OH OH - Asenath 'Seenie' Dukat, 8, Upper Arlington, 3 June 1980

[nerosleuth]

The Columbus Dispatch Monday October 7, 1991

Lead Investigator Say Cops Bungled Girl’s Slaying Probe

In a Columbus Dispatch newspaper article published on Monday October 7, 1991, a former lead investigator in the Asenath Louise Dukat murder case charged that bungling and mismanagement began the moment the girl’s body was found.

Upper Arlington police have asked the FBI to review the case, which had become muddled with allegations that investigators didn’t follow proper procedures during the murder investigation.

The former lead investigator in the case alleged that:

* The crime scene was trampled by dozens of officers and even city politicians who wanted a look, causing investigators to waste months of valuable time sifting through shoe print impressions.

* It took investigators three years to categorize leads and organize their files.

* Potential evidence was not preserved, and nobody checked for fingerprints on Asenath’s body.


The Columbus Dispatch reported that the murder investigation took an ironic turn last month when the former lead investigator retired from the Upper Arlington police force after being charged with four counts of public indecency for exposing himself or defecating in front of children at a park near his home in Grove City in May 1991.

The former lead investigator said that he was off on the day the murder and learned about it while watching the local 11:00 p.m. news on television. He was asked to join the investigation the next day.

Columbus police did the initial crime scene analysis because Upper Arlington police did not have a forensic unit back then. The former lead investigator said that he was frustrated at first because too little of the crime scene was cordoned off from the public. He maintains that the entire field should have been sealed, not just the culvert area.

He also maintained that key evidence may have been lost after Asenath’s schoolbooks and papers were found the next day under a bush about 300 feet east of where her body was found.

The former lead investigator also revealed his personal theory about the murder that he never discussed publicly: Asenath was removed from the scene for two hours, and then brought back to the scene.

The former lead investigator said that Asenath’s body was found clothed, but she obviously had been undressed, molested, then hastily re-clothed, indicating that her attacker intended to release her.

He speculated that Asenath was abducted from the area and molested at another location, brought back to the area where she was abducted to drop her off, then her abductor panicked and chased her down, and then killed Asenath Louise Dukat on the retirement community grounds. He also believed that Asenath’s killer lived in Upper Arlington or had intimate knowledge of the suburb.

The former lead investigator was also critical of another officer who did not attend the autopsy and took pictures of the body for potential court evidence because he was squeamish. He maintained that the detective only went to the coroner’s office but didn’t see the autopsy.

The former lead investigator said that the lack of evidence in the case had bothered him, and wondered if the killer could be someone connected to law enforcement, or have a working knowledge of crime scene analysis, such as a doctor, firefighter, or medic. He admitted that he secretly investigated two Upper Arlington police officers as potential suspects in the Dukat murder case.

The former lead investigator also admitted that the new evidence they found last year from an old suspect was not the breakthrough they were hoping for in the murder case. He explained that the new evidence that was sent to the FBI DNA testing lab in 1990 did not have enough genetic material left in the evidence to allow the DNA tests to be completed.

The former lead investigator said that he is not pretending to have done a flawless investigation, but acknowledged that his criticisms about the Asenath Louise Dukat murder investigation might be perceived as revenge.

 

[nerosleuth]

On September 20, 1982, parents in the Columbus area became alarmed again for the safety of their children when 8 year old third grade school girl Kelly Ann Prosser was abducted on the north side of Columbus and was later found murdered.

There is a thread on WebSleuths for Kelly Ann Prosser:


OH OH - Kelly Ann Prosser, 8, Columbus, Murdered In Sept 1982 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

 

[nerosleuth]

Here are my own observations about the Dukat and Prosser murder cases that occurred in the Columbus, Ohio area during the early 1980's.

I noticed the following similarities and differences between the two homicide cases.


Similarities:

Asenath Louise Dukat and Kelly Ann Prosser were both 8 years old.

Both girls lived in Franklin County.

Both girls had brown hair.

Both girls were in the third grade in elementary school.

Both girls were walking home alone after school when they disappeared.

Both girls were last seen by their classmates walking home alone after school.

Both girls were abducted during the first half of the week.

Both girls were abducted, assaulted, and murdered.

Before both girls were abducted, their attacker had attempted to abduct other girls days earlier but were unsuccessful.

Differences:

Asenath Louise Dukat lived in Upper Arlington.

Kelly Ann Prosser lived in Columbus.

Asenath Louise Dukat was murdered a week before the school year ended for the summer.

Kelly Ann Prosser was murdered two weeks after the school year had started.

Asenath Louise Dukat was killed by blunt force trauma to her head.

Kelly Ann Prosser was killed by strangulation.

Asenath Louise Dukat was raped by her attacker.

Kelly Ann Prosser was sexually assaulted but not raped by her attacker.

Asenath Louise Dukat’s body was found in a culvert and 1/8 of a mile away from her home.

Kelly Ann Prosser’s body was found in a cornfield and 25 miles away from her home.

Kelly Ann Prosser was murdered 27 months after Asenath Louise Dukat was murdered.

The area where Asenath Louise Dukat body was found was less than 1/8 of a mile east of U.S. Route 33 (Riverside Drive) in Upper Arlington in Franklin County and it is also close to the Scioto River.

The area where Kelly Ann Prosser body was found was a little over two miles west of U.S. Route 42 (A.W. Wilson Road) in Madison County.

 

[December]

If it's the same guy, then he nearly got caught red handed with Seenie. So, he changed his method.

 

[MissJ]

I tend to agree with last post. But think these were not his only two victims. JMO

 

[December]

I tend to agree with last post. But think these were not his only two victims. JMO

I agree that there are probably more victims. I don't think these guys stop unless something stops them. And the only two things that seem to reliably do that imprisonment or death (or I guess both would work, too).

 

[margarita25]

Asenath Louise Dukat was an 8 year old third grade student at Barrington Elementary School in Upper Arlington, Ohio. Asenath had brown hair and she was known by her nickname as Seenie. Like all school age children, the end of the school year was only one week away and Asenath was looking forward to summer vacation.

On the afternoon of Tuesday June 3,1980, the school dismissal bell rang at 3:00 p.m., but Asenath’s third grade class teacher kept the class 10 minutes after school to discipline them for talking during a class lesson earlier in the day.

Asenath left Barrington Elementary School at 3:10 p.m. and began the 12 block walk home from school. Asenath was last seen by her two classmates at 3:20 p.m. walking along her usual route on Waltham Road heading towards her Malvern Avenue home in Upper Arlington.

Asenath’s parents contacted Upper Arlington Police at 4:34 p.m. and reported that their daughter was missing. An extensive search of the neighborhood was immediately launched by Upper Arlington Police along with neighbors and friends of the Dukat family.

Three hours after Asenath was reported missing, her body was found in a drainage ditch near the corner of Riverside Drive and Waltham Road in Upper Arlington, less than one block from her home.

The investigation revealed that Asenath had been raped, strangled, and beaten by a blunt force trauma to the head. Investigators believed that Asenath had been abducted somewhere between the school and her house, and was murdered at a location other than where she was found.

No one has ever been arrested in connection with the abduction and murder of Asenath Louise Dukat and the case remains unsolved to this day.


Sources:

http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Law-Enforcement/Investigator/Cold-Case/Homicides/Dukat


http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/05/31/memories-outlast-crime-tape.html


Cold Case: Asenath Dukat Youtube


Cold Case: Asenath Dukat - YouTube

Thank you for posting Nerosleuth.

 

[Veidt]

I've been reading this thread after being told about the case by nerosleuth.

There may be something I'm missing but - what's led LE to believe Asenath was killed at a different location? From what I understand, they found a rock that was used to kill her lying next to her. It seems odd to me that the perp would have taken her elsewhere like his house and then disposed of both her and the rock in the same location. Even if he was careful about prints, disposing of the rock elsewhere could have thrown LE off if it was even found. A rock is also not so difficult to hide at home. A relatively large one that can be picked up by a person isn't so huge, even a large-sized rock could be hidden on private property if the perp had a garden. Otherwise, keeping it indoors somewhere could also have hidden it from sight. :twocents: This makes me think she was killed or at least hit with that rock where she was found.

The hypodermic needle guy - is he the same one who was seen crying at the bar? How many men were seen crying at bars, even? I think it could be the case that the needle guy wasn't the perp but knew who was, and felt guilty for being too afraid to disclose the truth. If he's the guy who was crying at a bar, then maybe he was too afraid to go home because he was threatened or even lived with or near the perp. Or maybe being so mentally unstable, he was suffering from delusions and believed himself to be killer. I believe I've read before that sometimes in other cases LE has gotten 'confessions' from people who think they were the perps but after looking into them LE is able to rule them out for very solid reasons and it turns out they were just going through delusions as a result of mental illness.

I also wonder, like December said, if maybe they weren't looking at young enough suspects especially once they got the FBI report that by psychological profile the perp was in his 20s. Maybe the witnesses were wrong and the guy was slightly younger or slightly older. I assume that even though 16 was given as the minimum age in the descriptions that they would have looked at boys who were 15? Sometimes people don't look their age exactly, sometimes they look much younger or much older and sometimes they just look 'off' their age by a few years.

There are so many weird things about the case. As I was reading I was thinking the #1 perp was the guy who got arrested in connection to another case then never questioned about this case (why? Even if his lawyer didn't want that, wouldn't there be a way). But then the fact that other girls were followed by other cars, it seems weird to me. Sometimes when people have something on their minds it's easy to be mistaken but I don't think so many children would be suffering from mass paranoia! Why was the perp that was later looked into who was among the 5,000 possible suspects never mentioned again that we can see?

Something about the former detective who was sacked for exposing himself to kids, sounds really strange to me. It doesn't seem to me like he was involved, perhaps he believed himself 'above' killing and raping a kid, like if his obsession was more to do with voyeurism and such or if in his mind he was 'better', who knows. The fact that the article about that says he looking into other LE agents who seemed suspicious and was concerned about preserving the crime scene, too. All of this makes me think he had nothing to do with the case beyond being a detective and doing his job. At the same time I can't help but wonder, could he have been carefully covering up for someone? Not necessarily himself but someone he knew?

And what could explain the fact that so many kids from Asenath's school were being followed by cars, that there was more than one car involved, more than one red bike... something just isn't right. I'd be inclined to believe it was a ring but usually, correct me if I'm wrong, rings tend to operate more on the basis of kidnapping children - not perps who would have been less than a handful (surely if all the pedophiles in the area were taking the day off it would have been noticeable!) if more than one kidnapping a girl and then disposing of her body later that that. :twocents:

Quick question for any forensic experts... would it be possible to get a measurement of a perp's hands based on handprints? If not a precise one then a general one? One of the articles posted by nerosleuth says there were handprints on Asenath's throat, could they have been measured and compared against the hand size of possible suspects?

Here are my own observations about the Dukat and Prosser murder cases that occurred in the Columbus, Ohio area during the early 1980's.

Snipped by me. This is a good point and I think you may be on to something. The similarities, IMO seem stronger than the differences.

- Differences in time may not mean much. Unless the weather was strongly prohibitive, if the two cases had the same perp(s), he may not have had a preferred time of the year to attack (other than maybe when the school was in session).

- Same with differences in location. He could have just been all over a larger area especially if he had a car or other vehicle. He could have lived elsewhere and picked locations he had no other connection with or lived in one of them and then ventured out of his home area. He could have had friends or relatives living there or worked at one or both of the locations. Maybe whatever linked him to one of the locations then switched to the other one, like a move of job change. If it was because he knew people, then the people in question may not have known he was connected to the crimes - he could be visiting friends, for example, while keeping an eye out on the area.

- The fact that Prosser was murdered by strangulation could IMO be a link to Asenath's murder, not a difference. From what I understand, Asenath was strangled too though it was not what killed her. Was Prosser beaten up at all?

This is all :twocents:, :moo:, etc. I think I had something else to say but I've forgotten and I think this is already long enough. I'm sorry about the long post!

 

[nerosleuth]

The hypodermic needle guy - is he the same one who was seen crying at the bar?

Yes, he is the same person who was seen crying at the bar.

He is also the same person who committed suicide a few years later close to the anniversary of the Dukat murder.

 

[Veidt]

Yes, he is the same person who was seen crying at the bar.

He is also the same person who committed suicide a few years later close to the anniversary of the Dukat murder.

Do we know of anything particularly weird about him? Well, other than stabbing himself with a hypodermic needle.

I do think it's possible that he could have been the perp but I also think he wasn't. The things we know about this case all sound very calculated, unless he was sloppier than we know and left 'clues' we don't know about because LE didn't find them at the time or didn't reveal them. He doesn't sound to me like the type to be so premeditated, but more the sort of person who would act on a whim, if this makes sense. Someone who was so calculated wouldn't really be disturbed enough by committing suicide on the death of the victim and probably wouldn't care about such a date except to stroke his ego, whereas someone acting out on a whim and mental instability probably would. I think that, as I said before, it's possible that he didn't do it but felt guilty over it for whatever reason (assuming the date he committed suicide wasn't just a coincidence). Maybe his mental health led him to believe he'd done it or maybe he knew the real perp and was afraid to reveal who it was.

Or, something I don't think I thought of before, maybe he was involved with the crime in some way without being the real mastermind behind it. This could be for any number of reasons. If he was a pedophile he could have shared his fantasies with another pedophile, and the latter suggested they should go and do it. Maybe a good friend of his said he needed help and asked him to keep watch or drive a car, maybe he was paid. Etc. etc.

I wonder if LE ever looked into any of his acquaintances or friends when they were looking into him, just in case their suspect could have had an accomplice?

 

[AnaTeresa]

Interesting case! Haven't heard anything about this one, and I'm local. Like others have pointed out, Upper Arlington is a very nice area of town, and so it's shocking that something like this happened there. It's a community where people, even now, would feel fairly safe with their kids walking home from school. This had to have been a big case, and one that UA police might not have had a lot of experience handling.

I'm doubtful of the witness description from the woman who was hypnotized. There's a reason that type of testimony is not admissible in a court of law, and it's far too easy to suggest things to the witness while they are hypnotized.

With so many children mentioning being followed, I don't think this was a crime of opportunity. There couldn't have been a ring, because there weren't more kidnappings. A ring would indicate, to me, a far larger scale than what actually occurred. To me, it's more likely there was one person, and he had been planning this for a while. Not sure if Kelly Prosser is related, but it's possible.

What bothers me is that there weren't additional crimes. Offenders like this usually aren't a one and done type. Either the man who committed suicide did it (I think this is likely), or perhaps the offender moved. It's very likely he was from UA, because it is a bold move to pull something like this there.

 

[GoldenBear1]

I have long been fascinated by this case as I was a 7 year old living in UA at the time. I thought I would share some info to you all. This is not my writing, but from our alumni board.

Like many of you, Seenie's senseless death marks a seminal event of my youth. I was nine at the time, and after learning of the circumstances of her murder I never looked at the world in the same way. While I didn't live in Upper Arlington (I lived in Columbus just off of Dublin Road, not far from Fishinger), my parents grew up in the area and both attended Upper Arlington High School. And my dad's parents lived on Waltham, near Northwest, so my younger brother and I spent much of our childhood at our grandparent's house or playing at the Barrington School around the corner.

About a month ago, for reasons I still can't explain, this tragedy popped into my mind. After a few Google searches, I discovered this forum. I've read and re-read it many times. So many thoughts and emotions came rushing back. Murders rarely make sense, but this particular crime ranks among the more senseless, tragic, and surreal. I never understood (perhaps I still can't) how no one could have seen anything. I knew that stretch of Waltham between Riverside/33 and Barrington pretty well. Yes, there are huddles of trees and the wooded/field area between Miller Park and First Community, but, in general, you find wide open lawns and things are more or less visible from the road. Also, this happened on an election day--the Ohio primary of 1980--so people would have been out and about.

A few weeks ago, entirely by chance, I was invited to Columbus to celebrate a friend's fortieth birthday. I decided to go in large part so that I could revisit the area and read as much as I could on the case. Having armed myself with several searches on the Columbus News Index (an excellent annotated resource), I went to the UA library on Tremont. I spent an entire afternoon at the microfiche machine. As a tribute to Seenie's memory and to those that continue to think of her, I want to share some of what I've learned (based on the best I can tell from my reading of not always well photographed news print):

The Crime
Seenie was found near the mouth of a culvert located close to Riverside Drive/33. In fact, it's the last culvert before the creek presumably runs under the road and down to the Scioto River. She disappeared between 3 and 3.30 and was found at 7.30pm. Most of you are aware of the circumstances of her death so I won't rehash those grizzly details here. Police were initially under the impression that she had been snatched near the stone wall near Waltham and Hillside, dragged to a nearby area obscured by tall pines (where her books and umbrella were later found), and eventually killed in the culvert. All of this would've happened in an area tragically close to her street and in spaces separated by no more than 400 or so feet. It also would have occurred in close proximity to the road and First Community. Later, after a K-9 dog tracked Seenie's trail, police indicated she made some unusual deviations form her standard walk. What exactly that meant was never disclosed. And I will add that police had the impression there was some hesitation or indecision in the killer about murdering her--she appeared to have been hastily re-clothed and was likely unconscious at the time of her death. Immediately after Seenie's murder, police revealed that there had been a previous and very similar attack in the area--on May 7th--when a ten-year old girl walking home from Tremont Elementary was grabbed from behind on Canterbury near 33, strangled into unconsciousness, and moved some 150 yards. The attacker was believed to have fled for unknown reasons.

Suspects
Police immediately provided a sketch based on a motorist who was believed to have seen Seenie's killer (the left most sketch in a thread above). He was described as white, thin, and between 15-20 years old. Initial news stories suggested the man had a "Mediterranean" look, although that suggestion faded over time. Two days after the killing, police were suggesting a link between Seenie's murder and the May 7th attack. The sketch from that incident was provided; the two appeared to look similar. While various specific suspects were mentioned over time, all were pretty much ruled out quickly with the exception of BS and RCW (both mentioned in the threads above). It's worth noting, however, that in a June 3, 1990 (the ten year anniversary of the crime) Dispatch article, police mentioned they had a strong suspicion of another person. Someone who had lived in Ohio but left shortly after the murder and was in jail or facing charges for another crime. Reference was made to the fact this individual had not been included in the top 500 suspects at the time of the crime, but was among a larger pool of people they were looking at that numbered as high as 4,500. A DNA test was ordered but came back inconclusive as so little viable DNA material remained after the ten years.

The Red Bike
For many of us the red bike remains one of the key memories from this incident. The bike was clearly tied to the May 7th attack by multiple witness testimony, and to Seenie's murder by a motorist who thought she saw a red ten-speed bike leaning against the bushes, near the wall at Waltham and Hillside, the afternoon of Seenie's murder. From there the red bike became a central theme, and a few of the early (and later cleared) suspects that made the newspapers--Guy John Ford and Terry Arnold--had red ten-speed bikes in their possession. A red bike, although not a ten-speed, was also seen at the incident at Big Bear on June 28th where a woman was grabbed from behind before the assailant fled. As you will read below, it seems that both BS and RCW had red ten-speed bikes as well. Most curious is the fact that UA police, in November of 1980, dropped the red bike theory as part of their investigation. They came to believe--based on the lack of witnesses who saw Seenie farther south than Arlington Ave--that she was taken by an automobile. And, just as curiously, a few articles that appeared in 1990 seemed to suggest the police were closing in on someone and that it would tie in with the red bike.

BS
BS can be seen in the UA yearbook in 1977 with his twin brother. He then disappears from photographs during his junior year and there is no mention of him in what would have been his senior year (1979). A close examination of his sophomore year photo shows indication of some type of abnormality or developmental syndrome. Some of his issues appeared in the press and they included paranoia, an inability to control his behavior, understand consequences, and confusion over his age. At the time of the murder BS was living in an apartment off Northwest, just south of North Star. His parents lived at 2705 Kent Road. Numerous news articles indicate that an anonymous witness told police the week of the murder that BS was distraught the night of June 3rd, saying he could not go home. He also owned a red ten-speed bike, which he stopped riding shortly after the May 7th assault occurred. Perhaps most intriguing was the fact that an auxiliary Franklin County Sheriffs Deputy said he saw a man on the service road between Waltham and First Community around 2.10pm the day of Seenie's murder. The deputy picked BS from a collection of photos as the one "most resembling the man he saw." When BS didn't turn up at his apartment, police learned that on Friday (6/6) he'd been arrested in Cleveland. Apparently, police up there approached him in a stranded car, and he began stabbing himself in the groin with a hypodermic needle. There and at the police station he got into a major scuffle with officers, which led to an array of charges. It also turned out that BS was facing charges from an incident in Grandview on 5/30 where he blocked traffic and got into a scuffle with police. He had also had previous curfew violations in UA. Apparently BS agreed to do a polygraph for UA Police, but under the advice of counsel, later refused. My takeaway is that he stopped talking to police from then on and never fully answered UA police questions. Investigators were left with a handful of circumstantial evidence and little more. BS killed himself on the night/morning of June 7/8, 1984, by jumping from his room in a downtown YMCA. It's notable, of course, that this suicide came very close to the anniversary of Seenie's murder. His younger brother is quoted in a news article as saying: "Every year for the past few years in June [BS] gets this way."

RCW
While BS had been speculated as a suspect from early on (in large part it seems due to anonymous tips, the red bike theory, and the related idea that a kid of the suspect's age without a car might have a mental handicap), RCW appears firmly in the mix after a failed kidnapping attempt of a 13-year-old girl on September 27th of 1980. The incident occurred at an apartment complex off Olentangy River Road. UA Police had questioned him early on, but he'd passed a lie detector test about his whereabouts and was tentatively ruled out even though they could not verify his story. RCW had a previous complaint against him dating back to May 28th in which a woman said RCW followed her on a red ten-speed bike along Asbury Road (not far from RCW's house). It's also worth noting that, after RCW's arrest, the victim of the May 7th attack picked RCW out of lineup as the man she saw riding the red bike shortly before she was attacked. RCW refused to be re-interviewed by UA police after being charged with the Olentangy River Road botched kidnapping. They did eventually get a search warrant for his home and came up with a red ten-speed bike as well as some clothing that was similar to what they were looking for as related to the May 7th incident. And, of course, RCW bore a striking resemblance to the police sketches circulating at the time. In the end no charges were filed against RCW--for either the May 7th attack or, of course, the murder of Seenie Dukat. RCW was sentenced to 3-10 years at Mansfield and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. The sentencing article also makes reference to him being "cleared as a suspect" in Seenie's murder. How he never faced charges or further, newsworthy investigation in the May 7th incident is beyond me. It's unclear how long RCW served but it appears to have been on the short side of his jail term. He currently lives in Columbus.

The Investigation
Police relied heavily on voluntary polygraphs (always proven to be very unreliable and rejected by the US Supreme Court in 1998) to clear persons of interest. They used hypnosis to help witnesses recall more about the suspect and crime. Hypnosis has been shown to not increase the veracity of testimony, but only increase the sense of certitude in what a witness thinks he or she saw. My impression is that this was a crime that would have been much more solvable today. Police seemed hamstrung by a number of things: the initial handling of the crime scene, the publicity and the way it overwhelmed their office, and the fact they threw a very, very wide net at gathering suspects. You also have to wonder if they got tunnel vision over a couple of their good leads--the May 7th attack, the sketches, and red bike. But I think it all comes down to the fact police didn't have the physical evidence they needed to solve this crime. DNA analysis, in any practical sense, was still more than a decade away. UA Police also didn't have a forensic team. Columbus police assisted in this regard. They also turned to the FBI, looking for fingerprints on the rock used to kill Seenie and for analyzing evidence found in BS and RCW's homes. Nothing panned out. Footprints in the crime scene area were also examined but very well could have been compromised during the frantic first moments of the discovery, and the fact that only a small area was cordoned off. Apparently, police also had some hair not belonging to Seenie. It's unclear what physical evidence remains--a 1991 Dispatch article suggested that something sent to the FBI in pursuit of new lead (as noted above) revealed not enough DNA material remained to be of use.

Odds and Ends
Finally I've been able to do a little more extensive internet research that led to the following: RCW still lives Columbus, not far from Mt. Carmel hospital. It appears he may have lived, at least for some period, under the alias of a woman's first name. BS's twin brother, the person I feel may be best suited to offer real insight into this case, lives in the San Diego area. His father recently passed away. An obituary can be found online. One of the lead officers investigating this case lost his job after being charged with exposing himself to minors in the early 90s. He was acquitted at trial.

A Curious Thing
One thing I've NEVER seen noted, and which I think leads to a number of truly interesting questions: BS and RCW both lived on Kent Road--2705 and 2751, respectively--which is a small two block road between busy Northam and West Lane in UA. I waked the road (it's right around the corner from the library) and this puts the men only six houses and roughly 350 feet apart. The dates these men were both there are somewhat vague, but it's a safe bet this was during their childhood and up to and possibly through their high school years. Keep in mind that at the time of Seenie's murder, BS was living in an apartment off Northwest, while RCW was still on Kent Rd. Each of these men was born in 1960, roughly four months apart. BS and his twin were a class behind RCW, which is its own curious thing given that would have made the twins sixteen in January of their freshman year in high school. But think abut it. Two boys. Almost the same age. Six house apart. BS and RCW knew each other; I've little doubt in my mind.

A Strong Family
I would be remiss without mentioning the Dukat family. I don't know the family personally as some of you do. Yet, after reading various articles, it's clear this was a tightly knit group of people who stuck together and with their faith through an unimaginable tragedy. Sadly, I understand that Seenie's father passed away. And yet her mother still lives at the house on Malvern Road. That is such an amazing tribute to her family. It comforts me to know someone of her personal strength and faith is out there in the world.

Okay, I could go on and on. While I do have some specific armchair theories on the crime and keys suspects, I'll stop for now. I'm sure others want to reflect on that tragic day 30 years ago. If anyone has a specific question I can try to answer it. Sorry for any confusion or some sloppiness now and then; I went through a lot of material here.

Let me end by how I started: praying that Asenath Dukat is never forgotten. And I hope that those of us outraged by this crime and what it did to our community never stop demanding this case be solved.

 

[nerosleuth]

Welcome GoldenBear1, we're glad to have you here!

:wagon: :welcome4:

 

[Kell1]

"It was revealed that during the investigation, detectives learned that about 20 children, mostly females, were followed by male motorists near Barrington Elementary School between September 1979 and June 1980.

Asenath Dukat had told her mother that on two separate occasions, she had been followed by a man in an automobile.

Upper Arlington Police said that there have been reports of men trying to lure children into vehicles on the southern side of the suburb during the past few weeks.

Upper Arlington Police also revealed that on May 7, a Tremont Elementary School girl was assaulted by a youth who had struck and choked her.
"

Any arrests made in these cases that we know of ?

Or at least suspects interviewed?

Seems odd that a slew of similar offenders would all be in the same area of that school, though not impossible .

I don't think this was planned, though he may've definitely out looking more likely she was a target of opportunity

Her belongings, were found 300 feet from her body the following day . This is most likely where the sexual assault occurred , however she was killed 300 feet from there , which is interesting

And seems to indicate, she may have gotten free and ran

This would explain the lack of a weapon , he used his hands, the crime scene proximity to her home, to the site where she was initially assaulted. and the fact the murder weapon came from the crime scene itself .

I feel he would be familiar with the area, the body dump site is usually a good indicator in abduction cases.

I think he was familiar with the site where she was found, otherwise he wouldn't have, taken her there. I think he most likely lives or works near by

I feel he has already been interviewed by police, and would have an unnatural interest in the case post offense.

And I feel strongly this wasn't his first attempt, but possibly his first homicide . And I don't believe it was his last attack.

What's tough is that no DNA is available, which means he could even be in custody for something similar, but it hasn't been linked because of it

Im also not sure this is linked to the Prosser case , however the sexual assault the day before the Prosser case was almost identical to what happened to Kelly Prosser .

 

[Owutatangledweb]

Yes, he is the same person who was seen crying at the bar.

He is also the same person who committed suicide a few years later close to the anniversary of the Dukat murder.

Hypodermic needle guy is also the same guy who would have had to have driven up I71 to I271 past Maple Heights, ohio where Tiffany Papesh was kidnapped on June 13, 1980 only to end up further North in Willoughby, Ohio where he was stopped by police, obviously thought it was the end of the road for himself, and started stabbing himself in the groin. Did anyone ever look at him in the disappearance of Tiffany? I have thought about Tiffany a lot over the years and have read what I could. In that case also, there appeared to be a false confession. And, I doubt needle guy brought his red bike along for the trip. But the timing is too queer to ignore. Tiffany was eight years old and disappeared from near a convenience store within days of the disappreance of this Columbus girl. This connection seems to be the most blatant "connect-the-dots" case I've ever seen. Unfortunately, there is no DNA in Tiffany's case, there is no composite sketch, there are no witnesses who were shown any sketch of the Columbus girls perp or shown a picture of needle guy, and needle guy is dead. I DO want to know if LE in NE Ohio looked into this guy and did show his photo to witnesses. Where WAS this guy between the time he left Columbus within days of that murder and the time he was arrested in Willoughby?

 

[Owutatangledweb]

Interesting. If you google RCW, the malvern road address of the victims family comes up in Intellus.

 

[Owutatangledweb]

I'm also confused, I thought RCW was the hypodermic needle guy according to an article Nero sleuth attached upline. Can't find the right article attachment now. Am I wrong?

 

[nerosleuth]

Any arrests made in these cases that we know of ?

Or at least suspects interviewed?

No has ever been arrested and charged with the murder of Asenath Louise ‘Seenie’ Dukat that I know of.

As far as suspects were concerned according to a Columbus Dispatch newspaper article on the 10th anniversary of the Dukat murder in June 1990, five hundred individuals were considered suspects out of five thousand names that were collected during the investigation.

I'm also confused, I thought RCW was the hypodermic needle guy according to an article Nero sleuth attached upline. Can't find the right article attachment now. Am I wrong?

I sent you a PM about the hypodermic needle guy. RCW is not the hypodermic needle guy.

 

[UnsolvedinOhio]

I believe David Elliott Penton killed Asenath Dukat & it was probably his first murder. His mother whom he lived with before leaving for the army lived just 15-17 minutes drive from where Seenie was taken and dumped. DP would have been 21 or 22 at the time putting his age very near the suspects age. He would have done this just before leaving for Amy duty or maybe when visiting his music ther during a break. He was sent overseas in 81 & I believe he wanted to satisfy a long time fantasy before going off to serve. Here's a picture of a young DP probably a monster back then as well.
https://wildbluepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/P3-Penton-1985-180x202.jpg

 

[Jennifer123]

I grew up in Upper Arlington and remember how Seenie's death shocked the whole town. Such a horrible thing for her family to go through, and so brutal. Still brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. There's a YouTube video of the 30 year anniversary of the crime which is well done. It doesn't make sense that this crime wasn't solved. Maybe they just didn't have the technology to connect the dots. It does seem, from reading through this site and also the UA message board, that there was a serious predator in the neighborhood. What do you think about the notion that RCW's family was rich and had expensive attorneys who made sure he didn't get charged? I saw that comment somewhere. Maybe enough things went wrong at the scene - area was trampled/evidence not well preserved - so that they didn't have enough to prove anything.