Marsh murders
00:33:04.849 --> 00:33:08.650
back in 2001. Investigative reports from the
00:33:08.650 --> 00:33:10.410
task force findings were given to the Mahoney
00:33:10.410 --> 00:33:14.849
County Prosecutor's Office by 2004, nine years
00:33:14.849 --> 00:33:17.230
before James Farrar was convicted of the Marsh
00:33:17.230 --> 00:33:19.529
killings. Law enforcement had this evidence for
00:33:19.529 --> 00:33:22.420
over a decade, But Ferrara did not have it for
00:33:22.420 --> 00:33:26.160
his defense in 2013. We reached out to James
00:33:26.160 --> 00:33:28.599
Ferrara currently in his 70s, still locked up
00:33:28.599 --> 00:33:31.500
in state prison. He agreed to talk on camera.
00:33:31.839 --> 00:33:34.920
So my podcast partner, Johnny Ciccatelli, got
00:33:34.920 --> 00:33:37.220
clearance from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation
00:33:37.220 --> 00:33:39.579
and Correction and traveled to Marion Correctional
00:33:39.579 --> 00:33:42.859
Institution in Marion, Ohio to present Ferrara
00:33:42.859 --> 00:33:45.839
with this new information we found. The morning
00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:48.079
of the scheduled interview, Ferrara was taken
00:33:48.079 --> 00:33:50.349
to a dentist who pulled several of his teeth.
00:33:50.950 --> 00:33:52.650
We told him that we would understand if he wanted
00:33:52.650 --> 00:33:55.109
to delay the interview, but he said despite the
00:33:55.109 --> 00:33:58.049
pain, he wanted to talk. This is an excerpt from
00:33:58.049 --> 00:34:01.690
that interview. This is a partial interview transcription
00:34:01.690 --> 00:34:04.490
from Detective Frank Martucci with the Akron
00:34:04.490 --> 00:34:06.789
Police Department and Detective Dave Moore of
00:34:06.789 --> 00:34:09.190
the Copley Police Department, both working on
00:34:09.190 --> 00:34:12.469
an organized crime task force interviewing the
00:34:12.469 --> 00:34:15.989
ex -wife of Robert Bobby Parks on December 4th,
00:34:16.010 --> 00:34:20.239
2001. The ex -wife, who was at the time in witness
00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:24.260
protection, is referred to as Liz. If you would,
00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.000
could you read me that excerpt there? Detective
00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:35.480
Moore, now continuing, Liz, when you were detective,
00:34:36.900 --> 00:34:43.860
when you, when we, when Detective Martusi and
00:34:43.860 --> 00:34:50.159
I had spoke to you, Last you had mentioned another
00:34:50.159 --> 00:34:55.840
conversation that you had overheard Bob make
00:34:55.840 --> 00:35:00.840
Could you tell us a little bit about that conversation?
00:35:01.900 --> 00:35:06.860
Liz yes, uh He was telling oh he was talking
00:35:06.860 --> 00:35:13.280
to Paul about the guy It was some guy and somebody
00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:18.679
wanted that guy killed and he went ahead and
00:35:18.679 --> 00:35:24.179
went in the house to go do it and waited. I guess
00:35:24.179 --> 00:35:29.059
he had watched the house several times, been
00:35:29.059 --> 00:35:41.719
over to make sure no one was there but him. And
00:35:41.719 --> 00:35:46.760
the woman went back with her daughter After leaving
00:35:46.760 --> 00:35:50.880
the house, maybe she forgot her purse or something
00:35:50.880 --> 00:35:54.820
and went back into that house. And by then, Bob
00:35:54.820 --> 00:36:00.280
had already committed the crime with that man
00:36:00.280 --> 00:36:05.659
and proceeded to shoot the woman, from what I
00:36:05.659 --> 00:36:09.719
understand, and beat the four -year -old girl
00:36:09.719 --> 00:36:16.760
with the pistol. the butt of the pistol of the
00:36:16.760 --> 00:36:24.199
gun. Okay, do you remember an approximate year
00:36:24.199 --> 00:36:33.579
when you overheard that conversation? 76 or 77?
00:36:37.119 --> 00:36:40.019
And the Paul that she's discussing there is his
00:36:40.019 --> 00:36:43.980
brother, Paul Parks. So have you ever read that
00:36:43.980 --> 00:36:48.989
before? Never. Bobby Parks' wife is in witness
00:36:48.989 --> 00:36:52.150
protection and she testifies before the organized
00:36:52.150 --> 00:36:56.849
crime commission that she overheard a conversation
00:36:56.849 --> 00:37:01.190
between her husband and her husband's brother
00:37:01.190 --> 00:37:06.110
that he went to kill a guy and the guy's family
00:37:06.110 --> 00:37:09.130
walked in on him and he killed the guy's family.
00:37:09.429 --> 00:37:12.650
What other case is that? There's only one case
00:37:12.650 --> 00:37:17.320
like that. what, 40, 50 years in Youngstown?
00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:21.119
And that's the Marsh killing. So they knew who
00:37:21.119 --> 00:37:25.519
committed the Marsh killing in, in 91. Why even
00:37:25.519 --> 00:37:30.280
bring me to 2001? Why was I even brought to trial?
00:37:31.599 --> 00:37:34.440
Bobby Parks was mentioned in your trial. Do you
00:37:34.440 --> 00:37:37.480
remember what, can you sum up what was discussed
00:37:37.480 --> 00:37:40.539
about Bobby Parks in your trial? The fact that
00:37:40.539 --> 00:37:45.550
he was arrested for it and He was past he had
00:37:45.550 --> 00:37:49.110
passed away at that time My lawyer wanted to
00:37:49.110 --> 00:37:52.250
exhume his body to take DNA and they refused
00:37:52.250 --> 00:37:56.250
that Do you think if DNA were taken of Bobby
00:37:56.250 --> 00:38:00.789
Parks they could link it to that house I Know
00:38:00.789 --> 00:38:04.070
they're not gonna link me to that house and somebody
00:38:04.070 --> 00:38:10.489
did it And Bobby was over heard talking to his
00:38:10.489 --> 00:38:14.059
brother talking about killing the guy and his
00:38:14.059 --> 00:38:17.960
family in front of his wife, and she testified
00:38:17.960 --> 00:38:22.780
in front of the organized crime commission, I
00:38:22.780 --> 00:38:26.500
think Bobby and that crew had something to do
00:38:26.500 --> 00:38:33.519
with it, absolutely. The Youngstown Vindicator
00:38:33.519 --> 00:38:37.880
in the news media crucified me before I went
00:38:37.880 --> 00:38:41.159
to trial, during the time I was at trial, and
00:38:41.159 --> 00:38:47.090
after trial. And what a day to say. The prosecutor
00:38:47.090 --> 00:38:51.090
said that the car was dumped a half a mile from
00:38:51.090 --> 00:38:55.829
where I lived in 1974, but I didn't move to Youngstown
00:38:55.829 --> 00:39:00.949
until 1976. I was in a residence there. She made
00:39:00.949 --> 00:39:06.409
it sound to the jury like I killed him, drove
00:39:06.409 --> 00:39:09.610
the car to the Kmart, slammed the door and walked
00:39:09.610 --> 00:39:14.420
home. How did I even get to this crime? And not
00:39:14.420 --> 00:39:18.900
only that, the ballistics expert says that there
00:39:18.900 --> 00:39:21.139
were three guns that could have been fired at
00:39:21.139 --> 00:39:24.199
that time, not one, that three people could have
00:39:24.199 --> 00:39:29.139
been there. Bobby Parks, Paul Parks, and Eddie
00:39:29.139 --> 00:39:34.199
Ferris. So you're saying, I want to go back and
00:39:34.199 --> 00:39:38.480
make that clear, you're at the car, Mrs. Marsh's
00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:42.630
car. was taken after they were killed. Right.
00:39:43.409 --> 00:39:47.650
So the killer took the car and dumped it at a
00:39:47.650 --> 00:39:51.269
Kmart in nearby Austintown. Yes, sir. And in
00:39:51.269 --> 00:39:56.949
your trial in 2013, the prosecutor said that
00:39:56.949 --> 00:40:01.150
you lived nearby that Kmart. Right. And that's
00:40:01.150 --> 00:40:04.389
why you dropped the car there. Right. Does that
00:40:04.389 --> 00:40:08.420
make any sense? That was 1974. Yes. When did
00:40:08.420 --> 00:40:11.340
you move to that apartment? 1976. What was the
00:40:11.340 --> 00:40:13.340
apartment's name? Do you remember? Westchester
00:40:13.340 --> 00:40:20.199
Apartments in Austin Town. They could have contacted
00:40:20.199 --> 00:40:23.719
the phone company for when they installed the
00:40:23.719 --> 00:40:26.980
phone. You know, the apartment number was 312.
00:40:27.639 --> 00:40:30.159
I mean... What did your lawyer say in court?
00:40:30.599 --> 00:40:34.139
Huh? How did your lawyer respond in court? He...
00:40:34.190 --> 00:40:36.389
He told him I didn't live there, but he didn't
00:40:36.389 --> 00:40:43.570
make a big thing out of it. First of all, the
00:40:43.570 --> 00:40:48.510
defense went first. The prosecution followed
00:40:48.510 --> 00:40:53.730
up. He couldn't even question that when she told
00:40:53.730 --> 00:40:56.650
that to the jury in her closing arguments. He
00:40:56.650 --> 00:40:59.449
couldn't bring it up. That violated the rules
00:40:59.449 --> 00:41:08.449
of the court. The jury went to decide the verdict,
00:41:08.449 --> 00:41:14.670
thinking that the car was parked a half a mile
00:41:14.670 --> 00:41:18.710
from where I lived, which was false. So I'm going
00:41:18.710 --> 00:41:20.690
to ask you a few questions, and forgive me if
00:41:20.690 --> 00:41:26.510
we repeat anything here. You know, one thing
00:41:26.510 --> 00:41:32.110
else. The person who stole the car was seen.
00:41:33.099 --> 00:41:39.619
at Kmart, and a person made a composite picture
00:41:39.619 --> 00:41:42.739
of them. That composite was published in the
00:41:42.739 --> 00:41:46.139
Youngstown Vindicator, and a copy of that composite
00:41:46.139 --> 00:41:49.900
was what was posted in the lobby of Lordstown,
00:41:49.940 --> 00:41:53.280
where I worked, and in the truck plant, I think.
00:41:53.500 --> 00:41:56.280
But it was definitely posted in the lobby. And
00:41:56.280 --> 00:41:59.659
it was not a picture of me. It was a picture
00:41:59.659 --> 00:42:03.800
of somebody between 40 and 50. I was 24, 25 years
00:42:03.800 --> 00:42:07.699
old. What do you hope comes of this interview?
00:42:08.679 --> 00:42:12.099
I hope that they look at this case and realize
00:42:12.099 --> 00:42:16.760
that there is no case. And they either drop the
00:42:16.760 --> 00:42:20.960
charges on me or retry me. Cleaned up a 40 -year
00:42:20.960 --> 00:42:26.599
-old homicide. Sure you did. And the thing about
00:42:26.599 --> 00:42:31.139
it is... A lot of people in Youngstown know me.
00:42:31.639 --> 00:42:34.139
A lot of people in Youngstown know I didn't do
00:42:34.139 --> 00:42:40.579
this. I'm not capable of killing a kid. That's
00:42:40.579 --> 00:42:45.159
crazy. Nobody does that. That's sickening. But
00:42:45.159 --> 00:42:49.460
professional killers do that because kids can
00:42:49.460 --> 00:42:54.420
testify. They can pick out witnesses. So I asked
00:42:54.420 --> 00:42:56.480
you a question earlier and I'm going to ask you
00:42:56.480 --> 00:43:00.750
the same question again. Sure. So what does it
00:43:00.750 --> 00:43:06.349
mean to you personally to be accused of killing
00:43:06.349 --> 00:43:10.789
the Marsh family? I had friends out there. Very
00:43:10.789 --> 00:43:16.190
good, close friends. After that happened, they're
00:43:16.190 --> 00:43:19.670
no longer friends of mine because, you know,
00:43:19.670 --> 00:43:28.679
I was convicted. If they overturned us... These
00:43:28.679 --> 00:43:30.980
are friends who stuck with me during the first
00:43:30.980 --> 00:43:35.800
trial. They no longer stuck with me during the
00:43:35.800 --> 00:43:39.139
second one. They would come back into my life.
00:43:39.619 --> 00:43:43.179
They would realize that I did not kill Ben Marsh
00:43:43.179 --> 00:43:48.599
or his family. That means a lot to me. Before
00:43:48.599 --> 00:43:51.500
we get out of here, I'm going to wrap up, let's
00:43:51.500 --> 00:43:56.730
say... I'm trying to think how to put a button
00:43:56.730 --> 00:43:59.070
on this. Is there anything that you want to say
00:43:59.070 --> 00:44:04.030
that we didn't cover? No, sir. Well, you and
00:44:04.030 --> 00:44:07.210
me have talked a lot, and you've done a lot of
00:44:07.210 --> 00:44:11.329
investigation based on stuff that you've uncovered.
00:44:11.590 --> 00:44:21.289
Do you think I kill these people? I don't. That's
00:44:21.289 --> 00:44:28.820
good, because I didn't. Thank you. Thank you
00:44:28.820 --> 00:45:11.920
Jim. free call from an inmate at the Marion Correctional
00:45:11.920 --> 00:45:15.559
Institution. To accept this free call press 0.
00:45:15.760 --> 00:45:19.199
To refuse this free call hang up or press 1.
00:45:21.639 --> 00:45:23.940
This call is from a DRC correctional facility
00:45:23.940 --> 00:45:26.579
and is subject to monitoring and recording. Utilization
00:45:26.579 --> 00:45:28.739
of an unapproved application and three -way calls
00:45:28.739 --> 00:45:30.860
to communicate are strictly prohibited and a
00:45:30.860 --> 00:45:33.519
violation of DRC policy. Thank you for using
00:45:33.519 --> 00:45:38.460
GTL. Thank you for using GTL. Hi Jim, it's Johnny.
00:45:39.239 --> 00:45:44.119
Go ahead. I wanted to tell you one thing that
00:45:44.119 --> 00:45:49.840
Joey Weeks and Mark Jennings asked me, first
00:45:49.840 --> 00:45:57.079
of all, when I moved from my apartment and moved
00:45:57.079 --> 00:46:00.860
my property home they rented a truck and they
00:46:00.860 --> 00:46:03.840
moved the furniture for me. So I owed him a big
00:46:03.840 --> 00:46:07.179
favor. One day, they called me up on the phone.
00:46:07.760 --> 00:46:12.519
I was standing at my girlfriend's place and they
00:46:12.519 --> 00:46:16.900
asked me if I could make a few phone calls for
00:46:16.900 --> 00:46:21.059
them. So I called this guy in Columbus and I
00:46:21.059 --> 00:46:24.119
pretended to be the person that Joe Weeks wanted
00:46:24.119 --> 00:46:31.500
me to be. And I set up a deal to buy some cocaine
00:46:31.500 --> 00:46:37.360
from them. Well, this guy that I called was a
00:46:37.360 --> 00:46:42.059
partner of Mark Jennings' cousin who had set
00:46:42.059 --> 00:46:45.719
up this whole thing. It seems that they had gotten
00:46:45.719 --> 00:46:48.880
some cocaine from a coke dealer in Columbus,
00:46:49.860 --> 00:46:53.440
who is a real serious guy, and they had started
00:46:53.440 --> 00:46:56.139
using it, but they didn't have the money to pay
00:46:56.139 --> 00:46:59.610
for it. So they thought... that they set up a
00:46:59.610 --> 00:47:03.730
pony robbery, that the guy who owned the coke
00:47:03.730 --> 00:47:06.750
would give them some time to pay their bill off.
00:47:07.329 --> 00:47:11.050
So next thing I know, they couldn't find a guy.
00:47:11.429 --> 00:47:13.610
They had a guy that was going to go down there
00:47:13.610 --> 00:47:16.690
and take it from them, but that fell through.
00:47:17.030 --> 00:47:19.989
So they were desperate. So they came to me and
00:47:19.989 --> 00:47:23.250
told me that I owed them a favor. And they told
00:47:23.250 --> 00:47:25.949
me what they did for me and everything else.
00:47:27.440 --> 00:47:31.059
They got me to agree to go with him. So I go
00:47:31.059 --> 00:47:33.659
down there. They even told me where the coke
00:47:33.659 --> 00:47:38.280
was, in the guy's apartment. So I went in there,
00:47:39.019 --> 00:47:41.199
and I asked the guy, where's the drugs and everything
00:47:41.199 --> 00:47:48.300
else? And he played dumb, but Joe reached come
00:47:48.300 --> 00:47:53.019
in behind me and started beating him up. Well,
00:47:53.039 --> 00:47:56.199
the other guy started giving the hand signals.
00:47:57.380 --> 00:48:01.539
to Joey Weeks where the coke was. He must have
00:48:01.539 --> 00:48:03.920
forgot that he already told Joey Weeks where
00:48:03.920 --> 00:48:08.099
the coke was. Well what happened was the guy
00:48:08.099 --> 00:48:11.079
that was supposed to be robbed seen the guy giving
00:48:11.079 --> 00:48:15.579
the hand signals and realized that it was a phony
00:48:15.579 --> 00:48:19.039
robbery and he was some kind of karate expert
00:48:19.039 --> 00:48:23.900
so he attacked me and started kicking me and
00:48:23.900 --> 00:48:28.300
he hurt me. So I shot him and then the other
00:48:28.300 --> 00:48:31.139
guy jumped on my back and I shot him and Joey
00:48:31.139 --> 00:48:36.139
Weeks got the coke and we left. The police caught
00:48:36.139 --> 00:48:39.980
up with us in Mansfield at the truck stop in
00:48:39.980 --> 00:48:43.239
Mansfield where we were arrested. And that's
00:48:43.239 --> 00:48:46.019
what happened. And that's in the transcript.
00:48:48.360 --> 00:48:54.250
Joey Weeks decided to testify against me So that's
00:48:54.250 --> 00:48:57.849
in his sentence so he could get out. And so did
00:48:57.849 --> 00:49:01.550
Mark Jennings. So I took the rate for that. Them
00:49:01.550 --> 00:49:05.630
guys did 17 years and I'm still in prison 30
00:49:05.630 --> 00:49:10.510
years later. But I did it so I pled guilty to
00:49:10.510 --> 00:49:14.969
it. I didn't deny what I did. Thanks for breaking
00:49:14.969 --> 00:49:17.730
all that down. Real quick, you mentioned to me
00:49:17.730 --> 00:49:20.050
that you actually met Bobby Parks in prison.
00:49:20.329 --> 00:49:25.190
How did that come about? Well, While I'm here
00:49:25.190 --> 00:49:28.889
at Marion, Bobby Parks heard that there was a
00:49:28.889 --> 00:49:34.289
guy working in the library from Youngstown and
00:49:34.289 --> 00:49:37.989
he was helping guys. So Bobby Parks asked his
00:49:37.989 --> 00:49:42.070
friend to introduce us. So I worked with his
00:49:42.070 --> 00:49:45.849
friend and he asked me to come meet Bobby Parks.
00:49:46.190 --> 00:49:49.550
So I went to record. I met Bobby Parks. I met
00:49:49.550 --> 00:49:54.559
him a few times. We got to talk. Bobby knew a
00:49:54.559 --> 00:49:56.519
lot of people that I knew and I knew a lot of
00:49:56.519 --> 00:50:00.159
people he did. And we talked about those people
00:50:00.159 --> 00:50:04.480
and got to know each other. Then one day out
00:50:04.480 --> 00:50:08.280
of the blue, they took me back to Youngstown
00:50:08.280 --> 00:50:13.460
and questioned me about the Marshmellers. And
00:50:13.460 --> 00:50:19.860
I gave testimony and then I come back and Bobby
00:50:19.860 --> 00:50:23.340
Park met me. And he told me, Jimmy, if I knew
00:50:23.340 --> 00:50:26.360
that they were going to question you about the
00:50:26.360 --> 00:50:30.280
Marsh Murders, he said, I'm going to take it
00:50:30.280 --> 00:50:32.079
out for them because they questioned me about
00:50:32.079 --> 00:50:34.960
it too. And he says, I'm already doing forever.
00:50:35.579 --> 00:50:37.139
He said, it would have made no difference to
00:50:37.139 --> 00:50:46.860
me. But he says, it's not that I know you and
00:50:46.860 --> 00:50:49.800
what kind of guy you are. He says, I would have
00:50:49.800 --> 00:50:52.980
had no problem taking out for that. So that's
00:50:52.980 --> 00:50:59.139
how that happened. Then I went back for the trial
00:50:59.139 --> 00:51:04.659
and I told Moranto, my attorney, that there was
00:51:04.659 --> 00:51:09.340
a guy back in Marion who was questioned about
00:51:09.340 --> 00:51:13.000
the case. And he says, who's that? I told him.
00:51:13.280 --> 00:51:17.800
And he went and said, he left and he come back.
00:51:17.929 --> 00:51:22.090
and he had a paper that he showed at me. He said,
00:51:22.289 --> 00:51:24.829
that guy wasn't questioned, he was arrested for
00:51:24.829 --> 00:51:32.289
it. And I seen how he was arrested because they
00:51:32.289 --> 00:51:39.650
were to intimidate or press the undercover cop
00:51:39.650 --> 00:51:42.809
thinking he had the murder file and probably
00:51:42.809 --> 00:51:48.480
were going to kill him. And then common policy
00:51:48.480 --> 00:51:54.659
got out of there and then years later they come
00:51:54.659 --> 00:51:59.699
and got me and that's basically what happened
00:51:59.699 --> 00:52:03.960
now I might have forgotten a few I might have
00:52:03.960 --> 00:52:08.699
forgotten a few details but for the most part
00:52:08.699 --> 00:52:11.360
that's pretty accurate right down to the wire
00:52:11.360 --> 00:52:14.900
so when you finally do go to trial for the Marsh
00:52:14.900 --> 00:52:17.400
Murders Prosecution said they had your fingerprints
00:52:17.400 --> 00:52:21.340
from outside the Marsh House. Yes. They said
00:52:21.340 --> 00:52:25.619
a palm print and three fingerprints. But they
00:52:25.619 --> 00:52:29.199
said it was on a garage door. The outside garage
00:52:29.199 --> 00:52:33.059
door. And how did they get those prints? I don't
00:52:33.059 --> 00:52:35.579
know. I've never been to the house. I remember
00:52:35.579 --> 00:52:40.619
the street it was on. It was on Turner Road.
00:52:40.760 --> 00:52:45.599
I think North Turner Road in Canfield. How do
00:52:45.599 --> 00:52:48.360
you know that? Because that was mentioned in
00:52:48.360 --> 00:52:54.400
the paperwork. And I had a friend who lived on
00:52:54.400 --> 00:53:01.760
Turner Road. Turner Road runs all the way from
00:53:01.760 --> 00:53:05.579
Youngstown all the way out to Cairnfield. So
00:53:05.579 --> 00:53:10.400
he lived on Turner Road by the freeway off of
00:53:10.400 --> 00:53:13.539
Old Town Road in Youngstown, where the freeway
00:53:14.539 --> 00:53:19.599
used to start and end before they built the extension.
00:53:22.340 --> 00:53:24.260
How do you think they got your fingerprints in
00:53:24.260 --> 00:53:28.280
this case? Well, my fingerprints was taken when
00:53:28.280 --> 00:53:30.920
I was arrested and that's the only time they
00:53:30.920 --> 00:53:35.199
took a palm print. So they took a palm print
00:53:35.199 --> 00:53:41.559
and fingerprints was of me when I was arrested.
00:53:41.780 --> 00:53:48.800
When they took me back to Worthington. And then
00:53:48.800 --> 00:53:51.719
they arrested me in Mansfield. They come and
00:53:51.719 --> 00:53:56.219
transferred me to Worthington where I was palm
00:53:56.219 --> 00:54:00.099
-printed and fingerprinted. And the guy who said
00:54:00.099 --> 00:54:03.940
that he took the fingerprints at the scene of
00:54:03.940 --> 00:54:07.219
the crime has been dead for many years. He was
00:54:07.219 --> 00:54:11.699
dead for many years at my trial. So who knows
00:54:11.699 --> 00:54:14.469
where they got those prints from? I'm thinking
00:54:14.469 --> 00:54:18.309
they got them. I'm thinking they got the 83 pubs.
00:54:18.309 --> 00:54:22.309
In the Marsh case? Who knows? And we're talking
00:54:22.309 --> 00:54:28.269
about finger pubs that are like 39 years old.
00:54:28.969 --> 00:54:32.670
They're probably deteriorated. And I don't think
00:54:32.670 --> 00:54:35.690
they're from the crime rate either. There's so
00:54:35.690 --> 00:54:42.949
much collusion and mix -up. And I think that
00:54:42.989 --> 00:54:46.289
They knew Bobby Park stood it long before they
00:54:46.289 --> 00:54:50.230
questioned me and took me back. But I don't think
00:54:50.230 --> 00:54:53.230
my attorney knew that. He didn't know about Bobby
00:54:53.230 --> 00:54:58.050
Park's wife's testimony. That wasn't brought
00:54:58.050 --> 00:55:01.690
up in the hearing. But I know the cops knew.
00:55:02.429 --> 00:55:06.789
And I just think that I was a scapegoat. But
00:55:06.789 --> 00:55:10.590
they were so desperate. Do you know they offered
00:55:10.590 --> 00:55:15.440
me a deal? Can you hear me? Yeah, go ahead. You
00:55:15.440 --> 00:55:17.559
offered me ten years to plead guilty to three
00:55:17.559 --> 00:55:20.380
murders. And you turned it down. I turned it
00:55:20.380 --> 00:55:22.480
down. I'm not pleading guilty to something I
00:55:22.480 --> 00:55:25.219
didn't do. Well, you certainly maintained your
00:55:25.219 --> 00:55:28.760
innocence. I did not do the march case. Okay,
00:55:28.780 --> 00:55:31.639
thanks, Jim. I'm gonna do my best to get this
00:55:31.639 --> 00:55:34.179
information out there and in the public. Well,
00:55:34.360 --> 00:55:37.139
I appreciate it. Is there anything else you need?
00:55:37.760 --> 00:55:39.900
No, I think we're good. If anything else comes
00:55:39.900 --> 00:55:43.019
up or... comes to mind, just reach back out.
00:55:43.519 --> 00:55:45.820
You take care. Thank you for everything. You
00:55:45.820 --> 00:55:50.320
too, Jim. Bye -bye. Thank you for using GTL.
00:55:50.539 --> 00:55:52.800
As Ferrara stated, he met Bobby Parks at Marion
00:55:52.800 --> 00:55:56.199
Correctional Institution in 2009. That's when
00:55:56.199 --> 00:55:58.579
Mahoney County Detectives first started questioning
00:55:58.579 --> 00:56:03.300
Ferrara about the Marsh case. On May 18, 2010,
00:56:03.820 --> 00:56:06.199
Bobby Parks died from complications of open -heart
00:56:06.199 --> 00:56:08.900
surgery while still an inmate in the state prison.
00:56:09.119 --> 00:56:11.539
Three years later, James Ferrara was officially
00:56:11.539 --> 00:56:13.960
charged with the Marsh killings and put on trial
00:56:13.960 --> 00:56:17.179
in Mahoning County, Ohio. We're going to go after
00:56:17.179 --> 00:56:20.480
it like he's 20, like it's still, like it had
00:56:20.480 --> 00:56:25.219
just happened, you know, so we'll try our best.
00:56:25.579 --> 00:56:27.659
If he wants a trial, he's going to get a trial.
00:56:28.059 --> 00:56:31.300
On November 18, 2013, James Ferrara's triple
00:56:31.300 --> 00:56:34.099
murder trial got underway and the local television
00:56:34.099 --> 00:56:36.650
stations covered it. For nearly 40 years, the
00:56:36.650 --> 00:56:38.849
murders of Ben and Marilyn Marsh and their four
00:56:38.849 --> 00:56:41.409
-year -old daughter went unsolved despite the
00:56:41.409 --> 00:56:43.829
efforts of Mahoning County deputies, including
00:56:43.829 --> 00:56:46.699
the man who eventually became sheriff. Anytime
00:56:46.699 --> 00:56:48.760
somebody dies it bothers you but there was also
00:56:48.760 --> 00:56:51.239
a small child that died and that bothered all
00:56:51.239 --> 00:56:54.400
of us a lot. Ben Marsh, a GM Lordstown security
00:56:54.400 --> 00:56:57.159
guard and his wife Marilyn were found shot inside
00:56:57.159 --> 00:56:59.539
their Kentfield Township home. Their daughter
00:56:59.539 --> 00:57:02.619
Heather had been beaten to death. Only the couple's
00:57:02.619 --> 00:57:05.219
one -year -old son Christopher was left unharmed,
00:57:05.619 --> 00:57:08.260
discovered sitting among the other bodies. Back
00:57:08.260 --> 00:57:11.519
then they were given names of numerous suspects
00:57:11.519 --> 00:57:14.920
by the Mahoney County Sheriff's Office, none
00:57:14.920 --> 00:57:18.829
of which panned out. Then in 2009, perhaps on
00:57:18.829 --> 00:57:21.690
a hunch, detectives Pat Mondora and Dave Benegas
00:57:21.690 --> 00:57:25.170
asked the Ohio BCI lab to recheck the evidence
00:57:25.170 --> 00:57:27.730
from the crime scene against a state database.
00:57:28.250 --> 00:57:31.429
It's just like, like a jigsaw puzzle. All of
00:57:31.429 --> 00:57:34.090
a sudden a piece moved over here and then everything
00:57:34.090 --> 00:57:36.800
just fell into place and we're like. Here we
00:57:36.800 --> 00:57:39.679
go this afternoon a Mahoning County grand jury
00:57:39.679 --> 00:57:43.340
indicted 64 year old James Ferrara on three counts
00:57:43.340 --> 00:57:46.420
of aggravated murder and other charges Ironically,
00:57:46.440 --> 00:57:50.059
he's been in prison since 1984 when he was convicted
00:57:50.059 --> 00:57:52.679
on a drug -related double murder in the Columbus
00:57:52.679 --> 00:57:56.300
area It's taken nearly 40 years to get here.
00:57:56.340 --> 00:57:58.900
40 years to get a defendant in the courtroom,
00:57:59.280 --> 00:58:02.019
evidence before a jury and witnesses on the stand.
00:58:02.059 --> 00:58:05.820
They were recovered from the bodies. Tuesday
00:58:05.820 --> 00:58:08.500
marked day two of the trial against James Ferrara.
00:58:08.719 --> 00:58:11.039
The 64 year old was already in prison for murder
00:58:11.039 --> 00:58:13.099
when he learned of the new charges against him.
00:58:13.380 --> 00:58:15.599
The murders of Benjamin and Marilyn Marsh and
00:58:15.599 --> 00:58:18.880
their daughter back in 1974 like a jigsaw puzzle.
00:58:18.980 --> 00:58:21.739
All of a sudden a piece moved over here. and
00:58:21.739 --> 00:58:23.960
then everything just fell into place. Curiosity
00:58:23.960 --> 00:58:27.019
has been ongoing for Bill Baker. Naturally, in
00:58:27.019 --> 00:58:30.019
our neighborhood, there was a prevailing, it
00:58:30.019 --> 00:58:33.519
was an unbelievable amount of fear. And it's
00:58:33.519 --> 00:58:35.820
a big relief. There's a lot of people out there
00:58:35.820 --> 00:58:39.599
that are glad that this will come and be closed.
00:58:39.929 --> 00:58:43.030
39 years have passed since someone killed the
00:58:43.030 --> 00:58:45.550
Marsh family inside their own home in Canfield,
00:58:45.849 --> 00:58:48.489
but now police say they have their man in James
00:58:48.489 --> 00:58:51.230
Ferrara, a former GM plant worker and apparent
00:58:51.230 --> 00:58:54.369
member of the mob. Ferrara was arrested in 1984
00:58:54.369 --> 00:58:57.429
for aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and
00:58:57.429 --> 00:58:59.769
aggravated drug trafficking after a drug deal
00:58:59.769 --> 00:59:02.329
went bad, killing two dealers near Columbus.
00:59:02.849 --> 00:59:07.460
You know, I've seen a few homicides and my career
00:59:07.460 --> 00:59:11.099
but there was an awful lot of blood all over
00:59:11.099 --> 00:59:15.059
and it appeared that the guy was standing when
00:59:15.059 --> 00:59:19.260
it first happened and he fell to a chair or a
00:59:19.260 --> 00:59:22.219
couch, I remember right, and blood just all over
00:59:22.219 --> 00:59:24.699
the wall. He was badly beaten about the face.
00:59:25.320 --> 00:59:27.880
Oppenheimer says that Ferrara fit the bill to
00:59:27.880 --> 00:59:30.820
be a part of the mob. He refused to talk. He
00:59:30.820 --> 00:59:36.179
wanted an attorney. Very cold, no remorse. I
00:59:36.179 --> 00:59:41.000
mean, he was polite, but zero cooperation. Ferrara
00:59:41.000 --> 00:59:43.679
is serving 20 years to life for the crimes he
00:59:43.679 --> 00:59:45.980
committed in the Columbus area. Recently, he
00:59:45.980 --> 00:59:48.400
had a parole hearing, but it was continued until
00:59:48.400 --> 00:59:51.340
2015. This is the second time that his parole
00:59:51.340 --> 00:59:53.980
has been continued, something the Baker feels
00:59:53.980 --> 00:59:57.360
is for the greater good. There would be a grave
00:59:57.360 --> 01:00:00.059
concern to society about the possibility of violence
01:00:00.059 --> 01:00:04.039
from this person. and I would strongly recommend
01:00:04.039 --> 01:00:06.420
that he's not released. We want to point out
01:00:06.420 --> 01:00:09.099
no proof was ever established or presented in
01:00:09.099 --> 01:00:11.780
court that even suggests that James Ferrara had
01:00:11.780 --> 01:00:14.900
mob ties. While conducting our own investigation
01:00:14.900 --> 01:00:17.420
into Ferrara, we spoke with several people who
01:00:17.420 --> 01:00:22.059
knew him in the 1960s, 70s, and 1980s prior to
01:00:22.059 --> 01:00:24.599
his first conviction. They each told us that
01:00:24.599 --> 01:00:27.280
Ferrara was in no way a mobster and that until
01:00:27.280 --> 01:00:29.719
Ferrara linked up with Joseph Weeks, he had stayed
01:00:29.719 --> 01:00:32.780
away from trouble. When the news of Ferrara's
01:00:32.780 --> 01:00:35.079
indictment and the Marsh murders broke, a print
01:00:35.079 --> 01:00:38.019
article from the Tribune Chronicle quoted retired
01:00:38.019 --> 01:00:41.139
GM Lordstown employee turned city councilman
01:00:41.139 --> 01:00:43.619
Jim Graham, who worked with Ferrara at the plant
01:00:43.619 --> 01:00:47.760
for years, as being, quote, completely floored.
01:00:47.980 --> 01:00:50.320
Graham described Ferrara as even -tempered with
01:00:50.320 --> 01:00:52.760
a quiet demeanor. Graham, who said he worked
01:00:52.760 --> 01:00:55.119
with and knew both James Ferrara and Benjamin
01:00:55.119 --> 01:00:57.800
Marsh, told the newspaper, You can always go
01:00:57.800 --> 01:01:01.119
back and look for little clues or say, 2 and
01:01:01.119 --> 01:01:05.239
2 equals 4, but I never expected this. Throughout
01:01:05.239 --> 01:01:07.539
the Marsh murder trial, prosecutors seemed to
01:01:07.539 --> 01:01:09.719
struggle with motive. Almost in every case we
01:01:09.719 --> 01:01:11.800
don't have a motive. You know, we have theories,
01:01:12.300 --> 01:01:14.599
but unless the defendant were to tell us why
01:01:14.599 --> 01:01:18.039
he did something, we never have a motive. Prosecutors
01:01:18.039 --> 01:01:20.420
pointed to the fact that Farrar had himself worked
01:01:20.420 --> 01:01:23.099
at the GM plant, but they couldn't prove that
01:01:23.099 --> 01:01:25.659
he knew anything about Benjamin Marsh or even
01:01:25.659 --> 01:01:29.090
met the security guard. Farrar told us with over
01:01:29.090 --> 01:01:31.170
twelve thousand people working at the plant he
01:01:31.170 --> 01:01:35.090
didn't know everybody. As previously noted, the
01:01:35.090 --> 01:01:37.190
prevailing theory for a motive in the Marsh murders
01:01:37.190 --> 01:01:41.429
by police in the 1970s was a burglary gone wrong.
01:01:41.909 --> 01:01:44.250
But that doesn't make a lot of sense considering
01:01:44.250 --> 01:01:47.389
nothing was taken from inside the home. Not the
01:01:47.389 --> 01:01:51.130
TV, small amounts of money, nor Benjamin Marsh's
01:01:51.130 --> 01:01:53.250
paycheck, which was left sitting on the counter.
01:01:54.409 --> 01:01:56.869
The only notable thing that was taken from the
01:01:56.869 --> 01:02:00.090
crime scene was Marilyn Marsh's Chevy Vega. Due
01:02:00.090 --> 01:02:02.190
to the winter weather and remote location of
01:02:02.190 --> 01:02:04.550
the Marsh House, the killer most certainly would
01:02:04.550 --> 01:02:06.590
have had to have been dropped off at the scene.
01:02:07.690 --> 01:02:11.130
Miss Marsh's car was then taken to get away after
01:02:11.130 --> 01:02:13.510
the murders were committed. Her Chevy Vega was
01:02:13.510 --> 01:02:15.829
later found in the parking lot of a Kmart in
01:02:15.829 --> 01:02:19.059
neighboring Austin Town Township. The state claimed
01:02:19.059 --> 01:02:21.340
Ferrara dumped the car at that Kmart and implied
01:02:21.340 --> 01:02:23.920
that he walked a mile to the Westchester apartments
01:02:23.920 --> 01:02:26.940
where he lived. Upon further review of these
01:02:26.940 --> 01:02:29.400
allegations, we were able to find records that
01:02:29.400 --> 01:02:32.119
showed James Ferrara did not live at that apartment
01:02:32.119 --> 01:02:36.420
complex in Austintown Township until 1976, two
01:02:36.420 --> 01:02:39.960
years after the Marsh murders. The only physical
01:02:39.960 --> 01:02:42.260
evidence actually presented by the prosecution
01:02:42.260 --> 01:02:44.960
at trial were partial fingerprints and a partial
01:02:44.960 --> 01:02:47.699
palm print that the state said were taken from
01:02:47.699 --> 01:02:50.179
outside of the Marsh's garage on the man door,
01:02:50.639 --> 01:02:53.619
which was an entry point for the killer. The
01:02:53.619 --> 01:02:55.800
prosecution said these fingerprints were collected
01:02:55.800 --> 01:02:58.800
in 1974, though there were questions brought
01:02:58.800 --> 01:03:00.900
up by the defense regarding the chain of evidence.
01:03:01.780 --> 01:03:03.820
The person who had originally collected the prints,
01:03:03.960 --> 01:03:06.159
as well as the detectives who investigated the
01:03:06.159 --> 01:03:10.300
case back in 1974, had all died by the time Ferrara's
01:03:10.300 --> 01:03:14.099
2013 trial began. When confronted with his fingerprints
01:03:14.099 --> 01:03:17.579
by detectives in 2013, Farrar never wavered in
01:03:17.579 --> 01:03:20.480
his denial and was quoted as saying, that's impossible
01:03:20.480 --> 01:03:24.880
because he was never there. Now in 2026, published
01:03:24.880 --> 01:03:27.579
research shows that fingerprint evidence is not
01:03:27.579 --> 01:03:30.440
as reliable or unique as previously thought.
01:03:31.300 --> 01:03:33.420
We asked Farrar about the fingerprints and he
01:03:33.420 --> 01:03:36.480
told us he thinks he was set up. That the prints
01:03:36.480 --> 01:03:39.570
taken during his arrest in the 1980s were swapped
01:03:39.570 --> 01:03:41.550
with those collected from the Marsh crime scene
01:03:41.550 --> 01:03:46.630
in 1974 and used in this case. We are not fingerprint
01:03:46.630 --> 01:03:49.590
experts and we cannot verify nor disprove any
01:03:49.590 --> 01:03:52.050
of the fingerprint analysis submitted as evidence
01:03:52.050 --> 01:03:55.690
in this trial. Regardless, we can say with certainty
01:03:55.690 --> 01:03:58.469
that there was never any evidence linking James
01:03:58.469 --> 01:04:00.809
Farrar to the inside of the Marsh home where
01:04:00.809 --> 01:04:04.210
the murders were committed. It wasn't until after
01:04:04.210 --> 01:04:06.309
the guilty verdict was handed down and he was
01:04:06.309 --> 01:04:08.800
brought back for sentencing that Ferrara was
01:04:08.800 --> 01:04:10.880
finally given a chance to speak for himself in
01:04:10.880 --> 01:04:13.719
the courtroom. He told the court, you've got
01:04:13.719 --> 01:04:17.159
the wrong guy. Wearing a jail jumpsuit, his hands
01:04:17.159 --> 01:04:20.019
secured by a belly chain, James Ferrara needed
01:04:20.019 --> 01:04:22.739
a cane to get around. But for the first time
01:04:22.739 --> 01:04:25.679
since his arrest last June, the 64 -year -old
01:04:25.679 --> 01:04:28.500
convicted murderer finally was asked to speak
01:04:28.500 --> 01:04:33.719
about his charges. You got the wrong guy. I didn't
01:04:33.719 --> 01:04:36.860
do that. There wasn't enough evidence to prove
01:04:36.860 --> 01:04:39.440
I did it. Couldn't have been. I didn't do it.
01:04:39.739 --> 01:04:42.400
Ferrara was found guilty in the 1974 killings
01:04:42.400 --> 01:04:44.960
of Ben and Marilyn Marsh and their young daughter,
01:04:44.980 --> 01:04:47.420
Heather. This case at the outset, I believe,
01:04:47.760 --> 01:04:51.780
was very, very scant evidence with regard to
01:04:51.780 --> 01:04:54.860
the State of Ohio's presentation. I believe that
01:04:54.860 --> 01:04:58.559
the jury was guided. certainly by their emotions.
01:04:58.820 --> 01:05:00.960
Judge Scott Krishbaum, who presided over this
01:05:00.960 --> 01:05:04.599
trial, called the murders demonic and unforgivable
01:05:04.599 --> 01:05:07.820
and said after sentencing Ferrara to three consecutive
01:05:07.820 --> 01:05:10.559
life terms, he was actually happy to see that
01:05:10.559 --> 01:05:12.860
Ferrara would never get out of prison again.
01:05:13.659 --> 01:05:15.860
Ferrara also told the court that since he was
01:05:15.860 --> 01:05:18.159
charged with the heinous Marsh murders, he was
01:05:18.159 --> 01:05:20.420
labeled as a child killer and attempts on his
01:05:20.420 --> 01:05:23.740
life had been made by other inmates. serious
01:05:23.740 --> 01:05:26.719
allegations of misconduct. It is very rare to
01:05:26.719 --> 01:05:29.320
have a judge remove a prosecutor from a trial,
01:05:29.340 --> 01:05:32.239
but that's what happened today in a murder case
01:05:32.239 --> 01:05:34.920
in Mahoning County. Several years after the Marsh
01:05:34.920 --> 01:05:37.420
Murders case concluded, the lead prosecutor,
01:05:37.619 --> 01:05:40.059
Don Cantalamessa, would resign from Mahoning
01:05:40.059 --> 01:05:42.420
County Prosecutor's Office after allegations
01:05:42.420 --> 01:05:46.880
of prosecutorial misconduct came to light. Cantalamessa
01:05:46.880 --> 01:05:49.280
was first placed on administrative leave after
01:05:49.280 --> 01:05:51.780
a judge removed her from an aggravated murder
01:05:51.780 --> 01:05:55.619
case citing her careless indifference, ascertaining
01:05:55.619 --> 01:05:58.519
the truth regarding evidence and making a false
01:05:58.519 --> 01:06:05.960
statement to the court. She officially resigned
01:06:05.960 --> 01:06:08.119
from the Mahoney County Prosecutor's Office in
01:06:08.119 --> 01:06:11.199
2021 and has since been employed as the Chief
01:06:11.199 --> 01:06:14.360
Assistant Prosecutor in nearby Ashtabula County.
01:06:15.579 --> 01:06:18.630
The judge in the case, R. Scott Kirschbaum, had
01:06:18.630 --> 01:06:21.369
previously been mentioned in FBI wiretaps of
01:06:21.369 --> 01:06:23.949
Youngstown mob boss Lenny Strolo. The Valley's
01:06:23.949 --> 01:06:26.949
mob boss has broken the Mafia's code of silence.
01:06:27.349 --> 01:06:29.730
TV 21's Michelle Nix was in federal court today
01:06:29.730 --> 01:06:31.869
where she heard some pretty startling claims
01:06:31.869 --> 01:06:35.369
from Lenny Strolo. Michelle? Bob and Laura, explosive
01:06:35.369 --> 01:06:38.550
and potentially damaging testimony in day three
01:06:38.550 --> 01:06:42.210
of the mob on trial as the prosecution star witness
01:06:42.210 --> 01:06:47.940
takes the stand and tells all. Admitted Youngstown
01:06:47.940 --> 01:06:51.599
mob boss Lenny Strohlo takes the stand. Exposing
01:06:51.599 --> 01:06:54.300
the names of public officials and officers of
01:06:54.300 --> 01:06:57.079
the court, he says, have their own links to the
01:06:57.079 --> 01:06:59.380
mob. Another well -known judge is mentioned for
01:06:59.380 --> 01:07:02.119
the second day in a row, R. Scott Krishbaum.
01:07:02.579 --> 01:07:05.380
Strohlo says Altshuler and Scotty were friends.
01:07:05.960 --> 01:07:08.760
Scotty is even referenced in numerous wiretapped
01:07:08.760 --> 01:07:11.619
conversations when Altshuler says he wants to
01:07:11.619 --> 01:07:14.860
get a case fixed. These wiretapped conversations
01:07:15.150 --> 01:07:18.650
came to light in the late 1990s and Judge Kersbaum
01:07:18.650 --> 01:07:21.849
strongly denied any wrongdoing at the time, telling
01:07:21.849 --> 01:07:25.349
a local reporter, quote, No one has ever approached
01:07:25.349 --> 01:07:27.869
me about doing anything like that. If they did,
01:07:28.130 --> 01:07:30.530
they would face criminal charges instituted by
01:07:30.530 --> 01:07:35.130
me. What those people say about good people to
01:07:35.130 --> 01:07:38.329
make them look bad should not be believed by
01:07:38.329 --> 01:07:42.900
anyone with any common sense at all. Judge Kirschbaum
01:07:42.900 --> 01:07:44.880
was never charged with any crime relating to
01:07:44.880 --> 01:07:47.900
the mob allegations made during that time. However,
01:07:48.119 --> 01:07:51.199
in November 2023, the judge was involved in a
01:07:51.199 --> 01:07:53.960
hit -and -run accident in which the SUV he was
01:07:53.960 --> 01:07:57.260
driving hit a 19 -year -old bicyclist and then
01:07:57.260 --> 01:08:04.170
left the scene. A father talks about the moment
01:08:04.170 --> 01:08:07.949
his son was hit while riding his bicycle. Today,
01:08:08.170 --> 01:08:10.969
a Mahoning County judge admitted he was driving
01:08:10.969 --> 01:08:14.150
the vehicle involved and pleaded guilty. A Mahoning
01:08:14.150 --> 01:08:16.850
County judge known for handing down punishments
01:08:16.850 --> 01:08:19.810
for convicted offenders found himself on the
01:08:19.810 --> 01:08:22.529
other side of the bench this morning. The judge
01:08:22.529 --> 01:08:24.909
eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor traffic
01:08:24.909 --> 01:08:28.189
charges and was given a small fine. He was allowed
01:08:28.189 --> 01:08:31.409
to remain on the bench and in 2026 is currently
01:08:31.409 --> 01:08:36.210
serving his final term allowable by law. Earlier,
01:08:36.430 --> 01:08:39.310
we promised to revisit Walter Packner. While
01:08:39.310 --> 01:08:42.090
compiling our research for this episode, we talked
01:08:42.090 --> 01:08:44.670
with retired detective Dave Talbert, the son
01:08:44.670 --> 01:08:48.590
of 1974 murder victim Robert Talbert, whose killing
01:08:48.590 --> 01:08:52.470
we detailed in episode 4. Dave Talbert served
01:08:52.470 --> 01:08:54.989
over 20 years with the Salem, Ohio Police Department.
01:08:55.369 --> 01:08:57.970
But he told us that prior to his retirement he
01:08:57.970 --> 01:09:00.569
was made aware of a theory within law enforcement
01:09:00.569 --> 01:09:02.949
that the driver of the getaway car in the Marsh
01:09:02.949 --> 01:09:06.050
killings was murdered shortly afterwards in Portage
01:09:06.050 --> 01:09:09.649
County. This theory would seemingly suggest that
01:09:09.649 --> 01:09:11.550
the person who had driven the killer to the Marsh
01:09:11.550 --> 01:09:16.050
house on December 14th, 1974 was eliminated because
01:09:16.050 --> 01:09:19.250
he could identify the killer. Now we know for
01:09:19.250 --> 01:09:21.430
a fact that someone involved in the Marsh murders
01:09:21.659 --> 01:09:24.699
left Maryland's Chevy Vega at a K -Mart in the
01:09:24.699 --> 01:09:28.340
neighboring township. A witness saw a man, believed
01:09:28.340 --> 01:09:31.119
to be in his mid -forties, drop Miss Marsh's
01:09:31.119 --> 01:09:34.760
car off and walk away. This sketch of the man,
01:09:34.859 --> 01:09:37.359
who left her car there, was provided and published
01:09:37.359 --> 01:09:40.159
in the newspaper, but was never matched to anyone.
01:09:41.899 --> 01:09:43.859
When examining the theory which Dave Talbert
01:09:43.859 --> 01:09:45.600
heard from other members of law enforcement,
01:09:46.060 --> 01:09:49.300
again, that driver of the getaway car in the
01:09:49.300 --> 01:09:51.689
Marsh killings was murdered shortly afterwards
01:09:51.689 --> 01:09:54.310
in Portage County. It would appear that they
01:09:54.310 --> 01:09:57.510
were referring to Walter Packner. The night watchman
01:09:57.510 --> 01:10:00.050
was 45 years old when he was shot and killed
01:10:00.050 --> 01:10:05.130
on April 7, 1975. This was around the same time
01:10:05.130 --> 01:10:07.810
that Detective Ed Nemeth began generating leads
01:10:07.810 --> 01:10:10.329
and potential witnesses in his investigation
01:10:10.329 --> 01:10:13.609
of the Marsh case. It is also two weeks before
01:10:13.609 --> 01:10:17.590
Nemeth arrested Bobby Parks, Paul Parks, and
01:10:17.590 --> 01:10:20.500
Ed Ferris in a sting operation at the Penn Ohio
01:10:20.500 --> 01:10:24.600
Motel. Is this sketch supposed to be Walter Packner?
01:10:25.479 --> 01:10:27.739
Was he murdered by Bobby Parks to tie up loose
01:10:27.739 --> 01:10:30.800
ends with the Marsh killings? Since Parks was
01:10:30.800 --> 01:10:33.220
never brought to trial for killing Walter Packner,
01:10:33.659 --> 01:10:37.539
we may never know. Over a dozen years since James
01:10:37.539 --> 01:10:39.579
Ferrara was found guilty for the Marsh murders,
01:10:39.880 --> 01:10:42.520
there's been a major new development in his case.
01:10:43.340 --> 01:10:45.500
Following our interview with Ferrara at the Marion
01:10:45.500 --> 01:10:48.659
Correctional Institution, he contacted the Ohio
01:10:48.659 --> 01:10:51.380
Innocence Project. With the new evidence that
01:10:51.380 --> 01:10:53.819
we discovered in the leaked task force files,
01:10:54.979 --> 01:10:59.020
specifically Liz Park's 2001 interview, we can
01:10:59.020 --> 01:11:01.680
now report that the Ohio Innocence Project has
01:11:01.680 --> 01:11:04.100
officially taken James Farrar on as a client
01:11:04.100 --> 01:11:06.460
and are actively working to either get him a
01:11:06.460 --> 01:11:11.020
new trial or to have his 2013 conviction overturned.
01:11:11.500 --> 01:11:13.260
Only time will tell if James Farrar will get
01:11:13.260 --> 01:11:15.750
another day in court. Should the Marsh Murders
01:11:15.750 --> 01:11:18.470
be wiped from his record? Ferraro would still
01:11:18.470 --> 01:11:21.229
be serving a life sentence for his 1983 crimes,
01:11:21.590 --> 01:11:24.789
but as we previously noted, he would be eligible
01:11:24.789 --> 01:11:27.550
for parole after having already served over 40
01:11:27.550 --> 01:11:31.510
years behind bars. Still, even if parole were
01:11:31.510 --> 01:11:33.949
never granted, he remains hopeful to have the
01:11:33.949 --> 01:11:36.510
label of child killer removed from his name.
01:11:37.829 --> 01:11:39.970
The Organized Crime Task Force chronicled in
01:11:39.970 --> 01:11:42.289
this series was officially decommissioned in
01:11:42.289 --> 01:11:45.770
2004. Their hard work and determination resulted
01:11:45.770 --> 01:11:48.630
in the prosecution and conviction of several
01:11:48.630 --> 01:11:51.310
professional burglars before their focus shifted
01:11:51.310 --> 01:11:55.029
to solving several mob -related murders, including
01:11:55.029 --> 01:11:58.590
all of the cases detailed in this series. The
01:11:58.590 --> 01:12:00.930
following is the list, in no particular order,
01:12:01.409 --> 01:12:03.829
that the task force officially investigated in
01:12:03.829 --> 01:12:06.930
that regard and the results of those investigations.
01:12:11.689 --> 01:12:15.710
was murdered on February 24, 1981 by a shotgun
01:12:15.710 --> 01:12:18.630
blast to the chest and died instantly as he was
01:12:18.630 --> 01:12:21.090
in the process of moving a car in his driveway
01:12:21.090 --> 01:12:24.789
in Boardman, Ohio. The killer obviously had mistaken
01:12:24.789 --> 01:12:28.689
Joe DeRose Sr. as Joe DeRose Jr. There was speculation
01:12:28.689 --> 01:12:31.229
that the assailants in this murder were two former
01:12:31.229 --> 01:12:34.090
henchmen of Joey Naples and both men have since
01:12:34.090 --> 01:12:37.010
deceased. The task force has no further clues
01:12:37.010 --> 01:12:39.329
regarding this murder and it is unlikely that
01:12:39.329 --> 01:12:42.069
the crime will be able to be solved. This case
01:12:42.069 --> 01:12:47.949
remains open. Number 2. Joseph M. DeRose Jr.
01:12:48.229 --> 01:12:51.210
was murdered by Sam Faseska on or about April
01:12:51.210 --> 01:12:55.449
16th, 1981 in the driveway at Faseska's Canfield
01:12:55.449 --> 01:12:58.229
Township home by two gunshots to the head from
01:12:58.229 --> 01:13:02.210
a 9mm Luger. Eddie Ferris and Charles Traharn
01:13:02.210 --> 01:13:05.029
were in Traharn's vehicle behind DeRose's vehicle
01:13:05.029 --> 01:13:08.300
when the murder took place. Charles Traharn and
01:13:08.300 --> 01:13:11.060
Eddie Farris helped Sam Fasesca dispose of DeRose's
01:13:11.060 --> 01:13:13.939
body. The victim was placed in the trunk of a
01:13:13.939 --> 01:13:16.359
car that had been driven by DeRose, which belonged
01:13:16.359 --> 01:13:19.380
to one of his girlfriends. Charles Traharn pleaded
01:13:19.380 --> 01:13:21.560
guilty to this murder in Mahoney County Common
01:13:21.560 --> 01:13:24.600
Police Court under an engaging and corrupt activity
01:13:24.600 --> 01:13:27.439
count. Traharn received a five -year sentencing
01:13:27.439 --> 01:13:29.380
and was placed under Federal Witness Protection
01:13:29.380 --> 01:13:33.439
Program. Eddie Farris had already given the United
01:13:33.439 --> 01:13:35.539
States government and the state of Ohio a statement
01:13:35.539 --> 01:13:37.779
concerning his involvement regarding this murder.
01:13:38.640 --> 01:13:41.239
In addition, Farris consented to a non -stipulated
01:13:41.239 --> 01:13:44.159
polygraph to remain a cooperating witness and
01:13:44.159 --> 01:13:48.020
was ready to testify at trial. Sanfasesca consented
01:13:48.020 --> 01:13:51.119
to be stipulated polygraph with his defense attorney
01:13:51.119 --> 01:13:53.659
present, but according to the task force notes,
01:13:53.960 --> 01:13:56.939
he failed. Efforts were made to recover the murder
01:13:56.939 --> 01:13:59.619
weapon by the Summit County dive team with negative
01:13:59.619 --> 01:14:03.970
results. San Francisco died on August 8, 2004
01:14:03.970 --> 01:14:09.630
prior to the start of his trial. 3. Dominic P.
01:14:09.789 --> 01:14:13.409
Cenzarino Jr., aka Junior Cenzarino, was murdered
01:14:13.409 --> 01:14:16.869
on October 2, 1980 while inside his garage in
01:14:16.869 --> 01:14:20.149
Poland Township, Ohio. The suspect fired several
01:14:20.149 --> 01:14:22.590
shotgun blasts striking Cenzarino in the face
01:14:22.590 --> 01:14:26.250
and shoulder, killing him instantly. The suspect
01:14:26.250 --> 01:14:28.590
dove out the garage window while cutting himself.
01:14:29.279 --> 01:14:31.699
A bloody handkerchief from the crime scene was
01:14:31.699 --> 01:14:34.140
turned over to the task force and then submitted
01:14:34.140 --> 01:14:39.079
to BCI located in London, Ohio. DNA testing on
01:14:39.079 --> 01:14:41.479
the evidence was compared to Robert E. Dorler
01:14:41.479 --> 01:14:44.279
Sr., who was serving a life sentence in Pennsylvania
01:14:44.279 --> 01:14:48.520
for another unrelated homicide. The DNA on the
01:14:48.520 --> 01:14:50.899
handkerchief was a match to Dorler, who then
01:14:50.899 --> 01:14:53.300
confessed to the task force that he carried out
01:14:53.300 --> 01:14:56.640
the murder of Sansarino on orders of Orly Carabia.
01:14:58.109 --> 01:15:00.550
Doyler pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated
01:15:00.550 --> 01:15:03.050
murder and agreed to testify if needed against
01:15:03.050 --> 01:15:06.210
Karabia. A grand jury date was never scheduled
01:15:06.210 --> 01:15:09.130
and Orly Karabia was never indicted. He died
01:15:09.130 --> 01:15:18.130
on April 3rd, 2021. John R. Tobin, aka Jack Tobin,
01:15:18.369 --> 01:15:21.229
bookmaker, operated Somebody's Lounge and Satan's
01:15:21.229 --> 01:15:24.789
Inferno. Tobin and Sanfasesca were close personal
01:15:24.789 --> 01:15:28.479
friends as well as business partners. Tobin,
01:15:28.640 --> 01:15:30.520
a popular figure in the Youngstown underworld,
01:15:30.859 --> 01:15:34.420
was murdered on July 25th, 1979 in the parking
01:15:34.420 --> 01:15:37.039
lot of his Austin Town, Ohio apartment, about
01:15:37.039 --> 01:15:39.140
one month after he had been robbed of a large
01:15:39.140 --> 01:15:42.420
amount of expensive jewelry. The suspect fired
01:15:42.420 --> 01:15:45.380
multiple gunshots from a shotgun, striking Tobin
01:15:45.380 --> 01:15:48.960
once in the chest from about 45 feet away. Tobin
01:15:48.960 --> 01:15:51.300
got off a couple shots from his revolver before
01:15:51.300 --> 01:15:54.600
he went down. The getaway car with the shotgun
01:15:54.600 --> 01:15:57.600
and ski mask inside was found less than two miles
01:15:57.600 --> 01:16:01.420
away. The victim's wife was interviewed by members
01:16:01.420 --> 01:16:05.060
of the 1998 burglary task force, but she never
01:16:05.060 --> 01:16:07.680
followed through and should not be trusted. That
01:16:07.680 --> 01:16:10.699
was the official wording in the task force investigative
01:16:10.699 --> 01:16:14.140
report. The authors of this work must say that
01:16:14.140 --> 01:16:16.439
we have interviewed Patti Tobin and she has been
01:16:16.439 --> 01:16:19.439
very forthcoming with us. She continues to ask
01:16:19.439 --> 01:16:21.960
local law enforcement to investigate her husband's
01:16:21.960 --> 01:16:25.189
death and recently brought on a private investigator
01:16:25.189 --> 01:16:27.930
to push for DNA testing of the evidence found
01:16:27.930 --> 01:16:31.069
in the getaway car. The case remains presently
01:16:31.069 --> 01:16:38.149
open. 5. Charles D. Carabia was murdered on or
01:16:38.149 --> 01:16:41.510
about December 19, 1980 and his body has never
01:16:41.510 --> 01:16:44.470
been found. The task force investigators tried
01:16:44.470 --> 01:16:47.329
to interview Orly Carabia, who was Charles' brother,
01:16:47.649 --> 01:16:49.789
but he refused to testify in the furtherance
01:16:49.789 --> 01:16:52.869
of this case. They also made efforts to have
01:16:52.869 --> 01:16:54.869
a sit -down with the victim's other brother,
01:16:55.310 --> 01:16:58.750
Ronnie Carabia, but were unsuccessful. The task
01:16:58.750 --> 01:17:00.489
force felt there was little chance of solving
01:17:00.489 --> 01:17:03.310
this murder. It should be noted that a summary
01:17:03.310 --> 01:17:07.710
of the FBI's 302 interview Leneen Lenny Strolo
01:17:07.710 --> 01:17:10.369
provided to the task force stated that on the
01:17:10.369 --> 01:17:12.909
day he disappeared Charles Carabia was called
01:17:12.909 --> 01:17:15.489
to a meeting at the Stardust Motel in North Lima,
01:17:15.529 --> 01:17:19.029
Ohio by Strolo and that Strolo carried out the
01:17:19.029 --> 01:17:22.310
hit on Carabia. In Dante Strollo's affidavit
01:17:22.310 --> 01:17:25.729
with the feds, he backs this up by saying Vince
01:17:25.729 --> 01:17:28.710
Zimmerman told him his brother Lenny killed Charlie
01:17:28.710 --> 01:17:34.470
Karabia. John G. Magda was murdered on January
01:17:34.470 --> 01:17:38.010
6, 1980, after being lured to an apartment in
01:17:38.010 --> 01:17:40.689
Austin Town, Ohio, where he was bound, tortured
01:17:40.689 --> 01:17:44.189
and abducted. Magda was subsequently strangled
01:17:44.189 --> 01:17:46.569
to death before his body was discarded at a dump
01:17:46.569 --> 01:17:49.859
in Struthers, Ohio. One of the participants of
01:17:49.859 --> 01:17:52.680
this murder, Charles Traharn, confessed to the
01:17:52.680 --> 01:17:54.600
United States government in the state of Ohio.
01:17:55.399 --> 01:17:57.699
The task force recovered the automatic weapon,
01:17:58.119 --> 01:18:01.800
a sawed -off M1 .30 caliber carbine that was
01:18:01.800 --> 01:18:04.500
used to kidnap Magda prior to him being strangled
01:18:04.500 --> 01:18:08.439
to death by Sam Faseska. The task force investigators
01:18:08.439 --> 01:18:11.220
obtained a statement from Traharn in which he
01:18:11.220 --> 01:18:14.630
admitted to taking part in Magda's murder. Investigators
01:18:14.630 --> 01:18:16.609
also interviewed the person who lived at the
01:18:16.609 --> 01:18:19.409
apartment where Magda was abducted, but felt
01:18:19.409 --> 01:18:21.869
that she would not fully cooperate unless criminal
01:18:21.869 --> 01:18:24.890
charges regarding complicity were pursued, which
01:18:24.890 --> 01:18:28.289
they were not. Sanfasesca was never charged with
01:18:28.289 --> 01:18:30.750
this murder as he died awaiting trial for the
01:18:30.750 --> 01:18:34.250
Joe DeRose Jr. homicide. The task force considered
01:18:34.250 --> 01:18:42.649
this case to be cleared by exception. aka King
01:18:42.649 --> 01:18:46.890
of Sleaze, was murdered on March 23, 1996 by
01:18:46.890 --> 01:18:49.649
a single shotgun blast to the head at close range
01:18:49.649 --> 01:18:53.189
by Mark Bacho, in the carport of an apartment
01:18:53.189 --> 01:18:56.149
complex in Boardman, Ohio, where Sisman resided.
01:18:56.989 --> 01:18:59.550
Bacho was charged with multiple counts of aggravated
01:18:59.550 --> 01:19:03.630
murder and robbery under a RICO Corrupt Activity
01:19:03.630 --> 01:19:06.300
Indictment. Task Force investigators obtained
01:19:06.300 --> 01:19:08.680
witness statements that corroborated the original
01:19:08.680 --> 01:19:11.460
investigation led by Borman Police Department.
01:19:12.119 --> 01:19:14.340
Despite copping to the Sisman murder in federal
01:19:14.340 --> 01:19:16.739
court, a judge ruled that Bacho's admissions
01:19:16.739 --> 01:19:19.720
could not be used against him. The task force
01:19:19.720 --> 01:19:22.279
had prepared a strong case regardless and prepared
01:19:22.279 --> 01:19:26.140
for trial. But on January 2, 2002 in Lucas County
01:19:26.140 --> 01:19:28.920
Common Police Court, Mark Bacho pleaded guilty
01:19:28.920 --> 01:19:31.420
to one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt
01:19:31.420 --> 01:19:34.739
activity in the death of Lauren Sisman. He was
01:19:34.739 --> 01:19:37.020
sentenced to 10 years in prison to be served
01:19:37.020 --> 01:19:40.420
consecutively to an 18 -year sentence he previously
01:19:40.420 --> 01:19:42.979
received in federal court for his role in the
01:19:42.979 --> 01:19:45.239
shooting of Mahoney County prosecutor Paul Gaines
01:19:45.239 --> 01:19:51.020
and former prosecutor Gary Van Brocklin. 8. Robert
01:19:51.020 --> 01:19:54.960
W. Talbert was a known fence for multiple burglars
01:19:54.960 --> 01:19:57.180
that were linked with Youngstown organized crime.
01:19:57.800 --> 01:20:01.039
In 1974, Talbert became an informant for the
01:20:01.039 --> 01:20:04.090
ATF on a gun -running case. Talbert informed
01:20:04.090 --> 01:20:06.470
on multiple suspects who trafficked and stolen
01:20:06.470 --> 01:20:09.550
guns, which led to indictments, prosecutions,
01:20:09.810 --> 01:20:13.670
convictions, and incarcerations. As retaliation,
01:20:13.750 --> 01:20:17.649
Talbert was abducted on September 2, 1974, at
01:20:17.649 --> 01:20:20.590
his place of business, transported to a secluded
01:20:20.590 --> 01:20:23.649
location in Boardman, Ohio, tortured and shot
01:20:23.649 --> 01:20:26.670
multiple times. The task force determined that
01:20:26.670 --> 01:20:29.449
Robert Parks and his brother, Paul Parks, abducted
01:20:29.449 --> 01:20:32.270
Talbert with the assistance of Ed Ferris, who
01:20:32.270 --> 01:20:35.170
said Bobby stayed behind at Talbert's gas station
01:20:35.170 --> 01:20:38.189
while Paul Parks and Ferris transported the abducted
01:20:38.189 --> 01:20:41.149
Talbert to a secluded area in nearby Boardman.
01:20:41.890 --> 01:20:44.090
That's where Ferris says Paul Parks tortured
01:20:44.090 --> 01:20:47.310
and assassinated Talbert. Due to lack of evidence,
01:20:47.489 --> 01:20:50.770
this case officially remains open. Robert Bobby
01:20:50.770 --> 01:20:54.869
Parks died on May 18, 2010 while still incarcerated
01:20:54.869 --> 01:20:58.510
at Marion Correctional Institution. Paul Parks
01:20:58.510 --> 01:21:04.619
died of natural causes on August 23, 2013. 9.
01:21:05.579 --> 01:21:08.439
Ralph A. Martin Jr. was a Mahoney County deputy
01:21:08.439 --> 01:21:10.800
who was involved in a burglary ring investigated
01:21:10.800 --> 01:21:13.979
by the task force. It was determined that Martin's
01:21:13.979 --> 01:21:20.500
death on January 4, 1998, was a suicide. 10.
01:21:21.279 --> 01:21:25.640
Joseph Naples Jr., aka Little Joey Naples, the
01:21:25.640 --> 01:21:27.819
boss of the Pittsburgh faction of organized crime
01:21:27.819 --> 01:21:30.380
in the Youngstown area, was murdered on August
01:21:30.380 --> 01:21:34.479
19, 1991, in the driveway of a new home while
01:21:34.479 --> 01:21:36.579
still under construction in Beaver Township,
01:21:36.760 --> 01:21:40.220
Ohio. The assailant fired multiple rounds from
01:21:40.220 --> 01:21:42.880
a high -powered rifle into the body of Naples,
01:21:42.960 --> 01:21:45.779
killing him instantly. The assailant was hiding
01:21:45.779 --> 01:21:48.979
across the street in a large cornfield. The task
01:21:48.979 --> 01:21:51.039
force gathered a lot of intelligence regarding
01:21:51.039 --> 01:21:53.859
this murder, but no leads or clues to solve the
01:21:53.859 --> 01:21:58.979
crime. The case remains open. For over 20 years,
01:21:59.079 --> 01:22:01.180
the efforts of these task force investigators
01:22:01.180 --> 01:22:04.159
have largely gone unnoted. We reached out to
01:22:04.159 --> 01:22:06.260
some of the detectives who worked on these cases,
01:22:06.659 --> 01:22:09.460
but they've repeatedly denied all requests for
01:22:09.460 --> 01:22:12.199
an interview. The work they put in over their
01:22:12.199 --> 01:22:14.600
five years of investigating was apparently supposed
01:22:14.600 --> 01:22:17.579
to be secret. But now, with the release of this
01:22:17.579 --> 01:22:20.539
information, some previously hidden chapters
01:22:20.539 --> 01:22:23.500
of Youngstown's mob -brutal history can finally
01:22:23.500 --> 01:22:27.829
be closed. Others, unfortunately, may remain
01:22:27.829 --> 01:22:32.069
open forever. This has been an amazing podcast
01:22:32.069 --> 01:22:34.770
from an amazing podcast company. This series
01:22:34.770 --> 01:22:37.609
was written and edited by Johnny Chechitelli,
01:22:38.069 --> 01:22:40.689
narrated and produced by James Naples and Johnny
01:22:40.689 --> 01:22:44.210
Chechitelli, copyrighted by the amazing podcast
01:22:44.210 --> 01:22:48.770
company LLC. We want to thank Pat Palma, Andrea
01:22:48.770 --> 01:22:53.710
Wood, Dave Talbert, Gary Bonnell, Don Corbett,
01:22:54.189 --> 01:22:56.539
Choffin Career and Technical Center, and our
01:22:56.539 --> 01:22:59.039
anonymous source for their help in bringing this
01:22:59.039 --> 01:23:02.399
story to light. And all of the local news outlets
01:23:02.399 --> 01:23:04.380
and journalists who have covered these cases
01:23:04.380 --> 01:23:15.479
throughout the decades. Stay tuned for the Organized
01:23:15.479 --> 01:23:18.760
Crime Task Force Files book, coming soon. You
01:23:18.760 --> 01:23:21.359
can listen to this series anywhere you get podcasts
01:23:21.359 --> 01:23:23.899
and watch with video on our YouTube channel,
01:23:24.180 --> 01:23:30.520
youtube .com. Please like, subscribe, and share
01:23:30.520 --> 01:23:33.659
this series, and leave us a review. It makes
01:23:33.659 --> 01:23:35.920
a big difference in helping more people find
01:23:35.920 --> 01:23:38.479
the show. You can also find this complete series
01:23:38.479 --> 01:23:41.260
along with our other shows, Youngstown Mob Talk,
01:23:42.039 --> 01:23:45.159
The Vice Squad Podcast, and Operation Stolen
01:23:45.159 --> 01:23:49.460
Base by visiting AmazingPodCo .com.