CINCINNATI — Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters called now-Prosecutor Connie Pillich's decision to dismiss a 30-year murder case "sickening" and a betrayal of the victim's family.
Deters, now a justice on the Ohio Supreme Court, spoke out after Pillich announced Friday she had dismissed all charges against Elwood Jones, who was granted a retrial after being convicted in 1996 for the murder of Rhoda Nathan at a Blue Ash hotel.
"I think no one's talking for Rhoda Nathan, and she was a wonderful lady who was senselessly murdered at one of our hotels here, and everyone forgets about her," Deters told us on Wednesday, following his guest appearance on the Bill Cunningham Show on 700 WLW. "You know, everyone talks about Elwood, how great Elwood Jones is. No, he's a killer, OK. Flat out, he murdered Rhoda Nathan, all right. Period."
Jones sat on death row for nearly three decades before Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Wende Cross ruled that evidence withheld from Jones' defense attorneys warranted a new trial.
The Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals denied the prosecutor's office's request to appeal Cross's decision. Though the Ohio Supreme Court in December ruled for the Court of Appeals to reconsider the request to challenge the decision, Pillich's dismissal renders that appeal moot.
WATCH: Deters slams current prosecutor Connie Pillich's decision to dismiss the case against Elwood Jones
The Original Crime
On Sept. 2, 1994, Rhoda Nathan was found brutally beaten to death in her hotel room at the Embassy Suites in Blue Ash. Nathan, who was staying at the hotel, was discovered by hotel staff after she failed to check out.
Jones, who worked as a maintenance employee at the hotel, had access to master keys that could open any room. According to the prosecution during his trial, Jones allegedly used his key to enter what he believed was an empty room, but found Nathan, who was alone and wearing a towel.
Nathan suffered multiple blunt force trauma injuries to her head and face. A walkie-talkie, which prosecutors argued was used as a weapon, was found at the scene.
Pillich claims modern testing cleared Jones
When announcing her decision, Pillich said it followed "a months-long intensive review of trial paperwork, of court filing, of evidence." She cited multiple issues with the original prosecution, including what she called a lack of forensic evidence directly linking Jones to the murder, insufficient follow-ups on witness statements pointing to other possible suspects and failure to provide defense attorneys with a large amount of investigatory material before the trial.
Most significantly, Pillich claimed modern medical testing "excludes" Jones as a suspect. She said blood tests showed Nathan had Hepatitis B at the time of her murder, while Jones did not have the highly transmissible disease despite having been accused of beating Nathan with his bare hands.
During Jones' initial trial, Dr. Steven Burdette, a professor of medicine and chief of infectious diseases at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, testified on behalf of the defense, stating that if Jones had done what the state claimed, he would have contracted it. According to Cross's 2022 decision to grant a new trial, the state had tested Jones in 1994, and he had tested negative despite never being immunized. Neither the test nor its results were disclosed as discovery or presented at trial.
"This office does not cheat in order to score a win. We are diligent and deliberate, and we do our job with thought and integrity in mind," Pillich said during her press conference.
Deters disputed Pillich's characterization of the medical evidence and her allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.
"It's just offensive, and he's not medically excluded," Deters said. "She either doesn't know the definition of that term or how it's used, but he's not excluded."
In a formal letter penned to Pillich, Deters said that even the defense's own expert testified there was only a 33% chance Jones would have contracted Hepatitis B if he committed the murder.
"A 33% probability of transmission is not 'exclusion,'" Deters wrote. "Either you do not understand the meaning of that term, or you knowingly made a statement that was patently false."
Deters, who built his reputation over three decades as one of Ohio's most successful prosecutors, called Pillich's allegations of prosecutorial misconduct "outrageous" and "false."
"Frankly, I'm dumbfounded by the allegation," Deters said on 700 WLW when asked about claims that prosecutors had "cheated."
Evidence from the crime
Mark Piepmeier, who prosecuted the original case and joined Deters on 700 WLW, outlined the evidence against Jones in a detailed memorandum. The veteran prosecutor, who won the capital conviction, described Jones as someone perfectly positioned to commit the crime.
"Elwood Jones was a career criminal, and what better place for a guy like him to work at a nice hotel with a master key. It's like a kid in a candy store," Piepmeier said.
The evidence Piepmeier laid out against Jones was as follows:
- He had access to one of only four master keys that could open Nathan's locked room
- His infected hand wound was consistent with striking someone in the mouth, which Jones claimed came from a work injury
- A walkie-talkie matching the victim's injuries was found in his possession
- Nathan's distinctive custom jewelry was recovered from Jones's car during a search
- A history of aggravated burglary and violent crimes
- His presence at the hotel on the day of the murder
"Circumstantial evidence has a bad wrap. People hear that and think, 'Oh, that's not much evidence.' It's the most powerful evidence we have," Deters said. "When you have things that are unrefuted, like the infection in his hand, the toolbox that the jewelry or jewelry is in his toolbox, the murder weapons with him. I mean, these are things that are irrefutable, and we had a very, very strong case against him."
However, Cross said in granting a new trial that officials with the Blue Ash Police Department traveled to New York to visit Nathan's home and learned the pendant was not unique or custom-crafted, and that the engagement ring Nathan's family had believed the pendant was made from was actually in the possession of another family member.
Cross said family told Blue Ash police they believed Nathan's pendant was purchased at a jewelry store in the Bronx, but this information was never documented or disclosed for trial.
After Cross's decision, Deters doubled down on the uniqueness of the pendant, saying it was "created by her late husband using the diamonds from his mother's wedding ring."
Jones was unanimously convicted by a Hamilton County jury after deliberating the evidence. The same jury also unanimously recommended the death sentence. The conviction was affirmed at multiple appellate levels over nearly three decades before being overturned in 2022.
"Every level, every appellate level in the state of Ohio, every federal level, the district level, the Court of Appeal, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, they all affirm this, and they all had this information that she cited as a reason to get rid of the case," Deters said.
You can read the entire letter penned by Deters, a summary of evidence against Jones submitted by Piepmeier and a statement from the Nathan family in response to the decision to dismiss Jones' case here:
Family Says They Were Ignored and Betrayed
Nathan's family expressed outrage over both the decision to dismiss Jones's charges and how it was handled. Pillich said Friday she spoke with Nathan's children, who "expressed serious grief and frustration."
"My sense is that they feel that their mother did not get justice," Pillich said.
However, Nathan's son Valentine Nathan called the decision a "betrayal" in a family statement, criticizing the prosecutor's office for "failing to fight for justice."
"The Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office has failed to fight for justice for my mother, Rhoda Nathan, who was brutally murdered 30 years ago," Valentine Nathan wrote. "This decision is not just a legal failure; it is a betrayal of every victim and their families who trust the system to seek justice on their behalf."
Deters claims Pillich violated Marsy's Law, which requires victim notification and participation in prosecutorial decisions.
"They are livid. They are outraged," Deters said of the family's reaction. "There's a real possibility that they violated Marsy's Law. They're supposed to be part of these discussions. They didn't."
Deters said Pillich only contacted the family after the decision was already made and never consulted with prosecutors who handled the case during her months-long review.
"She never called us once. I mean, we litigated this case literally for 25 years while I was prosecutor, and not even a phone call," Deters said.
Deters said he had offered his assistance to Pillich when she was elected.
"I told her, when she got elected, if you need anything at all, call me, I'll be happy to go over it," Deters said.
The dismissal and Pillich's public statements about prosecutorial misconduct have raised concerns about potential civil liability for Hamilton County.
"It's wide open now. The prosecutor said that the former prosecutors hid evidence and put an innocent man in jail," Deters said. "Of course, the county could be liable for something."
However, Deters said he stands by the prosecution and would welcome any legal challenge.
"I sent this letter, I sent to Ms. Pillich to the attorney general, because when he I'm telling you, Elwood Jones is a murderer, OK, period, if Elwood wants to sue me, sue me, I'd be happy to go to court and say exactly what I've been saying for the last 30 years," Deters said.
Case Remains Open for Police
Pillich said if police want to open up Nathan's case again, they can. However, her office will no longer be pursuing charges against Jones.
With the dismissal, Jones cannot be retried for Nathan's murder due to double jeopardy protections, even if new evidence emerges.
"He could confess to the crime now, yeah," Deters said. "If he confesses, right now, there's nothing that can be done. It's all over."
The prosecutor's office is establishing a Conviction Integrity Unit that Pillich said will follow national best practices to research and review claims of wrongful conviction.
"Had such a unit existed years ago, this decision may have been reached much sooner," she said.
Pillich's office declined to comment on Deters' criticisms. Attempts to reach Jones for comment were unsuccessful.
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