The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Two charged in man’s death
Police say North Olmstead man may have been dead for months
Two North Olmsted men are facing murder charges in the death of another North Olmsted man who may have been dead for months before his body was disposed of in Cleveland.
Anthony J. Kennedy, 29, of 5440 Kennedy Ridge, and Seth Wood, 22, of 25151 Brookpark Road, No. 1805, were charged with aggravated murder in the homicide of James E. Cashin, 65, according to Detective Sgt. Bob Wagner of the North Olmsted Police Department.
Kennedy and Wood were arraigned Oct. 26
in Rocky River Municipal Court. Both of their bonds were set at $1.5 million. The case was continued until Nov. 1.
Wagner revealed during a news conference Oct. 26 that Kennedy and Cashin were in a relationship for the past six years.
Police found Cashin’s body Oct. 22 near 4001 Pearl Ave. in Cleveland. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the body as Cashin on Oct. 25.
Cashin died from bluntforce trauma to the head and neck, Wagner said.
Wagner indicated that Cashin died about two months ago.
Authorities believe Cashin’s home is the crime scene, but no weapon has been found. A motive has not been determined.
Wagner said North Olmsted authorities received a call Oct. 24 from Cleveland police asking if the department had a missing persons case for Cashin, which it didn’t at the time.
North Olmsted police went to Cashin’s home and saw that no one was at the residence and there was a dumpster in the driveway. From there, an investigation began with a search warrant.
During the investigation, officers were watching Cashin’s house when they saw a vehicle leave from there.
“A vehicle left the residence which we subsequently traffic stopped,”
Wagner said. “There were two males in the vehicle that we brought in for investigation at that time.”
Wagner said the Police Department has history of visiting Cashin’s residence.
In June 2015, police assisted Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force with a search warrant at Cashin’s home. No charges resulted from the search warrant.
On Sept. 24, police were called by a neighbor regarding a welfare check on Cashin. She told police she hadn’t seen Cashin for a while.
At 2 p.m. that same day, a car was at the home along with Kennedy and Wood. Both told police Cashin was on vacation in North Carolina.
Wagner declined to release additional details about the case during the news conference.
Cleveland.com reported that Cashin retired in 2004 after spending 30 years as a polygraph examiner, said a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, which oversees the probation department. It also said that Cashin started his own lie detection company, Associated Lie Detection Services, in 2000 and ran it out of his North Olmsted home, according to filings with the Ohio Secretary of State.