13-year-old South Lebanon murder featured on TV
Temar murder to air on Investigation Discovery channel.
Thirteen years after Troy Temar’s body was found in the trunk of his brother’s burning Ford Mustang in South Lebanon, the story of his murder will air on Investigation Discovery channel at 9 p.m. today.
The episode called “Flames of Passion” could be considered a piece of history by now. Temar’s killer, ex-girlfriend Theresa Voss, was sent to prison for 33 years to life after being convicted in a 2006 trial.
For Troy’s mother, Donna Temar, a retired transportation director for the Deer Park School District, it represents the darkest chapter in her life, but one she thinks can offer hope to the families of other murder victims whose cases go unsolved.
She waited five years for Warren County sheriff’s investigators to solve the 1999 murder of her son, a likeable 30-year-old contractor from Deer Park, an athlete who ran track and was captain of the high school football team, a guy who played flag football and helped raise money for charity.
Another year passed before the case went to trial.
“We did get the killer. We had the trial. It was like we had a closure on that,” Temar said.
“Just think of the other people that don’t have that yet. You’ve got to give them hope. Trust in your police. Just trust in God. That’s the first thing. Pray a lot and things will happen. It might take 10 or 20 years. It might not even be in your lifetime, but things will probably happen.”
That’s why Temar says she agreed to have her schedule and her home disrupted by filming — again. A previous production, filmed four years ago for a different television channel, was postponed several times and eventually was canceled.
Temar is the lone member of her family who was willing to participate in “Flames of Passion.” Her husband, sons and a daughter did not want to get involved.
What happened to Troy is something his siblings still can’t deal with, Temar said. A son has never been able to talk about it, not even to his wife, she said. Her daughter is just coming around, striking up unexpected conversations about Troy’s murder now and then, Temar said.
Temar has been through counseling and a variety of anti-depressants since Troy’s death.
“I’ve been on medication ever since the murder. I’ve tried them all,” Temar said. “If I sat down and really thought about it, I would probably cry for a week. I miss him but I have five grandchildren now and one is a little girl and she is just like him.”
She remembers being consumed by tears and a broken heart right after Troy died.
“But my job was to get her off the streets, out of circulation and into prison and that’s what I did every day,” Temar said of Voss.
Temar talked to acquaintances to get a background on Voss. She called police almost every day with every detail.
“In Deer Park everybody knows everybody,” Temar said.
Voss was a strong suspect from the beginning and the first person who came to mind when police asked Temar on July 4, 1999, who would want to kill her son. It was the day her son was found shot to death before dawn in the burning car on Mason-morrow-millgrove Road.
Temar blurted out the woman’s name without a second thought.
It wasn’t until September 2005 that sheriff’s investigators would piece together enough evidence to make arrests in the case — Voss and her brother, Eric Hoerlein.
In the meantime, the Temar family kept Troy’s case in the public eye. They put up a huge sign at the spot where he died asking for information. They offered a reward and sponsored an annual golf tournament to raise money in his name.
That event still goes on today and has been responsible for the donation of $80,000 to build a press box in his memory at his alma mater, Deer Park High School. The Temars also set up a scholarship fund with the proceeds and bought equipment for a soccer association after that organization’s money was embezzled.
The Warren County Sheriff’s Office had reopened the case after setting up a cold case squad in spring 2002.
John Newsom, a retired Cincinnati homicide investigator, was in charge. He was hired at the sheriff’s office in 2001 and was appointed to lead a cold case unit aside from his regular duties. He’s now the department’s chief deputy.
Newsom worked the case on the evenings and weekends while piecing together another high-profile cold case for trial. He told the Temars it could take a while.
“These were people you wanted to connect with and wanted to solve the case. It was a labor of love in some respects because I wanted to get it done,” Newsom said.
Voss remained a suspect after others — Troy’s long list of friends and business associates — were ruled out, Newsom said.
“The one thing for me that just chinked her armor was her timeline. What she told investigators didn’t match up with information police had received from her family about where she was that night. Along the way this story started to fall apart,” Newsom said.
Then came the help from Voss’ brother.
Newsom approached him at the Hamilton County probation office. Hoerlein was there visiting his probation officer after being convicted of theft.
“He laid out everything,” Newsom said.
Voss, who had broken up with Troy and moved out a few months before his death, shot Troy at the spot in South Lebanon and covered his body with brush until she got Hoerlein to help her put the body in the trunk of the car.
The siblings went to a car wash where Voss pitched her purse, presumably with the gun inside, in a dumpster there. The siblings returned to the shooting site with a can of gas, poured it on Troy’s body and set the vehicle ablaze, Hoerlein told police.
Voss, who was said to have 10 personalities, and Hoerlein were both charged with aggravated murder. Prosecutors eventually permitted Hoerlein to plead guilty to tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse because authorities were convinced he did not kill Troy.
Hoerlein is now out of prison after serving five years. Voss is eligible for her first parole hearing in July 2038.
Temar is a little apprehensive about watching the case unfold on television. It could be too real, she said.
“I thought I could handle it but I don’t know if I can now,” Temar said. “Especially seeing the burning car and knowing my son was inside of it.”
But she will be in front of her television. And the producers have promised to send her DVDS of the episode for friends and family.
Temar will set aside one for her daughter. It will be there when she has the emotional strength to see it.