Hannah Hill was born in Akron, Ohio. She recently graduated from high school and was loved by many friends. She had a secretary job during the summer. She wanted to go to college in the fall after saving money and buying her first vehicle.
Hannah, then 18 years old, came home from work on May 19, 1999 to spend the night alone. After receiving a call a little later, she left her parents’ house at 10:30 p.m., promising her mother Kimberly that she would return later. Kimberly noted that Hannah looked sad as she walked away.
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The Hannah Hill Murder: A Case of Police Negligence
Even though Hannah didn’t return home that evening her family was not worried. They suspected she had spent the night with a friend. Until her supervisor called the next day to ask where she was. Jennifer, Hannah’s buddy, called other friends they had in common to ask if anyone had seen Hannah.
Nobody has. Her relatives reported her missing and included information about her vehicle in the report. The police did not immediately intervene. They assumed that all kids Hannah’s age tended to disappear with their friends for a day or two without telling anyone.
When the police got a call about an abandoned car, they weren’t worried because they hadn’t yet filed the missing persons report. Instead, a traffic cop was sent to issue a parking ticket. They didn’t know it was Hannah’s car.
After looking into the abandoned vehicle for a week after she disappeared, police discovered Hannah Hill’s body in the trunk. Her legs were spread wide to reveal her, and she was completely naked from the waist down. Her beeper and keys were found in the vehicle.
Examination of Hannah Hill’s body
The night Hannah disappeared, the police decided to try to follow in her footsteps. They spoke to Brad O’Brien, who had initially encouraged police to search for Hannah. Brad’s arms had scratches, which the officers noticed and inquired about.
He acknowledged that they fought before she disappeared. Brad and Hannah’s bond was occasionally accompanied by violence. They lived together for a while, but because of the good relationship she moved back in with her parents.
Hannah had already been through it emotional and physical abuse by Brad. Despite this knowledge, there was no evidence linking him to the incident. Hannah had been attacked and her death was caused by asphyxia from manual neck compression. She had abrasions, bruises and bite marks on her face and arm.
There was evidence that she had sex before she died, but there was no way to tell if it was consensual. However, the humiliating pose in Hannah’s body was posed, leading authorities to suspect she had been sexually assaulted. On her lips they also discovered white powder.
The police found a suspect after searching her phone records: Denny Ross. He knew Hannah, she’d been to some of his house parties, and her boyfriend, Brad O’Born, had lived with him for a few months. Police knew Ross, who had admitted to distributing cocaine after being caught selling drugs to undercover officers. Instead of a prison sentence, he was put on probation.
The investigation points to Denny Ross
Ross’s arm was thrown when police arrived at his flat to question him. He said he broke it in a fight. The day Hannah disappeared, Hannah’s friend Jennifer called him to check if he had seen her. She got a no from him.
He admitted to authorities that Hannah had visited him the night she disappeared when they questioned him. He also revealed to police that she was furious with Brad and they had a kiss and other actions.
According to Ross, Hannah reportedly left Ross’s flat at 1:30 a.m. and was sober. The autopsy said she had been drinking when she died. Later, the police arrived with a warrant. When they searched his house, they found Hannah’s underwear, pants, socks, shoes and handbag in a garbage bag.
Mistrial caused by jury misconduct
Denny Ross was convicted in June 1999 for assaulting, raping and strangling Hannah Hill. During the trial, the prosecution presented evidence to the jury that Hannah’s facial wounds contained traces of the same elements found in Ross’s cast, sulfur and carbon.
The defense said Ross had no reason to kill Hannah and the garbage bag was planted. They talked about her abusive relationship with Brad and the abrasions they discovered on his arm. Numerous witnesses who had previously witnessed him dragging Hannah by the hair and beating her testified before the jury.
Juror misconduct, the judge declared a mistrial and the court denied the request for a retrial in 2002 because the initial jury had reached a not guilty decision. The Hill case underwent years of state and federal appeals after a judge declared a mistrial in 2000 for alleged juror misconduct. The attractions focused on the issue of double jeopardy.
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Denny Rossi faces a new trial for a second attempted murder
After several appeals, the ruling was overturned in 2008. The state was allowed by the Supreme Court to retry Ross, who appeared in court again in 2012 to answer the murder charges.
This time, the prosecution’s case was considerably more robust thanks to the testimony of Jennifer Tittle, another Ross victim, and DNA proof. Hannah’s underwear and pants were found to be stained with Ross’s blood and semen. She also had his DNA under her fingernails and on her clothes.
At the retrial, the jury was not informed that Denny Ross had received a 25-year prison sentence in 2004 for assault, rape and attempted murder of Jennifer Titlewhom he attacked and raped while holding a knife to her throat.
Title testified in court, and told them that when Ross attacked her, he hit her so hard that both her jaw and collarbone broke. She claimed to be dead when Ross tried to strangle her. She heard him say, “Oh, f***, she’s dead,” when he thought he had killed her. Jennifer was never raped, beaten and strangled like Hannah again.
Ross was convicted of the murder of Hannah Hill thirteen years after the crime. He was given a life sentence with a minimum of 19 years to serve.
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