Ohio Man Convicted of Abuse of Corpse, Proof Tampering in Case of Lacking Kentucky Teenager

BATAVIA, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man has been convicted of abuse of a corpse and proof tampering within the case of a Kentucky teenager whose physique was present in Ohio a decade after she disappeared.

Jurors in Clermont County deliberated for greater than 9 hours over two days earlier than convicting 35-year-old Jacob Bumpass final week of each costs he confronted within the dying of 17-year-old Paige Johnson of Florence, Kentucky. Protection attorneys instantly vowed to attraction the decision and search a brand new trial.

Johnson’s stays have been present in 2020 by a hiker in East Fork State Park, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Cincinnati, close to the realm investigators had searched after the teenager disappeared in September 2010. A explanation for dying was by no means decided.

Authorities had questioned Bumpass, a good friend, on the time and believed he was the final particular person to have seen her alive. Prosecutors cited DNA proof and data indicating that the defendant’s telephone was pinged by a cell tower simply over a mile away from the place the physique was discovered after which by one close to a bridge main again to northern Kentucky.

Protection legal professional Louis Sirkin posed the concept Johnson’s physique was planted within the East Fork Lake space someday after her disappearance, saying that if her stays have been there all alongside they might have been noticed by staff at a close-by farm and individuals who used the realm for unlawful dumping.

Paige Johnson’s mom, Donna Johnson, mentioned after the decision that it had been “an extended wait and that half has been very onerous,” since her daughter’s stays have been held in proof pending the trial. Now, she mentioned, “I get to convey my child residence and provides her the dignity she has deserved this entire time and has needed to look forward to.”

“I’ll at all times wish to know what occurred. I don’t assume he’s ever gonna inform us,” Johnson mentioned. “This unhappiness will stick with me perpetually.”

Bumpass is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 7.

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