prosecutor wants help

Here is the article from the Toledo Blade mentioned previously. It is very hard to access it from the link provided, so here's the text for anyone interested.

Foster father arrested in girl's stabbing death
Man is charged with involuntary manslaughter
By STEVE MURPHY
BLADE STAFF WRITER

MONROEVILLE, Ohio - The foster father of an 11-year-old Huron County girl was arrested yesterday for allegedly stabbing her to death during an altercation at their Ridgefield Township home.

Paul A. Efaw, 58, was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter in the death Monday of Connre Dixon, formerly of Willard, Ohio.

Huron County Sheriff Richard Sutherland said last night he could not provide details of Mr. Efaw's involvement in the girl's death. "It was not an accident," the sheriff said. "He's charged with stabbing her."

Sheriff Sutherland said Mr. Efaw was arrested at his home, 3380 State Rt. 99 South, about 5:45 p.m. yesterday after being interviewed for more than 2 1/2 hours by two sheriff's detectives, an investigator from county Prosecutor Russell Leffler's office, and an agent with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation. He was being held in the Huron County jail pending a bond hearing today in Norwalk Municipal Court.

Connre was pronounced dead shortly after sheriff's deputies and an ambulance crew arrived at the house about 4 p.m. Monday and found her lying on the floor in a shed behind the house, with a knife stuck in her chest, Sheriff Sutherland said.

"You couldn't see the blade," the sheriff said. "It was a big-handled knife. It wasn't like a table knife."

The results of an autopsy done yesterday at the Lucas County coroner's office were not available last night.

In a 911 call from the home about 3:45 p.m. Monday, a boy told a sheriff's dispatcher that his 11-year-old sister had been threatening their father with a knife, according to a sheriff's office recording of the conversation. Later in the call, the boy said his father had been stabbed.

The sheriff said Mr. Efaw underwent surgery for a cut on his arm Monday night at Fisher-Titus Medical Center, Norwalk, and was released from the hospital yesterday.

During the 911 call, the boy told the dispatcher he saw the 11-year-old girl come out of the shed with their father.

"She had a knife in her hand, and my dad asked her what she had behind her back, and she pulled out a knife," the boy said, according to the 911 tape.

A short time later, he added: "The knife piece wasn't up, like you were going to chop food. It was down, like you were going to come up beside - behind - someone and like stab it through their back or something."

Later in the call, the dispatcher asked the boy, "Did she stab your dad?"

"Yes," the boy replied.

However, when she asked him if the girl stabbed herself, the boy told her he didn't know.

Diahanna Shepherd, of Willard, who cared for Connre for five months until last spring, said the girl was placed in the home of Mr. Efaw and his wife, Diana, as a foster child in April.

A woman who answered the telephone yesterday evening at the Efaw home hung up when a caller identified himself as a Blade reporter.

Ms. Shepherd said she took care of Connre from November to April until the girl became too disruptive because of "emotional problems."

"She was going through a lot because she got taken away from home," Ms. Shepherd said. "She had a lot of anger problems."

Ms. Shepherd is the aunt of Connre's 15-year-old half-brother. She took in Connre and three siblings when they were removed from their mother's home by Huron County Job and Family Services, Ms. Shepherd said.

She said the girl was placed with Mr. Efaw's family in April, but had been visiting on weekends.

Erich Dumbeck, director of Huron County Job and Family Services, said there were no "red flags" that indicated Connre might be a danger to herself or others.

"To our knowledge, she hasn't been any type of a problem child that gave us any indication that she was an angry child - nothing that would indicate she would be a harm to herself or anyone else," he said. "She was attending counseling, but that's pretty normal."

He said Connre's death was a shock to the teachers and students at Monroeville Elementary School.

"She was a good kid. She listened," he said. "There was no indication that she would be disobedient or harmful."

Mr. Dumbeck said Connre's foster parents were certified to adopt the children they took in, meaning they had to meet additional requirements.

Bob Sutherland, chief deputy for the sheriff's office, said Connre's foster parents had a second foster child, a 10-year-old boy, who moved in with them over the summer.

Mr. Leffler said the boy was placed yesterday in another foster home.

Sheriff Sutherland said the Efaws also had a younger daughter who lived with them, and that investigators interviewed her and her foster brother before charging Mr. Efaw.

Blade staff writer Dale Emch contributed to this report.

Contact Steve Murphy at:
smurphy@theblade.com
or 419-724-6078.
 
Why lock it? It is about knives and it has not gotten out of hand like some of the others that were better candidates for lock down but never were.
 
Hi All-

Perhaps the girl was stabbed once and then fell down a flight of stairs with the knife still embedded in her body. Could this subsequent and repeated trauma induce multiple wound tracks?

~ Blue Jays ~
 
Very unhappy circumstances. In terms of our opinions, it doesn't matter who the original poster was, but if he isn't who he purports to be, we really might consider ignoring him. By the way, where did he go since his initial post? :rolleyes:

As far as locking the thread goes, it's not something we like to do as long as a reasonable discussion is still going on.
 
There is or was a prosecutor for Huron county named Russ Leffler. Don't know if this is the same guy.

Is this guy for real? Don't know. Is it possible he was doing some knife research on his own and ended up here thinking that maybe while he was here he could get some ideas? Don't know that either. If he is for real and basing a case on what he got here, then he shouldn't remain a prosecutor. If he was just doing some research hoping to get some ideas and then have some backgorund when he spoke to his expert witness, then that seems plausible.

Link to an article with the same name.

http://www.morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14127342&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6
 
russ leffler said:
I am a prosecutor in Ohio, I have had afew knife cases over the years. I now have a horrible one where an 11 year old girl ends up with a4.8 inch Fisker single blade in the middle of her chest, sharp edge towards the chest. Tjhe coronor says its a single entrance wound, but twice as wide as blade with 5 seperate wound tracks some in different directions with two almost out the little girl's back. Her foster father says girl was thretening family and herself. I am afraid of a suicide defense. Can an 11 year old have the strenght to do this?
Click to expand...
I think that this gentleman's description suggests a murder that attempted to look like a suicide. The wound appears like a single stab wound, with one entrance wound that's twice as wide as the actual knife, yet there are five wound tracks. As one previous poster stated, it seems as though the unfortunate girl was stabbed once, then the blade was partially withdrawn, then was stabbed-in again, a total of five times, at different angles.

To the initial responders at the scene, it appeared as a single knife wound in the chest. Only after a coroner's examination were the five wound tracks discovered, and that the width of the entrance wound was twice as wide as the knife. I hypothesy that the extra width of the entry wound was caused by the partial removal of the knife, and the subsequent changing of the wound track, four times in addition to the initial stab.

To me, it sounds like a murder that was attempting to look like a suicide.

GeoThorn
 
A single stab wound with 5 seperate wound tracks? Sounds to me like it was just wrenched around and/or twisted.

In all seriousness Russ, you're asking the wrong people. I daresay that 99% of us wouldn't know what it's like to stab another person, how much strength it takes, or what the knife would do inside a wound channel. The remaing 1% would be hunters (or butchers maybe) who might be able to guess from experience with knives on animals. There's just not that many murderers on this forum. :rolleyes:
 
Is it not just a bit illegal for somebody involved in a case like this to even talk about it in such a public manner? Much less ask for advice from a bunch of loons like us? :)
 
Is it not just a bit illegal for somebody involved in a case like this to even talk about it in such a public manner? Much less ask for advice from a bunch of loons like us?
No, it's not illegal in the US. I believe there are restrictions on discussing a case that's before the court in Canada.
 
Sad indeed.The only thing I've ever heard of even vaguely similar was a crack addict in PA stabbing himself twice in the chest.The second stab pierced his heart.'Nuff said.
 
Hmmm...

I do remember reading about this case (native of Toledo), but as for asking help on a knife forum, buddy, you're SOL. I have high tolerances for pain, but that would overwhelm them if I tried to stab myself repeatedly.
 
Maybe the kid was known for self mutilation or some other disorders. I remember seeing patients that had mental disorders in the service. I remember one in particular. He was a young man. He had fits of nerves where he would hit spontaneously and lash out violently. If left unattended he would extract one or more of his own teeth with his hand by grabbing one and vibrating it loose until it came out. It had to hurt like hell but he did it. During those times he would have to be put in a straight jacket so he didn't hurt himself. He had pulled toenails out and fingernails off also.

The day he was in our clinic he was to have xrays to see if he damaged the bone of his mandible or if there was any root tip left that needed to be removed when he pulled his latest tooth out during a fit.

When he was ok you would never know this kid had a problem or mental disorder. But when he wigged out he was a completely different person and needed sedated and tied down to protect himself and anyone in his vicinity. As I recall he knocked out his mom once which is how he ended up in the mental hospital.
 
It is not unusual for girls to cut themselves. I've seen it done. I've seen it done with my old balisong.

It sounds like this happened during a physical altercation. A lot of funny things could happen. Regardless, if she was holding the knife the wound would probably be close to horizontal. If someone else was holding it (except a knife fighter) the cut would be more nearly vertical. Look at that journal article I posted earlier in the thread.
 
I googled the name, there is an OH. prosecutor of that name, but if this is for real, DUDE, go ask a forensic expert for your own damn good.
 
If I were a Felon boy, would I love for him to prosecute me! First off if what was said is true, it was murder pure n simple! He needs to look for the Perp which is most likely a family member. JMO. :(
Cougar Allen said:
He also cross-posted in the hand-grippers thread in Gadget & Gear.

This seems pretty odd. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that someone who works in a prosecutor's office might think it a good idea to post that question here, but sincere as the question might be there doesn't seem much point in us trying to help answer the question. We know about knives but this is beyond the area of our expertise.
Click to expand...
 
Maybe he doesn't want expert opinion he wants ignorant opinion. He is trying to guage what a jury would believe. He's out to find unsuspecting idiots who will discuss this issue. Just like jurys weve lost the thread of the question and are looking at his suit and the witness's nose hair.
 
There's no way this guy is a prosecutor.

The ME will rule on the death and be the expert witness in court.

In my view, his intentions are questionable.
 
I contacted the Huron Cty courthouse by telephone. They confirmed that Mr. Leffler DID indeed post this message. He doesn't usually use email and the web, but thought he'd get some public opinions on an upcoming case.


He is indeed extremely busy and probably posted this message in a hurry during a rare free moment, so please have respect, folks. I've pointed him to Bernard Levine's forum and website, since Mr. Levine has expert-witness experience in many other cases.

Best,

~Brian.
 
Perhaps he needs an experienced forensic pathologist, rather than an expert on knives -- if the budget will stand it.

That's often a problem for prosecutors in rural/semi-rural counties, where they are lucky to have any sort of pathologist as County Coroner, rather then just an MD. (Years ago, many such officials were simply a local undertaker.)

The veteran guy or gal will come from a large city and will be used to appearing in court and cross by tough defense lawyers.

(The Coroner in Columbiana County once opined that a girl was fatally electrocuted by telephone current - 48 volt/.007amp/dc. Of course, he also had long conversations with himself and didn't recognize his police assistant from time to time. ["Who are you?"] The CME from Cincinnati convinced a jury otherwise.)

It isn't like "CSI" out in the real world.
 
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