Wednesday, September 01, 1999
Mary Love's killer could get death penalty
BY TOM McCANN and DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Prosecutors say Ralph Lynch knew exactly what he was doing last year when he put his hands around the neck of Mary Jennifer Love.
He strangled the child, they say, because he wanted to “save his own miserable hide.”
But the Colerain Township man couldn't save himself Tuesday when a jury found him guilty of kidnapping, murdering and raping the 6-year-old girl.
The verdict means Mr. Lynch, 48, will face a possible death sentence when his jury returns to court next week for the sentencing phase of the trial.
The 12 jurors needed about two hours of deliberations to reach a verdict.
Throughout Mr. Lynch's trial, defense attorneys did not dispute that he fondled and killed Mary in his apartment June 24, 1998. They did, however, argue that he put his hands around her neck to stop her crying — not because he wanted to kill her.
They said he was guilty of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, which would not carry a possible death sentence. “His purpose was not to kill,” said John Keller, one of Mr. Lynch's lawyers.
But prosecutors said there could be no other purpose when a man grabs a little girl by the neck and begins to squeeze.
“The reason Ralph Lynch killed Mary Love is he did not want to get caught,” said assistant county prosecutor Mark Piepmeier.
In his closing arguments, Mr. Piepmeier referred to a taped statement that Mr. Lynch gave to police when he was questioned about the girl's disappearance.
On the tape, Mr. Lynch said he had molested the girl, killed her and then dumped her body in a rolled-up carpet off Breezy Acres Drive.
Mr. Piepmeier said Mr. Lynch got scared when Mary began to cry after he touched her. At that moment, the assistant prosecutor said, Mr. Lynch had a choice: Kill the girl or let her go and risk getting caught.
“Either he was going to suffer the consequences, or she was,” Mr. Piepmeier said. “He chose Mary.”
To conceal his crime, he said, Mr. Lynch tried to act as shocked as any other neighbor when the girl disappeared last year. He even helped search for her body.
The body was found a week later when Mr. Lynch led police to the woods where he had left the girl.
The child's parents embraced after hearing the verdict Tuesday and left the courtroom without comment.
Judge Robert Kraft ordered the jury to remain sequestered at a hotel Tuesday night. The jurors will likely be released from service today and will return to Hamilton County Common Pleas Court next week for the penalty phase of the trial.
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