The aggravated murder and aggravated burglary convictions for Lee Crager were unanimously upheld in a 13 page opinion issued Monday by the Third District Court of Appeals.
Lee Crager, 37, is currently confined in the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville serving a life prison sentence for aggravated murder and aggravated burglary.
The convictions related to the April 8, 2004 murder of Esta Boyd. Mrs. Boyd, who was age 70, was discovered by family members in her home at 230 West Columbia Street Marion several days after she had been murdered. Crager was found guilty at a jury trial held in Sept. 2004.
Crager appealed his conviction to the Third District Court of Appeals in Lima. In Dec., 2005, the Lima based court reversed Crager’s conviction in a decision authored by former Marion County Common Pleas Judge Richard Rogers, on the basis that a substitute DNA analyst testified at trial, since the original DNA analyst was on maternity leave. Slagle appealed that decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, who reinstated the conviction last December, but referred the case back to the Court of Appeals to address other issues in the appeal.
In yesterday’s decision, the Lima based court unanimously rejected Crager’s claim that the trial court should have granted him a trial continuance and that his trial counsel was ineffective. The decision does require that the trial Court hold a new sentencing hearing to comply with procedures adopted by the Supreme Court since the time of Crager’s original sentencing.
Common Pleas Judge Robert Davidson originally sentenced Crager to serve a sentence of life imprisonment with parole eligibility after serving 20 years for aggravated murder consecutive to a ten year sentence for aggravated burglary. Slagle stated that he will be requesting that the same sentence be issued at the new sentencing hearing.
Crager is currently not eligible for his first parole hearing until 2034. Slagle stated that he expects Crager to spend the rest of his life in prison.
“I am pleased with today’s decision. This was a brutal murder of an elderly woman. I worked closely with the Marion Police Dept. to obtain this conviction, and have continued to work on the appellate issues in this case for the last four years. I think we are finally nearing the end of this litigation,” Slagle stated.
