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Thread: Roland Thomas Davis - Ohio

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    Roland Thomas Davis - Ohio




    Summary of Offense:

    On July 10, 2000, Davis murdered 86-year-old Elizabeth Sheeler in her apartment in Newark, Ohio. Davis, a cab driver, had driven Sheeler around town numerous times in his cab and knew she kept large sums of money in her bedroom. Davis stabbed Sheeler seven times in the throat and upper chest and stole money from her house. Davis was arrested for Sheeler’s murder in April 2004, after his DNA was linked to the crime scene through the FBI’s DNA database. At the time, Davis was incarcerated in Florida.

  2. #2
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On February 5, 2010, Davis filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/ohi...v00107/136075/

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    Convicted murderer seeks new trial

    Convicted murderer Roland Davis, a prisoner on Ohio’s Death Row, wants a new trial to examine DNA evidence, but case law isn’t clear which court should review it.

    Davis, 58, of Newark, was convicted and sentenced to death in July 2005 for the 2000 murder of 86-year-old Elizabeth Sheeler, who was stabbed repeatedly.

    Davis was not considered a suspect until his DNA popped up in a national database in 2004 after an arrest in Florida. Sheeler’s murder went unsolved for four years. DNA found on bed sheets had a one-in-97.1 quadrillion chance of belonging to someone other than Davis, a scientist testified.

    In January 2009, Davis’ attorney asked Licking County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas Marcelain for a new trial to review Laurence Mueller’s expert DNA testimony.

    Mueller, a California professor, said the prosecution’s witness overstated the probability that Davis’ DNA matched the crime scene and that Randy Davis, Roland’s now-deceased brother, could have been a match, according to documents filed by assistant state public defender Ruth Tkacz.

    Oswalt argued that DNA for Roland and his brother, who was killed in a crash after Sheeler’s death but before the trial, was tested multiple times by different agencies. All excluded Randy Davis as a suspect, Oswalt wrote in a court filing.

    Marcelain denied Roland Davis’ request for a new trial, saying it was filed too late.

    The Fifth District Court of Appeals found Marcelain didn’t have the authority to determine whether Roland Davis received a new trial because the Ohio Supreme Court had affirmed his conviction. Judges cited a 1978 Ohio Supreme Court case.

    On Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court heard arguments about which court should make the decision about Roland Davis’ request for a new trial.

    Assistant State Public Defender Stephen Hardwick argued the Fifth District Court of Appeals must review the motion for a new trial, not simply say the trial court had no jurisdiction to review it.

    “The basic mistake of some of the lower courts and of the state is that it treats a judgment of affirmance of an appellate court as a some kind of general stamp of approval on anything that happened or even could have happened,” Hardwick said.

    Licking County Prosecutor Ken Oswalt argued that after the Ohio Supreme Court affirms the conviction, it should be responsible for sending the case back to the trial court if a new trial is warranted.

    Ohio Supreme Court justices will review the case and issue an opinion.

    “At least, it will be clearer,” Oswalt said.

    http://www.newarkadvocate.com/articl...yssey=nav|head

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Newark death penalty case sent back to lower court for review

    A Newark man convicted of murdering a 86-year-old woman says his now-deceased brother was the killer. An Ohio Supreme Court decision announced Tuesday it will allow an appellate court to review the denial of his request for a new trial.

    Roland Davis, 58, was convicted and sentenced to death in July 2005 for the 2000 murder of 86-year-old Elizabeth Sheeler, who was stabbed repeatedly.

    Davis was not a suspect until his DNA popped up in a national database in 2004 after an arrest in Florida. DNA found on bed sheets had a one-in-97.1 quadrillion chance of belonging to someone other than Davis, a scientist testified.

    In January 2009, Davis' attorney asked Licking County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas Marcelain for a new trial to review Dr. Laurence Mueller's expert DNA testimony.

    Mueller pointed out that state's witnesses did not mention laboratory error as a source of uncertainty. One of the state's DNA expert incorrectly stated that it is impossible for non-identical twins to have the same DNA.

    "Davis argued that Mueller's affidavit undermined the state's DNA evidence, which was essential to its case against him," Ohio Supreme Court Justice Judith Lanzinger wrote.

    Marcelain denied Davis' motion for a new trial, and the Fifth District Court of Appeals found that Marcelain should not have even reviewed the case after the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed Davis' conviction.

    On Tuesday, the Ohio Supreme Court justices unanimously found that intermediary courts, like the Fifth District Court of Appeals, can review motions after the suspect is convicted on death penalty cases.

    The decision clarified a 1994 amendment to the Ohio Constitution that allowed direct appeal of death penalty cases to the Ohio Supreme Court, essentially skipping the intermediate appellate courts.

    "A holding that the supreme court has exclusive jurisdiction over all matters relating to a death-penalty case would be contrary to the language of the constitutional amendments and the statute and would have the effect of delaying review of future cases," Lanzinger wrote.

    Justices also found that Marcelain could review Roland's motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence.

    Roland's case will be sent to the Fifth District Court of Appeals for additional review. It could be returned to Marcelain.

    http://www.newarkadvocate.com/articl...WS01/111004007

  5. #5
    Administrator Michael's Avatar
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    Oswalt argued that DNA for Roland and his brother, who was killed in a crash after Sheeler’s death but before the trial, was tested multiple times by different agencies. All excluded Randy Davis as a suspect, Oswalt wrote in a court filing.
    One of the state's DNA expert incorrectly stated that it is impossible for non-identical twins to have the same DNA.
    The error of the expert can´t be important, because the dead twin was excluded as a suspect. They had been twins so no other person was at the crime scene. I think it´s a cheap try to blame his (dead) brother.

  6. #6
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Today, the US Supreme Court DENIED Davis' certiorari petition on post-conviction appeal from the Ohio Supreme Court.

    Lower Ct: Court of Appeals of Ohio, Licking County
    Case Nos.: (09-CA-0019)
    Decision Date: January 4, 2012
    Discretionary Court
    Decision Date: June 5, 2013

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.a...es/13-7225.htm

  7. #7
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    Ohio death row inmate linked to 30-year-old cold case in Charlotte County

    A death row inmate in Ohio has been named the suspect in a 30-year-old cold case in Charlotte County.

    Sharon Gill was 42 when she was stabbed to death in her Deep Creek home in 1990. Investigators say she was on the phone with a travel agent and told them someone was in her home before hanging up.

    That someone, detectives now believe, was Roland Thomas Davis, now 68.

    The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Team said thanks to DNA developments, they were able to connect Davis to the homicide. He’s currently in prison in Chillicothe, Ohio, for the murder of an 86-year-old woman in 2000.

    At the time of Gill’s murder, Davis was working for a landscaping company that Gill hired. Davis’ DNA was found inside Gill’s home, detectives said.

    “Of course, he denied being in the victim’s home where the DNA was found,” said Det. Mike Vogel, who also said Davis had no other motive “than he’s probably a psychopath.”

    “In this particular case, you have DNA that was tested under all technology and had leads but not a solution. The new technology allowed this case to be solved,” said Dan Feinberg with the State Attorney’s Office.

    Gill’s daughter Krista said she’s grateful detectives never gave up.

    “I thought OK, so what’s the motive? And you think it’s going to bring a lot of closure; it’s actually opened the box of more questions. Why? Why did he come to my parents’ house that day?”

    Solving the case would have meant a lot to her father.

    “I’ve thought of my dad often and I’ve said God, I wish my dad was here. Because he would be relieved to know who the person is.”

    Krista is the one who discovered her mom’s body that day, all those years ago.

    “I always thought it was someone that my mom knew, that my dad knew, because it was such a hate crime,” she said. “I’m very grateful to know who the person is; I’m even more grateful to know that he’s behind bars.”

    Krista said her mother was the type of person to invite people over for Christmas dinner if they were alone, or to hand out gifts to those who didn’t have any.

    “I think that was one of the hardest things, them just loving on people and then somebody came into our home and did what they did to our family and it was just devastating.”

    Even though detectives are confident they have their man, their investigation is still ongoing and they’re asking for help.

    Davis, who went by “Rollie,” has previously listed addresses in North Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, but was known to have stayed on Fort Myers Beach and in LaBelle, detectives said.

    He also had a history of arrests during his time in Southwest Florida, from theft to domestic violence and aggravated assault.

    The sheriff’s office wants anyone who went to the following bars between 1970 and 2004 and might have seen Davis or knew him to contact them: Mayfair Lounge (owned by Davis’ mother), Jim’s Pub or Big Still Lounge in North Fort Myers; Rendezvous or Branding Iron in Port Charlotte; Good Times in Punta Gorda; and Live Oak Lounge in LaBelle.

    CCSO said Davis also had a motorcycle and would hang out at biker bars.

    The sheriff’s office can be reached at (941) 639-2101.

    https://www.winknews.com/2020/11/23/...rlotte-county/
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  8. #8
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    Could Ohio death row inmate be a SERIAL KILLER?

    Police probe at least two more cold cases in Florida to see if there are links to man, 68, already in prison for murder who has now also been charged with stabbing woman to death in 1990

    Cold-case investigators in Ohio and Florida are looking into possible connections between a death row inmate and at least two unsolved murders and disappearances of women from 30 years ago.

    Roland 'Rollie' Davis, 68, is already facing capital punishment in Ohio for the 2000 murder and robbery of 86-year-old retired nurse Elizabeth Sheeler in Newark.

    In November 2020, Davis was charged with the brutal rape and murder of Sharon Gill, 42, who was stabbed 39 times inside her home in Deep Creek, Florida, on March 21, 1990. The victim’s then-18-year-old daughter, Krista, discovered her mother's lifeless body after returning home from school.

    The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said new technology tied DNA evidence found at the scene of the crime to Davis, who had done landscaping work at the victim's home before the killing. He was 37 at the time.

    Gill had just moved with her daughter to Deep Creek and was to be joined by her husband, Percy Gill, after he finished work as a preacher in Detroit.

    'If my dad was alive, he would be relieved,' Krista Gill told Sun Port Charlotte in November. 'We are relieved. Happy is not a word. Happy would be my mom and dad walking through the front door and meeting my kids. This is not happy.”'

    Davis' record also includes a 2003 arrest in Ohio for the savage beating of a sex worker.

    He was working as an ice cream vendor and picked up the prostitute in his vehicle. Cold case detective Kurt Mehl said the victim in that case would have been killed, had she not escaped and called the police.

    At the time of his arrest, Davis was discovered with the victim's blood all over his pants and inside his ice cream truck.

    Given the inmate’s history of violence towards women, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office and Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers are looking into any connections Davis may have to unsolved homicides or missing women from the 1980s and 90s.

    ‘Because Mr. Davis has been involved in at least two homicides and an attempted homicide of a prostitute in Columbus, Ohio, he is on our radar for unsolved cases of missing women or murdered women,’ Mehl said. ‘That would include reexamining any potential role he may have had here in Charlotte County.’

    During a jailhouse interview with cold-case investigators, Davis was said to be ‘less than forthcoming’ with information.

    Authorities are taking another look at evidence in the missing person case of Christine Flahive, who was last seen alive in 1995 in Punta Gorda, Florida.

    Flahive was 43 years old when she vanished without a trace on January 4, 1995, after leaving her home on a bicycle. Authorities believe she was heading to JD's Lounge in downtown Punta Gorda, then to a mobile home in the area of Rollins Street, reported Wink News.

    As of January 2019 detectives started actively investigating the case as a homicide. They believe Flahive was killed in Charlotte County and buried there. Despite intensive searches, her remains have not been found.

    They are also trying to establish a connection between Davis and female skeletal remains that were discovered along US 41 in south Punta Gorda in 1980 and other unsolved cases in Lee County.

    Detectives said Davis was known to spend time at his mother's bar called the Mayfair Lounge in North Fort Myers in the 1980s and 90s. The bar has since closed. He was said to favor the company of bikers and prostitutes, who knew him by the nicknames ‘Rollie’ and ‘Manson.’

    Davis was in Southwest Florida, traveling from Ohio on and off between 1970 and 2004 and lived and worked in the Charlotte, Lee and Hendry county areas during this time period.

    Crime Stoppers is asking anyone with information on Davis’ relationships in the community during the 1980s through the 1990s to contact them at 1-800-780-TIPS.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dai...e-murders.html
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  9. #9
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Ohio death row inmate indicted for 1990 Charlotte County murder

    By MATTHEW SEAVER
    The Associated Press

    The State Attorney’s Office announced on Wednesday that a grand jury had indicted a man on death row in Ohio for first-degree murder in Charlotte County.

    Roland T. Davis Sr. was indicted for the 1990 murder of 42-year-old Sharon Gill. Davis was identified as the suspect in the murder by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office in 2020, thanks to new developments in DNA testing.

    The State Attorney’s Office says Gill was stabbed 39 times in her Charlotte County home on March 21, 1990. They say Davis was hired by Gill to do some landscaping before she was killed.

    “I want to thank Ms. Gill’s daughter for her patience and understanding, along with the victim’s other family and friends, as the necessary work was completed to put together the evidence. I hope this indictment brings you all some sense of peace and some closure,” said State Attorney Amira Fox.

    Davis is currently on death row in Ohio for the murder of an 86-year-old woman in 2000.

    https://www.winknews.com/2022/08/03/...county-murder/
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  10. #10
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    On November 2, 2022, Davis’ habeas petition was denied by the federal district court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/oh...cv00107/136075

    On November 22, 2022, Davis filed an appeal to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/ci...ts/ca6/22-3978
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

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