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Local News

Friday, March 05, 2010

Manner of death shows link, investigator says
By JORDAN CRAVENS

staff writer

BOWLING GREEN -- The fact that Karen Coldwell's body was found underneath a comforter on an abandoned property in rural Fostoria indicates a possible link between her and her killer, an investigator told a Wood County jury Thursday.

Coldwell, 51, of North Baltimore, was found dead along Hall Road in Perry Township on Oct. 18, 2007.

"(The comforter) could have been placed there to hide the dead person from the other person's eyes," or to serve as a protective layer, testified John Helm, an investigator for the Wood County Prosecutor's Office.

Coldwell's live-in boyfriend, Randy Corbin, 49, a Fostoria native, has been charged in her murder. Today marks the fourth day of his trial.

Corbin's attorney, David Klucas, said drawing a link between the victim and her killer is not the only conclusion that can be drawn based on how Coldwell's body was found.

"I think you said, by no means is this offered as an absolute," Klucas said in cross-examining Helm.

Helm agreed.

Helm, who has investigated more than 70 homicides in his career, said he has seen his fair share of what he termed as "domestic homicides."

Out of the 12 homicides that happened in Wood County since 2002, Helm classified nine of them as domestic homicides.

Many of them came during what he described as the "most volatile" time in a domestic situation, when a person is trying to end the relationship.

Witnesses have testified that Coldwell told Corbin she wanted him out of her house after frequent fighting, which culminated when Corbin took her car without permission.

Showing a crime scene photograph of Coldwell's body, Wood County Assistant Prosecutor Gwen Howe-Gebers asked what Helm could draw from the photo.

"It stands out in contrast to what's around it," Helm said.

Coldwell's body was found between a stack of cement blocks and a pile of lumber, surrounded by overgrown brush and weeds.

"If an effort was to be made to camouflage the body, any of those other things would have been more effective," Helm said.

Pictures indicate there was a creek that ran down the side of the property, in addition to a ditch in the front of the property, locations Helm said would have concealed the body better.

Klucas acknowledged there were better spots for the body, but he and Helm agreed, when a person is trying to stash a victim's body, there are multiple considerations. Not wanting to get caught, or perhaps an inability to determine the best place for the body, are examples, Helm said.

Corbin's attorney argued that the theory suggested by Helm, indicating a connection between Coldwell and her killer, does not produce anything conclusive.

"No, it doesn't," Helm said.

Dr. Cynthia Beisser, Lucas County deputy coroner, was one of roughly 10 witnesses the state called to the stand Thursday.

She testified Coldwell had been strangled by hand, but also had bruises and scrapes on her body.

There was also blood underneath her scalp, which is "consistent with blows to the head," Beisser testified.

Prosecutors are expected to call their final witness today. The witness is a DNA expert from North Carolina, according to Heather Baker, an assistant prosecutor for Wood County.

After the prosecution rests, Klucas will have an opportunity to call witnesses, then both sides will give their closing statements.

Closing statements are expected today, Baker said.

Cravens: 419-427-8422,

Send an e-mail to Jordan Cravens


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High-powered growing lights, fans, and a box filled with dried marijuana were also found in the house, according to a police report.

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