Man’s acquittal in murder will stand

A former Whitehouse man’s acquittal in the 1982 murder of Dana Rosendale will stand after the Ohio Supreme Court declined to accept the state’s appeal.

In June, Ohio’s 6th District Court of Appeals reversed Russell Adkins’ 2016 murder conviction and determined he had not received a fair trial, adding there was a “volume of physical evidence” from 1982 that was lost or destroyed.

Prosecutors argued at trial in 2016 that Adkins had beaten Rosendale over the head. Adkins maintained the story he gave to Northwood Police at the time of her death — that on the night of Sept. 5, 1982, he gave Rosendale, 19, of Northwood a ride home from a South Toledo nightclub when she fell out of his car on Tracy Road in Northwood. He said it had a faulty door latch.

Rosendale died Sept. 11, 1982 at Mercy St. Charles Hospital.

The Lucas County coroner at the time ruled the manner of death “undetermined” because he could not say for certain that her injuries were the result of an accident or a homicide. That changed after Rosendale’s remains were exhumed in 2013 and re-examined at the urging of her daughter.

Dr. Diane Scala-Barnett, deputy Lucas County coroner, found that Rosendale sustained three distinct blows to the head and died from those injuries, ruling her death a homicide.

Adkins’ trial focused heavily on the testimony of forensic experts, who presented differing opinions on Ms. Rosendale’s injuries.

In January, 2016, Adkins’ first trial for the cold-case murder ended in a hung jury. In July of that year, he was re-tried and convicted of murder. Wood County Common Pleas Judge Reeve Kelsey sentenced him to life in prison with parole eligibility after 15 years.

In overturning the conviction in June, the appeals court cited the fact that several key witnesses — including then-Lucas County Coroner Dr. Steven Fazekas, who conducted Ms. Rosendale’s original autopsy — died before Adkins was indicted in 2015.

The appeals court also concluded that Judge Kelsey should not have permitted former Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery to testify at Mr. Adkins’ trial. Ms. Montgomery, who was Wood County prosecutor in 1982, told the jury she wanted to prosecute Mr. Adkins for murder but couldn’t because the manner of death had been ruled “undetermined” and evidence was insufficient to go forward.