The Cincinnati Post from Cincinnati, Ohio • 11

valley The Cincinnati Pott Tuesday My 1982 laying possibly 'message' to another crime difficult Police initially theorized that death was a crime of passion However while not totally dismissing this possibility police now say that the beating of Gilbert and the possibility that he was held captive as long as 24 hours before his death indicate that his attackers were trying to get Information from him POLICE ALSO have ruled out robbery as a motive because van was found in Adams County more than 20 miles from where the body was dumped Tools valued at 33000 were in the van That the van might have been left in Adams County by Gilbert's killer would also mean that another vehicle would have been required That would mean more than one person was Involved in the killing police say drug trafficking BUT POLICE said Gilbert had been approached at least a dozen times since 1973 to fly drugs Into and out of Broftm County and that he was convinced that the men who approached him in May about leasing his plane Intended to use it to transport drugs As noted one of the men who asked Gilbert about leasing the plane is the subject of a major drug Investigation in Brown County according to one investigator who said think he has been Involved In 3200000 and $300000 drug deals it's a big ring and a lot of people have been implicated (This man) has been flying drugs in an out of here for The drug connection is a new element in the Gilbert investigation ACCORDING TO one investigator the multiplicity of clues in the case has made solving the Police said the man being investigated for drugs is an acquaintance of a former Brown County man now living in California who on March 5 appeared before a federal grand Jury in Cincinnati investigating organized drug trafficking Police theorize that Gilbert was beaten and slain by assailants who were a of warning to the Californian THE FACT that Gilbert's body was dumped in a highly visible location on Swope Road near Bethel has given credence to this theory police say don't know for sure if he was dead 20 minutes or five hours but he was definitely no question dumped there in broad daylight Some- body wanted him said one investigator Police said there has never been any direct evidence that Gilbert himself was Involved in By Ramon McLeod Ptm topontf Three weeks before he was brutally beaten and killed Permon Gilbert was approached by two one of whom police are Investigating for drug who soyght to lease Gilbert's private plane presumably to fly drugs Into the Cincinnati area sources close to the Investigation say According to police Investigating the homicide Gilbert told family members shortly before his death May 23 that the two men asked to lease his plane for a flight from the Brown County Airport to Miami Fla ONE OF THE MEN who reportedly approached Gilbert Is under investigation by police In Brown and Clermont counties for alleged large- sc ale trafficking in marijuana according to police sources In both counties The authorities declined to reveal his name Milford loses out 1 I on block grants By Nancy Berlier Pott Stall RtporMr MILFORD When federal neighborhood Improvement grants were being passed out this year the city of Milford was standing in the wrong line Milford officials intended to lobby for a share of Clermont $47800 in "small cities" community development block grants but discovered too late the city was classified in Hamilton County's program Instead AS A RESULT Milford will receive no federal funding for neighborhood improvements from Hamilton County for the next three years City officials are lobbying in Columbus to change the state law that categorized Milford in the urban county program Both programs were administered by the UB Department of Housing and Urban Development until this year Now federal funds for neighborhood development are being returned to states in the block grants Milford was placed In the urban county program because 27 of the residents live in Hamilton County according to City Councilman Gary Knepp and Dan Domls a member of the Hamilton County com- unity development office DESPITE THE predominance of more than 5200 Milford residents in Clermont County distribution rules assigned the city to the urban county program Knepp said Knepp said a government source misinformed the city in December that Milford could compete in either the Hamilton or Clermont county programs When city officials discovered late In April they could make applications only in Hamilton urban county program it was too late to apply Knepp said Knepp did not name the government source he says made the mistake but he said he has complained about the matter The person involved denies misinforming Milford officials he said HAMILTON County's community development block grants have been allocated for the next three years Domls said as a matter of fact even participate in (the) Hamilton County program until he said There is no way to calculate how much grant money Milford would have received through a community development block grant program Knepp said In two Hamilton County cities with populations about the size of Milford Green Hills a middle-income area received $125000 while Lincoln Heights a less affluent area recleved $750000 for the next three years according to Domls Every city eligible for Hamilton County's share of federal community development funds received a grant Domls said WHILE DOMIS said Hamilton $45 million urban county program was far bigger than Clermont $47800 small cities program he said he did not know whether Milford would be better served in Clermont than Hamilton County Knepp maintains that Milford would fare better in a county where lobbying power is greater wondered how much clout Milford would have with 27 people irf Hamilton Knepp said Sheriff asks for funds money to hire nine additional personnel two vehicles and radios The request came one day after a vote last Thursday by the commissioners that boosted the sheriffs office budget by $80000 for 1983 Van Camp whose 1982 budget stands at $18 million had asked for a $24 million increase Part of that Increase was to pay for 24 employees for the Investigative division which now Includes an Inspector one sergeant two investigators two uniformed officers on loan from the road patrol and a clerk BATAVIA Citing an Increased workload and continuing investigations into unsolved homicides Clermont County Sheriff John Van Camp has asked the county commissioners for an emergency amended appropriation of $110000 According to a letter received by the commissioners late Friday Van Camp Justified the additional funds for the department's investigative division on the grounds that have hundreds of offense reports which need our immediate attention and 12 cases being investigated as open Van Camp said he would use the rMohirJMXKUIMK He's sure-footed Mike Prentice Napoleon Ind climbs atop a stack of pallets to affix a chain holding the wooden skids in place The pallets will be loaded onto a trailer at the Napoleon Lumber Co where they are made This load is among those coming to Ohio for use at industries in the Greater Cincinnati area 1 1 'll news briefs Jury may get case Wednesday Uwtttf Am MammanM FINDLAY Ohio The retrial of James Ruppert a Hamilton man facing charges that he killed 11 members of his family on Easter Sunday 1975 may go to the Jury by Wednesday The prosecution rested the rebuttal phase of its case Monday Court was then recessed until today It is expected a few defense sur-rebuttal witnesses may take the stand today SUR-REBUTTAL testimony would seek to disprove the rebuttal It is a stage of criminal trial procedure that is left to the discretion of the Judge nesses called last week by the prosecution have emphasized that Ruppert seemingly carried on normal relationships with others in the months before the shootings ONE WITNESS testified last week that Ruppert was but a basic Ruppert was convicted by a three-judge panel at his first trial but that verdict was overturned by an appeals court The court ruled that Ruppert was not informed that the decision had to be unanimous At his first trial Ruppert was convicted of 11 counts of murder and sentenced to 11 consecutive life terms in prison The balance of today then would be set aside for legal housekeeping Judge A Ross Slverllng told both sides in the case to be prepared for closing arguments Wednesday and indicated those arguments plus his charge to the Jury should be completed in time for the eight women and four men to begin deliberations RUPPERT 48 pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the charges that he killed his relatives in Hamilton The prosecution has contended during the trial that he deliberately killed his mother brother and nine others to Inherit the fortunes Btate witnesses on Monday Included a former co-worker of Ruppert who testified that he believed the defendant to be sane A FINDLAY flight service weatherman said the am il ton-area weather the day of the killings was cold and cloudy Ruppert said he planned to go target shooting the day the killings took place Another Findlay man firearms expert Jack Taylor said the hollow-point bullets found in the bodies of the victims were not normally used in target shooting Monday began the sixth week of the trial moved to Findlay on a change of venue Many of the rebuttal wit Farmland loss worries conservationist The state conservationist in Ohio for the UB Soil Conservation Service says farmland is being depleted by erosion and development at an alarming rate impossible to overemphasize the importance of said Robert Shaw a basic natural resource critical to life in Ohio the nation and around the world and losing The national resources inventory completed by the 8CS lists Ohio with more than 117 million acres of Cropland of which 92 million acres is prime farmland Shaw said the Inventory shows the farmland being depleted by erosion nearly 68A million tons each year and almost 100000 acres of the best farmland is disappearing each year under steel concrete and blacktop to development lost to development has probably grown its last crop' he said The best farmland is flat or gently rolling and provokes little erosion It requires the least expenditure of fuel fertilizer and labor to produce abundant crops he said Warren County fair opens Wednesday LEBANON The annual Warren County Fair opens for its 131st year on Wednesday The four-day event continues in its popularity so this fair organizers decided to keep the same basic attractions as last year They also kept the same prices A $5 membership season tick et allows a person to enter the fair multiple times This membership also carries voting privileges in the election of fair board directors Otherwise lt costs $2 to enter Children under age 12 are admitted free Parking Is free too In addition grandstand admission is $1 for the entertainment Thursday Friday and Saturday The main entertainment for the fair includes Rotroff Demolition Derby at 8 pm the tractor pull on Thursday and Friday and harness racing on Wednesday and Thursday The Warren County Fairgrounds are located on the north edge of Lebanon along Ohio 48b Extradition granted neighbors dismayed But Abbott's friends in Hamilton wished that the Greenville authorities would have stayed in South Carolina ABBOTT'S attorney Mary Nash said hundreds of neighbors signed petitions in her client's behalf The petitions were sent to Gov James Rhodes the governor of South Carolina and the local office handling the case But the petitions were in the mail to Columbus and South Carolina the same time Abbott was heading south too HAMILTON A Butler County Com- mon Pleas Court Judge Monday granted extradition of Terry Abbott to face trial in South Carolina on a nine-year-old armed robbery charge Judge John Moser granted extradition of Abbott after a brief hearing The action came amid statements from Abbott's neighbors in Hamilton that he has lived an exemplary life in the southwest Ohio community for nine years ABBOTT 31 was taken into custody by Greenville SCL police after the hearing a court spokeswoman said Abbott lived in Hamilton since he allegedly Jumped ball after a reported arrest in an October 1973 robbery incident Police Lt Jerry face was grazed by a bullet In the shootout that followed the robbery incident officials said Two other men have been convicted and sentenced in the case and Stargel believes only fair that Abbott face the charge against him NOTHING said Stargel if two people have served time he is due his day in i l- --W' 't" 4 JN i-J it -V- saL- v- 1 ii i 1 i pjo j-V vy.