The suspect in the 1987 rape-murder of Barbara Blatnik has passed away of natural causes on Aug 24, 2021. James Zastawnik (69) was going to trial on October 22, 2021. He was free on $35,000 bond and per court conditions, lived with family. Cause of death: cancer. Due to Covid19, many trials have been rescheduled. […]
Ohio
Myrtle M. Sayers Smith (1895-1930)
A case like this from Myrtle M. Sayers Smith, this old, is hard to solve. All people involved in the case have passed away. We would need preserved evidence hoping that nothing has deteriorated beyond what can be tested for DNA. Or, we need documented confessions, witnessed on deathbeds, or written in journals, wills, etc. […]
John William Pennington, an update
Thanks to a reader, we have a little more information in the 1985 unsolved case of John William Pennington. It comes from the insurance claims and appeals that John’s wife Peggy filed to seek recovery of reasonable costs as a results of John William Pennington‘s accidental and tragic death. The case is here. From the […]
Barbara Ann Blatnik update
In the Barbara Ann Blatnik case, I just read that James Zastawnik posted bond. The amount was previously set at $100’000 but Summit County Common Pleas Judge Kelly McLaughlin granted the request from defense council to lower it to $35’000. There are conditions though: Zastawnik must wear an electronic monitoring device and must live with […]
Barbara Blatnik: finally an arrest!
Cuyahoga Falls Police announced the arrest of James Zastawnik (67) for the December 1987 murder of Barbara Ann Blatnik. Zastawnik has been charged with first degree murder. Falls Lt. Chris Norfolk will not say if Zastawnik was a suspect in the early stages of the investigation. He did say that Zastawnik was “arrested in Akron in […]
Justice for John Anthony Muncy
Today, we learned the name of the person suspected of murdering John Anthony Muncy (Dec. 7, 1967 – Oct. 15, 1983). “Detectives named Daniel Alan Anderson as the suspect in the murder. He was 30 years old at the time of the crime. Anderson died in 2013.” I found another detail: “Anderson had ties to the […]
John William Pennington (Oct 6, 1959 – Dec 8, 1985)
From the Office of the Ohio Attorney General: John William Pennington (Oct 6, 1959 – Dec 8, 1985) was in a car in the drive thru of Taco Bell at 3591 West Broad St.in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio. An altercation happened between the (unknown in identity and number) people in his car and another person […]
Unsolved: Thomas Wayne Grant
Having a loved one taken from you in a violent way and never knowing why is shattering. That is what Thomas Wayne Grant’ sisters Janet and Pam are going through. There is nothing online and nobody was held accountable. Janet and Pam remember that their brother worked part-time in the Legal Aid Society’s juvenile division […]