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McQuest

Active Member
Who killed Sharon Blackburn? 20 years ago.

Here's a case they are re-opening here in Columbus with new evidence. If anything comes of it I will post an update. The fact that no one has the same story is kinda what got me interested.

The article is from here.
http://www.theotherpaper.com/articles/2009/02/19/front/doc499c916227013867028908.txt

I guess they changed the names of suspects for the article. I don't know if there is somewhere online or any kind of public records facility I could research to find any more evidence and real names.

Sharon Blackburn was just 19 years old when she told her mother goodbye on the evening of Feb. 24, 1989. One of six children—three boys and three girls—Sharon said she was going out with some girlfriends that Friday and would return to her mom and stepfather’s home at 572 Southwood Ave. later that night. As usual, she said she would pick up her 1-year-old son, Joshua, on Saturday from the boy’s father.

Before Sharon left, she asked her mom for some money. Laura Dotson had only a few dollars in change, but she handed it over to her daughter. It was the last time she saw Sharon alive.

“That night she didn’t come home. That wasn’t like her at all. We were raised if we don’t come home, we call to say we aren’t coming home,â€￾ said Sharon’s older sister, Nancy Coleman, who now lives in Kentucky. “It was very unusual.â€￾

The next morning, Sharon’s friends started calling the house looking for Sharon. They said they last saw her at Georgia’s Friendly Tavern on Parsons Avenue around 11 p.m. the night before. It was Saturday morning, and no one knew where Sharon was. When she still hadn’t picked up her son or called to check on him, Dotson filed a missing person’s report.

Four days later, on Monday, Feb. 28, a man out for a morning walk spotted the body of a young girl in a ditch at the end of Vause Road, near Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base. It was Sharon. She had been beaten to death.

“They were pretty dramatic injuries,â€￾ said James Clark, a cold-case detective with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

Larry Tate, the Franklin County coroner at the time, determined Sharon died from a “massive crushing injury to the headâ€￾ caused by “multiple blunt force injuries.â€￾ Sharon had nothing of value to steal and had no known enemies, leaving detectives with no clear motive for Sharon’s brutal killing, said Clark. One thing, however, was clear—Sharon didn’t die without a fight.

“There were defensive wounds to her hands,â€￾ Clark said. “She, at the very least, tried to cover her face, if nothing else.â€￾

Clark also said the murder likely didn’t occur where the body was found.

“The actual scene (where the body was found on Vause Road) didn’t show any signs of a struggle,â€￾ said Clark. “With her injuries, there would have been signs of a struggle. That wasn’t the case here.â€￾

**Timeline of events

According to witness accounts, Sharon left her home around 6 p.m. to meet two girlfriends at the Friendly Tavern. At the tavern were two of Sharon’s male acquaintances—John* and Steve*.

Around 9:30 p.m., one of Sharon’s girlfriends said she had a headache and wasn’t feeling well, and asked Sharon if John could take her home. John agreed and used Steve’s car to take Sharon and her two girlfriends to the West Side. John dropped off the girls at their home and brought Sharon back to the tavern.

“According to (John), he had a crush on Sharon, but she said she didn’t feel like that about him,â€￾ said Clark. “He asked her if she wanted to ride around so they could talk and she agreed.â€￾

**According to John

According to statements from John, he and Sharon returned to the Friendly Tavern to tell Steve that he and Sharon were going to drive around a bit. Steve, however, asked for his keys back, according to John’s statement. John said he returned them, and went to use the restroom. When he returned, Sharon and Steve were gone. John said he went outside, and saw Steve’s car was gone as well. John claims he returned to the bar, ordered a beer, then left about an hour later, angry that he hadn’t spent any time with Sharon, said Clark.

However, “The bar maid said she didn’t see (John) come back in,â€￾ said Clark. “She said she only saw (Steve) leave, but alone.â€￾

**According to Steve

Detective Clark said Steve’s version of the same event was much different. According to Steve’s statement, he was standing in the parking lot with a friend when Sharon and John returned. Steve told deputies that John went inside the bar, but Sharon didn’t; while they were standing there, a blue Camaro—or possibly a Firebird—with out-of-state license plates pulled up, and Sharon walked over to it.

“(Steve) said she started talking to the girl in the car—there were two guys in the front—and he assumed they knew each other,â€￾ said Clark.

Steve told deputies that Sharon came over and asked for some money. Steve said he gave her $20 and that she then climbed in the car with the out-of-state plates, and they took off.

But Steve’s friend, who was supposedly admiring his car with him and standing there while all this occurred, said it never happened, according to Clark.

“He told detectives, ‘I don’t know what he’s talking about—I never looked at his car,â€￾ said Clark.

According to the friend, the last thing he remembered of Steve that night was that Steve took him home from the bar around 1:30 a.m.

**So, what did happen?

Clark has a few theories about what happened to Sharon, but he needs the public’s help to solve this murder.

“We need someone to come forward—maybe someone heard her screaming, maybe someone remembers seeing a woman in a car screaming,â€￾ said Clark. “And it could have been anywhere in the south end that they may have seen this.â€￾

Clark believes that sometime around 11 p.m., Sharon—who didn’t have her own car—left the Friendly Tavern in a car with someone she knew. An argument then erupted, Clark thinks, and Sharon was killed somewhere on the south end near Parsons Avenue. Clark said the killer could have driven Sharon anywhere from South High Street to Livingston Avenue and anywhere near the Rickenbacker National Guard Base.

Clark said the killer probably grabbed whatever was easily accessible to hit her. The weapon has never been found.

Clark speculates that the body may not have been dumped immediately.

“The body could have been dumped any time that weekend,â€￾ said Clark. “(The killer could have) moved the body, then moved it again.â€￾

“(The killer) had to be fairly strong,â€￾ said Clark. “And (the killer) had to know the area well.â€￾

Whom Sharon left the bar with and what type of car she left in are two important details Clark also is seeking.

“Obviously, she had to get in a car to get from where she was on Parsons to where her body was found on Vause—that’s a good 10 miles,â€￾ he said. “And it was most likely with someone she knew. Most crimes are committed by someone the victim knows—especially when it’s a girl.â€￾

A fact that Sharon’s sister, Nancy, agrees with.

“She was so cautious—she was even afraid of the dark,â€￾ said Nancy. “It was somebody that she knew. Because Sharon wouldn’t have been around anyone or anywhere she didn’t know.â€￾

For now, without a motive or a weapon, the investigation has stalled. But, with advances in DNA testing and identification, Clark hopes this homicide may ultimately be solved.

“New evidence has been submitted to the lab for testing,â€￾ said Clark. “Hopefully, it hits on something.â€￾
 
Who Killed Sharon Blackburn??You can go to Ohio Central Crime Stoppers an click on (to catch a killer) then scroll down to it. Happened in 1989 ..but by the grace of God got reopened Feb.19 2009 due to new forensics that they have today.
 
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