Tuesday, November 09, 1999
Friend puts victim with accused killer
Lawyer: Death wasn't murder
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — Richard Bainum's attorneys conceded Monday that he caused the death of Sandra Ronto, but that he did not commit murder.
Ms. Ronto provoked Mr. Bainum by saying she would accuse him of raping her if he did not perform a specific sexual act with her, Mr. Bainum's attorney, Thad Willard, said in opening statements in Butler County Common Pleas Court.
On the first day of Mr. Bainum's murder trial, Mr. Willard suggested Mr. Bainum might be guilty of a less serious crime than murder.
“I'm not telling you that no crime has been committed,” he said. “I'm telling you that the crime of murder was not committed. It's a very serious distinction.”
Mr. Bainum, 26, of Middletown is accused of strangling Ms. Ronto, 51, of Middletown with her purse straps on Nov. 6, 1998, after the pair had sex in his apartment.
Her body was discovered two days later at the bottom of the stairway in his apartment building. She had been last seen leaving a Middletown bar with Mr. Bainum on the afternoon of Nov. 6, police said.
Mr. Bainum has pleaded not guilty. Originally, he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Just hours after Ms. Ronto's death, Mr. Bainum was trying to sell her jewelry in a bar, Assistant Prosecutor Dennis Adams said in his statement.
Debbie Hayes, a friend of Ms. Ronto, testified she saw her leave a bar with Mr. Bainum about 1 p.m. on Nov. 6. When she saw Mr. Bainum at another bar about 5 p.m., she asked where Ms. Ronto was.
He cursed Ms. Ronto, Ms. Hayes said. “He said, "She got what she deserved.'”
Another friend of Ms. Ronto, Drema Young, testified that she bought jewelry from Mr. Bainum on Nov. 6.
Middletown Police Officer Tim Meehan said that Mr. Bainum told him that after leaving the bar with Ms. Ronto, they went in different directions.
Butler County Coroner Dr. Richard Burkhardt said Ms. Ronto died of strangulation. A mark on the outside of her neck matched the width of one of her purse straps, he said.
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