The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 12

A-12The Donald Harvey Case THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER Sunday, August 23, 1987 Defense attorney 'crossed aisle' Over the years Whalen has han him, you might think he's some Prosecutor wins i his biggest case, but doubts linger I As 'incredible' confession proved true, Ney was wondering, Whalen got training as prosecutor BY PEGGY LANE The Cincinnati Enquirer Though he's gaining national attention as defense attorney for serial killer Donald Harvey, William Whalen used to be on the other side of the courtroom. Whalen formerly was an assistant prosecutor first for the city of Cincinnati and later for Simon Leis, then Hamilton County prosecutor who now is the county's sheriff. "As a prosecutor he knew his cases and he knew the law that applied to his cases," said Common Pleas Judge William S. Mathews, who presided over Harvey's court appearances. "As a defense attorney, he exercises the same skills." Mathews sees Whalen as quiet and methodical, without the flam-boyancy exercised by some crimi- what snooty.

But that's not him at all. "His word is his word," Ney emphasizes, "and I can't say that for everybody" in the legal field. Both Joseph Deters, an assistant to Ney, and Sheriff Leis believe Whalen got the best deal possible for his client. And Leis noted that Whalen's efforts helped resolved a very tough case in a way that is fair to the community. Whalen, 46, was born in Covington, raised in Florence, and educated at Villa Madonna (now Thomas Moore College) and Chase Law School.

He spent two years in private practice before putting in two years with the city prosecutor and 12 years with Leis. He returned to private practice in January, 1984. Whalen and his wife, Diane, have two children, Bill, 18, and Kelly, 16. Both Kelly and Diane enjoy watching Whalen in court, and both were there last Tuesday when Harvey pleaded guilty to 29 counts of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and felonious assault. V- No-nonsense style served judge well dled many well publicized cases, including some of the worst rape and murder cases.

One case he enjoyed involved six defendants who were charged in 1973 with the shotgun death of a Xavier University student and the robbery of other students in the student center. All six cases were tried simultaneously in six separate courtrooms. The logistics alone were a challenge and "it was very tough," Whalen recalled. Whalen found it stimulating to work with so many people at once. The Harvey case came to him "as a single murder trial" and before it was over, Whalen found it "incredulous; it took me awhile to get over the shock." As for future issues in criminal justice, Whalen sees great need for more sensitivity "both for the victim's needs and the handling of criminal defendants.

We are not doing a good job." Whalen, not one to offer pat answers, says the solution may be "more involvement, so we deal with victims and defendants on a far more personal basis." Mathews studied liberal arts at the University of Cincinnati, and a chance event led him to study the law. At age 19, he had an auto accident and was sued by a used car dealer whose lot ended up looking like a junkyard after Mathews hit five of the seven cars lined up near the street. By the time the case was settled, he thought being a lawyer "would be a fun way to make your living." The Donald Harvey case is "far and away the most momentous" he has handled, but others stand out such. Among them: the 1969 Cabinet Supreme murders, when three men went into a Delhi savings and loan, herded four women customers into a vault and shot them to death in cold blood. One of these days, Mathews says, he will semi-retire, work occasionally as a visiting judge, fly his own plane once again and travel.

Today, it's -39 years since he started in law. "And, yes, it's still fun." Donald Barney Died: July 7, 1986, at Drake of cyanide poisoning. Hoeweler family don't want to talk about Donald Harvey any more. Harvey visited Henry Hoeweler in Providence Hospital, and on one visit, sprinkled arsenic in his pudding. He gave Henry's wife, Margaret, and son, Carl, smaller doses over a longer period of time, not to kill them, just to make them suffer.

Harvey and Carl Hoeweler were roommates for six years. James Peluso James Peluso was a member of one of Newport's best-known families. His son James was a city commissioner, and his brother was former Mayor Johnny (TV) Peluso. He ran Peluso's Market on Monmouth Street. His wife, Frances, didn't want to talk about her husband's death.

Ernst Frey Ernst Frey's death is tragically ironic. "He wouldn't have thought Harvey did him a favor," said his daughter-in-law, Mary Helen Frey. "We were talking in general, and I said, 'How do you feel about living and and he said, 'How do you think I feel? I don't want to And he wouldn't have approved of the outcome, either. "He would have been irate," said his daughter-in-law, wife of Frey's only child, Charles. "He would be the first to want to see this man hang.

He believed in capital punishment." Ernst Frey worked as an accountant. His wife lives in a retirement home, and Mary Helen and Charles Frey are trying to shield her from the details of the Harvey case. The younger Freys, parents of three and grandparents themselves of five more, had been preparing to bring Ernst Frey home from Drake for a while. BY DAVID WELLS The Cincinnati Enquirer It was the list of names that convinced Prosecutor Art Ney that Donald Harvey was the monster he claimed to be. The list was a diary of death.

The names of 17 murder victims were on the list, which was neatly folded and tucked behind a picture on the wall of his mobile home. "Listening to Harvey's confession was just incredible," Ney said. It was unbelievable that a man could so calmly, so matter-of-fact-ly, so routinely kill all of those people. Then he told us where to find the list." Ohio law would allows guilty pleas to be accepted only where there is some physical evidence to corroborate a defendant's confession. The list was the beginning of that corroboration for Harvey.

Harvey, 35, a former Drake Memorial Hospital nursing aide, has confessed to killing dozens of people, many of them elderly invalids in hospitals where he worked during the past 16 years. In the last week, he has pleaded guilty to 25 aggravated murders, most of which occurred at Drake. The story of Donald Harvey broke on June 23, when WCPO-TV (Channel 9) reported that Harvey, already charged in the death of one Drake patient, might have been responsible for the deaths of dozens more there. Ney headed a team of special investigators: First Assistant Prosecutor Carl Vollman, second in command of the department; Terry Gaines, head of the prosecutor's Municipal Court Division; Claude Crowe, another veteran assistant; Assistant Prosecutor Pat Dinke-lacker; and Joseph Deters, an assistant prosecutor who often acts as Ney's press spokesman. Also on the team were investi- Ernst Frey had a "famous saying," his daughter-in-law said.

"He'd say, 'If it was raining soup, I'd have a And that applies to all of this. He'd think no one would have the right to do any of the things that were done to him." Joseph Pike When Joseph Pike became ill a few years ago, it was the first time he ever took a break from work. "Seven days a week for 35 years," said his son, Michael. "Every Thursday he brought home his paycheck and gave it to my mom. I can still see that." But Pike still found time after his shift at Diamond International ended to spend time with his wife (who died in 1986), his son and two daughters, and later, his daughters' children.

"We always had every evening meal together," said Michael, the oldest of the three children. "When he wasn't at work, he was at home. If he went anywhere, we went with him." Hilda Leitz Margaret Siemer is an only child. Her husband is recovering from a heart attack. Her father -died 25 years ago; her mother, Hilda Leitz, was one of Donald Harvey's last victims.

"Sometimes it feels like the whole world just fell in. It's like I'm living in something on TV," Mrs. Siemer said. Mrs. Leitz lived with the Sie-mers, their three children and some of their seven grandchildren in Mount Airy until a stroke required that she be hospitalized.

Since Mrs. Siemer's husband worked nights, she and her mother spent a lot of time together, bowling and playing Bingo. "We were more like sisters," she said. Diana Alexander Diana Alexander was a friend of Donald Harvey's who ate and par-tied with him frequently. One night, he slipped hepatitis serum into her drink.

She was hospitalized for some time. Today, she still works at Carl's Coiffures with Carl Hoeweler. John Powell The youngest of Donald Harvey's victims, John Powell, 44, left behind two grown daughters, a 15-year-old son and two teen-age stepdaughters. Powell had worked as a plumber and welder at the General Electric plant, and always had some sort of project going at his house he put ceramic tile in the kitchen, enclosed the porch, built flower boxes. William Whalen may write book about case nal lawyers.

And his chief adversary in the Harvey proceedings views him with respect. "He's very competent, well prepared, always low key," says Hamilton County Prosecutor Arthur Ney. "In fact, if you don't know William S. Mathews was his biggest case and stuck to the facts." And his no-nonsense sentence that will see Harvey serve a minimum of 60 years before parole can be considered "shows Hamilton County ex Roger Evans Jt i i ate Died: Sept. 17, 1986, at Drake of cyanide poisoning.

death, his wife, Izella, said. She was satisfied with the plea bargain that sent Donald Harvey to jail for life but kept him out of the electric chair. Her husband might not have been. "He was very much in favor of the death penalty," she said. "In fact, we argued about it sometimes." Milton Canter "It's very upsetting for me to talk about this right now," said Milton Canter's daughter, Connie Herman.

But Tuesday, her mother, Gol-die, talked about the last time she saw her husband. "He passed away on a Thursday morning," Mrs. Canter, 80, said. "Wednesday afternoon he was sitting up in a wheelchair, and he was exhausted from sitting. I asked a nurse to put him in bed.

She said she had to give some medication and it would be awhile. "Donald Harvey was standing there. And he said, 'I'll put him in bed, Mrs. Canter. You can go That was the last I saw of my husband." Odas Day A retired Cincinnati police officer, Odas Day had been treated at Good Samaritan Hospital for heart disease, then sent to Drake because he was still too weak to go home.

He was a life member of the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 1, a former member of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, a grandfather and a great-grandfather. Leo Parker Leo Parker's parents are both dead, but two sisters, including his twin, Leona, survive. He began living with his sister Carol Smith at her West End home i Art Ney list of victims was key gators Henry Drescher and Tom Gardener, both former homicide detectives, now on the prosecutor's staff. Defense attorney William Whalen approached Ney and offered a deal. Harvey would confess to everything in exchange for a life sentence.

The deal was struck on July 8. Whalen and Deters took it to Harvey in the Justice Center and witnessed his signing it. Harvey claims to have been a mercy killer. The experts said he has a character defect that allows him to kill, without remorse, to trratifv his nwn Hpcirpa With the biggest case of his career now over. Nev said Fridav he still has two questions he would like to have Donald Harvey answer7 rnnrliHlv "The first thing I would ask is 'Tell me the real reason you did 'Did you think you would ever get Other victims Photographs of all of Donald Harvey's victims couldn't be obtained Here are summaries of the others: Helen Metzger, died 41083 at her home of arsenic poisoning.

Henry Hoewelei, died 5183 at Providence Hospital of arsenic poisoning. Margaret Hoeweler, poisoned between June, 1983, and December, 1985, with arsenic. Carl Hoeweler, poisoned December, 1986, with arsenic. Diana Alexander, given a drink containing hepatitis January, 1984. James Peluso, died 111084 of arsenic poisoning.

Edgar Wilson, 81, neighbor of Harvey's. Harvey said he put arsenic in Pepto Bismol he gave to Wilson. Wilson died 32285 in Providence Hospital. Virgil Weddle, died 41986 at Drake after being fed rat poison. John L.

Oldendick, poisoned with arsenic at Drake and died the summer of 1 986 at a nursing home. Harold White, poisoned with arsenic at Drake and died June, 1 986, at another hospital. Edward Schreibels, died 62086 at Drake after being poisoned with arsenic or cyanide. Robert Crockett, died 62986 at Drake of cyanide poisoning. James Woods, died 72586 at Drake of cyanide poisoning.

Ernst Frey, 85, died 81 686 at Drake of cyanide poisoning. Milton Canter, 85, died 82986 at Drake of cyanide poisoning. Claborn Kendrick, died 92086 at Drake of cyanide poisoning. Albert Buehlmann, died 102986 at Drake of cyanide poisoning. William Collins, died 103086 at Drake of cyanide poisoning.

Mose Thompson, died 112286 at Drake of cyanide poisoning. Cleo Fish, died 121086 at Drake of cyanide poisoning. Odas Day, 72, died 121086 at Drake of cyanide poisoning. Leo Parker, 47, died 11087 at Drake of cyanide poisoning. Margaret Kuckro, died 21587 at Drake of cyanide poisoning.

Joseph Pike, 68, died 3687 at Drake after being fed petroleum distillate. John Powell, 44, died 3787 at Drake of cyanide poisoning. Powell was uncomfortable wearing his motorcycle helmet on hot days. The day of his accident was a hot one. When he died March 7, the pathologist performing the autopsy smelled bitter almonds a sign that cyanide was present.

Powell's death was the first sign on the road that led to Donald Harvev. actly what Judge Mathews is made of, Deters says. "He takes his cases very seriously," says Robert L. Stone, a lawyer and friend and schoolmate who has known Mathews since he was a football player at Wyoming High School. "He is even-handed, concerned, not pretentious." Mathews, in fact, is known for sitting down at the defense or prosecution tables, or even sitting at the bench, sleeves rolled up, willing to try to make both sides reach agreement.

Once, faced with a bitter labor-management battle and strike violence, he was instrumental in getting the company and union to agree. "I conned them in settling the strike," he said. He grew up in Wyoming, the son of a physician who might more easily typify a rural country doctor. In fact, Mathews remembers going with his father on house calls in the valley area, even being there as his father delivered babies. And he's not above reminding defendants that his father delivered them.

Stella Lemon s-f Died: March 16, 1987, at Drake of cyanide poisoning. in April, 1986, and worked at a restaurant before he became ill, she said. Parker wasn't married, and he liked to play cards, she said. Stella Lemon On the walls of Stella Lemon's Sharonville home are dozens of pictures of her five grandchildren. Her son, Warren, said she doted on them.

"They (his sister's family) came here every summer, or we'd get in the van and go there, to Colorado," he said. Mrs. Lemon had been living alone since her husband, Percy, died in 1980. For 20 or 25 years she worked as a proofreader at Methodist Publishing House. She was a member of the Montgomery Community Baptist Church and served on some of the church boards.

Her favorite, her son said, was the mission board. Mrs. Lemon was a member of American Baptist Women, and a member of the church's Seekers. Class. Helen Metzger Helen Metzger lived upstairs from the man who eventually would kill her in 1983.

Donald Harvey fed her arsenic in a pie with whipped topping. Edgar Wilson Edgar Wilson, 81, also lived upstairs from Harvey in the second-floor apartment of a duplex in Mount Airy. Harvey and the building's owner, Carl Hoeweler, shared the first-floor apartment. Harvey killed Wilson in 1985 by giving him arsenic-laced stomach medicine after Wilson and Hoeweler argued about a utility bill. Henry, Margaret, Carl Hoeweler The surviving members of the A Jurist praised as tough but compassionate BY PEGGY LANE The Cincinnati Enquirer The hair may be graying, but the physique still tells you William S.

Mathews was a football player, and the twinkle in the eyes says this is a 61-year-old going on 40. This is a judge generally universally liked and respected in court-legal circles. When Arthur Ney, current Hamilton County prosecutor, joined the prosecutor's office in 1962, Mathews was an assistant prosecutor. "He was a very astute, good lawyer," Ney says, "and he is a good judge. He is both fair and compassionate." The Harvey case, assistant prosecutor Joseph Deters says, was a tough one for any judge but "Mathews cut through the emotion Victims CONTINUED FROM PAGE A-l he drove regularly to Riverfront Stadium to see them play.

His health began to decline, but his love for the team did not. He and his wife of 37 years, Bertha, lived in the other half of his stepdaughter's two-family house. Grandchildren were everywhere. "He loved children and little ones," said Pat Lovejoy, Mrs. Evans' daughter.

"He could tolerate babies. If a baby would cry, he'd say, 'Bring me that Bertha Evans said, her voice trembling: "I'm not really completely over this. My husband was fine. He was talking and everything." The last evening they were together "was a beautiful evening, the most beautiful evening we've ever spent. I laid my head on his chest like he wanted me to.

We just held onto each other so tightly Donald Barney Donald Barney's death was the end to a troubled life, his sister, Carolyn Chenowith, said. The Hillsboro native was one of nine children only four are still alive. The children and their mother took care of themselves as best they could on their farm. "It was a hard life, but we survived it. Some of us did," Chenowith, 56, said.

Barney was an infantryman in World War II and won medals for bravery. But when he came home, he couldn't get the terrible things he'd seen out of his mind. He went from job to job until about four years ago, when he suffered a convulsion and hit his head. His family took him from hospital to hospital, refusing to believe he would be comatose forever. Finally, he reached the point where he could talk again, say his sister's name.

But she remembers something disturbing: "He'd look at me, then look at the exit sign. He kept looking at his feeding bag," she said. "He'd glare at me and move his mouth. I guess he was trying to tell me something." She thinks it was a warning about Harvey. Claborn Kendrick For a time, Claborn Kendrick had two jobs manager of a state liquor store and law student.

He studied for his degree while working his daytime job, and practiced law for seven years until he had a stroke five years before his.