Edwards expected to plead guilty to Dannie Boy's murder

Thursday, August 26, 2010

By John Karlovec

UPDATED, 3:06 p.m.

Edwards pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon in Judge Forrest W. Burt's Geauga County Common Pleas courtroom. Burt accepted the plea but did not find him guilty. The court interpreted Ohio law to require a three judge panel to make a guilty finding.

Video inside the courtroom here: http://bit.ly/bvuk3m

Former Troy Township resident Edward Wayne Edwards has been indicted on three counts in connection with the murder of his foster son, Dannie Boy Edwards, in 1996.

He has been charged with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping. The aggravated murder charge carries a death penalty specification. The latter two charges are first-degree felonies.

Edwards pleaded guilty to the charges at 1 p.m. today in Geauga County Common Pleas Judge Forrest W. Burt’s courtroom.

Edwards has been incarcerated at the Pickaway Correctional Institution in Orient, Ohio, since he was returned to the state last month. Last Wednesday, Geauga County Prosecutor David Joyce said he and Geauga County Sheriff’s Sgt. Brian Johnston traveled to the state penitentiary to meet with Edwards. Johnston has been investigating this case since Dannie Boy’s murder some 14 years ago.

Joyce said they met with Edwards for several hours. At the conclusion of the meeting, Joyce informed Edwards about the process that would unfold.

On Monday, Edwards was returned to Geauga County and brought to the Geauga County Safety Center. Johnston conducted a several hour video-recorded interview, during which Edwards provided details regarding his stepson’s murder, according to Joyce.

The following day, Joyce said investigators and Edwards toured the area of U.S. 422 between routes 700 and 44. Edwards showed investigators where he committed the crime, where he dumped the gun and where he disposed of some body parts, Joyce added. His statements were consistent with evidence gathered in the early stages of the investigation.

Later Tuesday, Edwards was subjected to a Voice Stress Analysis, which records psycho-physiological stress responses that present in human voice, Joyce said.

Based upon Edwards’ statements and the results of the VSA, Joyce brought Edwards  before the grand jury yesterday. Joyce questioned Edwards and Johnston for approximately one hour, after which the grand jury issued its indictment.

The charges were filed in the Geauga County Clerk of Court’s Office at 9:26 a.m. today.

If Edwards pleads guilty he will have the option of having his death penalty sentence decided by either a three judge panel or a 12 person jury. If Edwards opts for a jury, and is given a death sentence, Judge Burt would have the authority to overturn and impose a prison sentence. If, however, a panel of judges decides his fat, its finding would be final.

Joyce said nobody has ever been sentenced to death in Geauga County.

Edwards would be the first.