By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
There were no surprises Monday morning in Judge Russell Wiseman’s Common Pleas Courtroom for Donald Hoffman’s arraignment. There were, however, plenty of solemn faces as the man who stands accused of killing four Bucyrus men in their homes answered a 21-count indictment.
Through his attorneys, Robert and Rolf Whitney, and wearing a protective vest under his orange jail clothing, Hoffman pleaded not guilty to all counts including the charges of aggravated murder in the deaths of Billy Jack Chatman, Freelin Hensley, Darrell Lewis and Jerald Smith.
Hoffman made those pleas not only in front of Wiseman sitting on the bench, but also the surviving family members seated in the gallery who remained silent throughout the entire proceedings. It was the first opportunity for them to see Hoffman in person as his Municipal Court hearing was done by video conference with Hoffman in a room at the Crawford County Justice Center.
County Prosecutor Matt Crall cautioned the community that details of the case would be held until used as evidence in the courtroom at the proper time.
“The important thing for the community to realize is that we can’t try the case in the media. The media has been very responsible to not try to do that either and I appreciate that,” Crall said. “But there are certain things we’re not going to get into great detail because if and when we get to trial that we can have a trial in Crawford County.”
Crall has stated he intends to seek the death penalty.
Wiseman kept Hoffman’s bond at $10 million and continued the case for pre-trial discussions. That bond was set Sept. 4 by Judge Sean Leuthold in Municipal Court. Hoffman has been in custody since he turned himself into authorities on Sept. 2.
The bodies of Chatman and another man were discovered Sept. 1. After Hoffman went to police the following day, the bodies of the two other victims were found. Bucyrus Police Chief David Koepke says his department is handling open investigations of four deaths at four different crime scenes.
Police records indicate that Chatman had called an ambulance for Hoffman on Aug. 30 when Hoffman came to his home covered in blood and claiming he had been attacked by eight people before he collapsed to the floor.
Hoffman later told police he didn’t recall what happened.
Autopsies were performed on each man by the Lucas County Coroner’s Office. Crawford County Coroner Dr. Michael Johnson issued a statement that indicated the official cause of death for each victim. Smith and Hensley died of strangulation and blunt force injuries to the head; Lewis died of ligature strangulation and Chatman died of blunt force injuries to the head.
The 21-count indictment breaks down to eight counts of aggravated murder, four counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of kidnapping, four counts of felonious assault, and one count of abuse of a corpse.
Rolf Whitney was appointed by Leuthold to represent Hoffman at his Municipal Court appearance. Monday, Wiseman appointed Robert Whitney as lead counsel and Rolf Whitney as co-counsel. Wiseman noted that both attorneys, father and son, met the qualifications as set by the state to defend capital cases.