BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON -- In a tense courtroom, a police detective said Thursday that Dennis A. Marcum told him "demons" made him stab two Hamilton men to death with a knife during a three-day period.
Mr. Marcum said that after severely beating 64-year-old Melvin Powell with a tree limb, the demons urged him to do more, Detective Mark McManus said.
"He turned the bedroom light on and saw blood on the wall and on the bed. The demons told him that wasn't enough," Detective McManus testified at Mr. Marcum's preliminary hearing in Hamilton Municipal Court. "So he said he began stabbing him."
Mr. Marcum is accused of killing Mr. Powell, a man he had known since childhood, July 22, and then killing a friend, James D. Petree, 33, three days later.
He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Judge John Rosmarin sent the case to a Butler County grand jury and ordered that Mr. Marcum continue to be held in the Butler County Jail without bond.
Mr. Marcum, 38, of Morgan Township, is charged with two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, aggravated arson, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
After the hearing, Mr. Petree's father, James H. Petree of Hamilton, scoffed at Mr. Marcum's claim of insanity.
"I don't believe it," he said. "He's a con artist."
Just before the hearing began, Mr. Marcum and relatives of James D. Petree exchanged angry words.
"You ruined my life," Effie Petree, the victim's mother, said to Mr. Marcum, who was sitting at the defense table.
A few minutes later, Mr. Marcum turned around and glared at Mr. Petree's relatives. "Why are you all looking at me like that?" Mr. Marcum said.
"Because you killed my nephew," replied Roger Jones of Hamilton. A police officer asked Mr. Jones to leave the courtroom.
Detective McManus said that in an Aug. 4 interview, Mr. Marcum gave this account of the two killings:
On July 22, Mr. Marcum was at the house he shares with his parents, when "demons told him it was time to go," Detective McManus said. He drove to Mr. Powell's neighborhood, parked near his street and walked through woods to Mr. Powell's house, two doors from a house Mr. Marcum and his parents had once lived in for many years. He picked up a tree limb and grabbed a knife on the front porch of his brother's house, next door to Mr. Powell's.
Mr. Marcum beat Mr. Powell in the bedroom with the limb and then stabbed him. He poured gasoline on Mr. Powell's body and ran a trail of gas to the front door. He lit it with a lighter, ran to his car and drove home.
"He woke up the next morning with blood on his hands and spots of blood on his face," Detective McManus said.
He said Mr. Marcum told him Mr. Powell had sexually abused him when he was a child.
July 25, Mr. Marcum alleges demons impelled him to go to Mr. Petree's house. "He beat him with the tire iron," the detective said. "The demons told him it wasn't enough, to make sure he was dead." Mr. Marcum then repeatedly stabbed him.
Aug. 4, Mr. Marcum went to Greater Miami Case Management, a state-certified mental health agency in Hamilton, and said he may have killed two people and wanted to talk to the police, Detective McManus said. The employee called Hamilton police.
The only time Mr. Marcum became upset during the interview was when he talked about Mr. Petree, he said.
"He said Mr. Petree was his best friend," Detective McManus said. "He said he did have a conscience and that it was weighing on his mind."
James H. Petree, a 65-year-old retired home builder, said it was difficult for him to sit through the hearing. "The man who killed your son is standing right there looking you in the eye," he said. "It's terrible."
He said his son suffered from severe physical problems stemming from a 58-foot fall from a catwalk 13 years ago. Mrs. Petree took meals to him every day.
Mr. Petree said he has been a friend of Mr. Marcum's father, Ted, for many years and has no animosity toward him and his wife.
"I feel sorry for them because they're suffering just like we are," Mr. Petree said. "If I saw Ted Marcum right now, I'd be as friendly to him as I ever was."
