A sick obsession

BATAVIA - Charles G. Martin shot his 15-year-old neighbor after the boy stepped on his lawn, but the Union Township man is not guilty of aggravated murder, his defense attorney said Wednesday during the first day of a Clermont County trial.

The death of teenager Larry D. Mugrage Jr. wasn't a cold-blooded killing, said defense attorney R. Scott Croswell III. Rather, it was the culmination of five years of "systematic harassment of an old man" that boiled over on March 19 last year.

Martin, 67, was obsessive about his yard, Croswell said in an opening statement. Repeatedly, Martin asked neighborhood kids not to trespass on his lawn, which he mowed five times a week.

It was a dream house for Martin, who had previously lived in apartments, Croswell said. Martin bought the home for $84,000 in 2000 after retiring from the Ford Motor Co., where he worked for 30 years.

But neighborhood kids regarded Martin as strange. Clermont County Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Miles told jurors that about 11:55 a.m. on the day Larry was shot, Martin and the boy exchanged harsh words.

When the teenager stepped onto Martin's front yard while on his way to play basketball at a friend's house up Hawthorne Drive, Martin rushed out and yelled, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Miles said Larry replied: "(Expletive) you."

Then, Miles said, Martin told the boy: "I'm going to go load a gun and kill you."

Thomas "T.J." Ward, 15, was walking with Larry at the time, he testified Wednesday.

There was a car coming up the street, so the boys stepped into Martin's yard, T.J. said.

He recalled Martin saying to Larry: "If you want to play games, we'll play games. I'll kill you."

T.J. said Larry replied: "Bring it, old man."

About 3½ hours after the confrontation, when Larry was walking in the street on his way home, Martin emerged with a shotgun, Miles said.

Lonnie E. Hibbs Jr., 16, who lived two houses up Hawthorne Drive from Martin, testified that he heard the first shot and saw the man fire the second shotgun blast.

Larry ended up on the ground, just a few feet from the front door of the Mugrage home, Lonnie said.

"My client, Charles Martin, shot and killed a 15-year-old boy - now that's a fact," Croswell said.

A freshman at Glen Este High School, Larry was hit by two slugs from a .410 shotgun, Miles said.

The first wounded Larry, and he ran toward the home of his parents, Anita and Larry D. Mugrage Sr.

"Why did you do that ... ?" Larry said to Martin, Miles told the jurors.

The second blast proved fatal, piercing the boy's heart and lungs, Miles said.

Martin then called 911. A recording of the call was played for jurors.

"I just killed a kid," Martin told the 911 operator. "I shot him with a ... .410 shotgun twice. He's laying in the yard."

Aaron Knorr, who lived across the street from Larry, testified that after hearing the shots he ran out of his house to try to help the boy.

Larry was face down in a pool of blood, Knorr said.

"It was just an awful scene," Knorr said. "I rolled him over. ... His eyes were wide open ... and just a look of terror plastered on his face."

Knorr said he noticed Martin nearby.

"He just stood there and stared at us with no remorse," Knorr said. "An evil look."

Jurors weren't present when the judge ruled in favor of a prosecution motion to limit what the defense can say about Larry and his family.

In response to a request from Miles, the judge ruled that the defense can't mention anything about the character of Larry or his parents, or the specifics of previous disagreements the neighbors might have had.

Miles said such evidence might confuse or mislead jurors.

Croswell argued that such a ruling would hamper his defense of Martin.

Walker said he might reconsider the ruling, especially if Martin testifies on his own behalf.

In his opening statement, Croswell suggested that Martin would take the stand.

The trial is scheduled to end by Friday.

If found guilty of aggravated murder, Martin could be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for at least 20 years.

Martin is being held in the Clermont County Jail in lieu of $2 million bail.

A bitter loss

While we were away from home, a dear friend in Florida passed away. We don't know all the circumstances but it "was at home." While we haven't seen each other lately we did exchange cards on birthdays and Christmas.

Ken is my first friend to die, and it still hurts like hell to even type that. My eyes are filling with tears and I can't keep from remembering all the fun and sad times from high school.

The house he lived in was a welcoming one. His parents were old compared to mine. The four of us went to several wedding receptions and Christmas parties together. They had both been in the service during WWII and had bought the brick house for $500.00 after the war. I went to my first party in that house. Later my brother and his family would live there for a time. Even stranger I would live there for 6 months while my husband was overseas during the first Gulf War. I loved that house.

Ken was my first real good friend in Gaylord. Our birthdays were 3 days apart so we had many of the same experiences. He came over from St. Mary's in 9th grade. So we were kind of "newbies" together, even though he knew most of the kids already. Afterall Gaylord wasn't that big in those days.

I will remember him always as a good and dear friend.

Back from spring break

We returned from Marquette to gorgeous spring weather, actually almost too warm weather. The grass needed to be cut which I did on April 3. The very next day the weather changed and all the beautiful spring blooms took major hits. After 3 nights of hard frosts it is doubtful whether there will be any local fruit like peaches, apples or pears this year.

After the Beast died (about 60 miles south of Cincinnati) on its way to spring break at a beachside campground on the Gulf, changes were made in our plans. Kent and Jake did a "man" tour of New Orleans and then headed to NYC for 2 days. I met them at the airport and Kent and I headed to the Farm. The next day we relocated to Gaylord then left for Marquette on Friday morning. We saw the number one child and took home a load of stuff from her room. Unfortunately some of it was her heavy coats and snow boots. They had no snow last weekend, today they have over 30 inches. We took she and Nick out for supper on Friday night, saw "Wild Hogs" (good for laughing but predictable) together, then treated them to breakfast the next morning. Kent beat us all at Hearts and we all had a good time. I left him at the Marquette Airport and he was in Detroit before I was to the Bridge on Sunday. I spent the night again in Gaylord, made supper for them and then headed out on Monday morning for home. It was 720 miles from Marquette to our driveway.

The Doctor's report on the Beast, is that a transmission transplant must be performed. It will have said operation and then its head will be placed on the block. We really don't think we could come out ahead at the RV dealer if we pulled it in with a wrecker! Hopefully the good overall inside shape will cut some ice.

So that is our last 2 weeks in a nutshell.