Michael Kuznik and Trina Tomola
Prosecutors will seek death penalty in killing of Cleveland car dealership owner, wife
By Cory Shaffer
cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cuyahoga County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a Cleveland man charged with killing the owner of a car dealership and his wife during a botched hold-up.
Joseph McAlpin, 30, was indicted Friday in connection with the April 14 killings of Michael Kuznik, 47, and Trina Tomola, 46, at Mr. Car's on East 185th Street. McAlpin is also accused of shooting the couple's Rottweiler.
The 25-count indictment includes charges of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and lesser offenses. The charges include specifications that would make McAlpin eligible for the death penalty if he is convicted.
McAlpin, who has been jailed on a $5 million bond since June, will be arraigned Thursday on the new charges.
Tomola's son went to the dealership about 9:30 p.m. because she and Kuznik never returned to their Euclid home after work. The 19-year-old son found them dead in the business.
Kuznik was found near his desk with a gunshot wound in the back of his head, with no apparent signs of a struggle, police said. Tomola was found near a back door with a gunshot wound to the back of her head, leading investigators to believe she was trying to run away when she was killed.
Two assailants stole two cars from the lot and a bag of car keys, which investigators later found ditched in a Cleveland park.
The attackers also stole surveillance equipment and computers that contained records of purchases from the store, police said. Detectives have not identified the other person involved in the slayings.
McAlpin was linked to the killings through DNA evidence, court records say.
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index...eath_pe_2.html
Bookmarks