Mullins ordered before grand jury in killing of nun By JOSEPHINE MARCOTTY Daily News Staff Writer Dayton Municipal Court Judge Erwin Kilpatrick Tuesday ordered Armel Lee Mullins bound over to the Montgomery County grand jury on a charge of aggravated murder in the killing of a St. Agnes Convent nun. Kilpatrick denied a defense motion to hold Mullins, 56, of 1022 Meredith St., to the grand jury on a lesser charge. Mullins is accused of the Sept. 19 shooting of Sister Donna Jean Blaul, 34, at the convent in Lower Dayton View. Sister Rita Kurry, who also resided at the convent, testified at the preliminary hearing Tuesday that she saw Mullins shoot and kill Sister Donna. MULLINS, WEARING the same faded blue suit coat and pants he wore the night of the shooting, according to the police officer who arrested him, sat silent and still throughout the hearing. Sister Rita stated that Mullins rang the rear doorbell shortly after 8 p.m. on Sept. 19, and asked for Sister Joan Pfeiffer. Sister Joan testified that when she came to the door, Mullins asked her: "Where is it?" "I said, 'I don't know what you're talking about,' " Sister Joan said. "And I saw him reach into his back right pocket. I became frightened and tried to pull the door closed. He pulled out a gun, and I ran down the steps screaming." Mullins fired a shot toward Sister Joan's back, the nuns said. At that point, they said, Sister Donna Jean Blaul walked down the steps leading from the convent living room to the rear door. "SHE SAID 'Mr. Mullins' in what I call 1 her teacher voice," said Sister Rita. "And he fired the gun again." The second bullet struck and killed Sister Donna, Sister Rita said. Dayton Police Officer J.R. Holbrook testified that he and his partner picked up Mullins at the intersection of N. Broad and Lexington Aves. shortly after the shooting. Mullins matched the description of the suspect that had been broadcast over the police radio. "I patted him down for our own protection," Holbrook said. "I found a .38-caliber revolver with two spent cases." Mullins was paroled from the Kentucky State Penitentiary Oct. 17, 1973, after serving 13 years of a life sentence he received in the slaying of his wife. The Kentucky Division of Proba- SUMMARY - Two Wheeling, W. Va., police officers arrived in Dayton early Tuesday to investigate the possiblity that Armel Lee Mullins, accused of killing a St. Agnes Convent nun here Sept. 19, is connected to a killing that occurred near Wheeling last July. Mullins, accused of shooting Sister Donna Blaul at the convent, was bound over to the Montgomery County grand jury Tuesday on a charge of aggravated murder in the killing here. tion and Parole records show that on Mar. 2, 1961, Mullins was found guilty by a Morgan County, Ky., jury of shooting and killing his pregnant wife on May 19, 1960, in Elk Fork, Ky. THAT SAME DAY in 1960, Mullins pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter for shooting and killing a Morgan County, Ky., man and wounding another man on Dec. 6, 1958. He received five years probation in that case, Morgan County records show. Two police officers from Wheeling, W. Va., arrived in Dayton early Tuesday to investigate the possiblity that Mullins is connected to a killing that occurred near Wheeling last July. The Wheeling Intelligencer, a morning newspaper, reported that a nun, Sister Roberta Elam, was strangled and raped last July. West Virginia police are still searching for a suspect. Cpl. Michael Shade, a West Virginia state trooper, and an officer from the West Virginia Criminal Investigation Bureau, attended the preliminary hearing here Tuesday. They declined to discuss the Wheeling case. However, the suspect in the West Virginia slaying is believed to be approximately 30 years old, with long dark hair, according to the Intelligencer. Mullins has long, blond hair, and is 56 years old. First youth hostel to open at state park near Mansfield COLUMBUS (UPI) - A new youth hostel, the first ever at an Ohio state park, is being opened at Malabar Farm State Park near Mansfield in a cooperative effort by the state Department of Natural Resources and the Columbus Council of American Youth Hostels, Inc. Under terms of an agreement between the two, the hostel is authorized through Dec. 31, 1982. It will be open year-round and is primarily for travelers who enjoy backpacking, hiking, bicycling, canoeing and rock climbing.