Story from The Columbus Dispatch:
Jury finds Lindsey Bruce guilty in girl's murder
Friday, March
23, 2007 4:39 PM
By Bruce Cadwallader
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Web
extras
Slide
Show: Photos from the Emily Rimel murder case, 2004 to present
Timeline
and archive of previous stories about Emily and the trial of Lindsey Bruce,
accused of killing her
A jury this afternoon found Lindsey Bruce guilty
of killing 5-year-old Emily Rimel.
Emily would have turned 8 on
Saturday.
The Franklin County jury, seven women and five men, announced its
verdict at 4:15 p.m.
Bruce was charged with aggravated murder, murder and
tampering with evidence in the killing of Emily, who disappeared overnight from
her apartment on Reinbeau Drive in Madison Township. Her skull was found 17
months later on a bank of Big Walnut Creek, 8 miles south of her home.
The
jury, which was handed the case on Wednesday, found Bruce guilty of one count of
aggravated murder, one count of murder, and one count of tampering with
evidence. It also found him not guilty of one count of aggravated
murder.
Bruce, 25, is a self-employed mechanic who became friends with Brent
Copley more than 10 years ago. Copley later moved in with Jane Rimel and her
daughter, Emily. The couple had a son together.
Twenty-one witnesses
testified during the death-penalty trial.
According to testimony: On Dec. 7,
2004, Bruce visited the apartment twice late at night. He had been drinking at a
Refugee Road bar and sometimes used the apartment as a place to flop. His former
girlfriend, Lila Wright, lived there for three months that year and he
frequently visited her overnight.
That night, Bruce was the last adult to
leave the apartment, and he apparently left the door unlocked instead of waking
Copley, which prosecutors said was his custom. Emily was nowhere to be found
when Copley woke up at 8 a.m.
Prosecutors said Bruce kidnapped the girl and
killed her to conceal a rape, then discarded her body in nearby Heisel Park.
Emily's DNA was found on his genitals, and his right forearm had three small
scratches. He was arrested 10 days later.
Bruce told police and the FBI he
left the apartment about 3 a.m. and worked on cars. He could not prove where he
was until 9:27 a.m., when he received a store receipt for buying a car
part.
Defense attorneys said the DNA evidence is suspect and no other
evidence proves Bruce did anything to the girl.
Testimony by defense
witnesses indicated that Rimel and Copley were poor guardians of Emily and that
the girl had left the apartment on her own before.
Bruce is serving a 10-year
prison term after having been convicted of kidnapping Emily at a previous trial.
Men incarcerated with him have testified in both trials that Bruce confessed to
the murder.
bcadwallader@dispatch.com
No comments:
Post a Comment