BATAVIA, Ohio — Cellphone information, sightings and “uncommon” conduct. These had been three factors introduced into query Wednesday as Clermont County prosecutors continued to make their case earlier than a jury.
Jacob Bumpass, 34, is charged with tampering with proof and abuse of a corpse in connection to the 2010 disappearance and loss of life of 17-year-old Paige Johnson.
On Sept. 22, 2010, Bumpass was the final particular person to see Johnson alive, prosecutors informed a jury in Clermont County throughout opening statements on Tuesday.
The trial is happening 13 years after Johnson disappeared; her stays had been present in 2020 by a hiker off S.R. 276 — simply two miles from a spot in East Fork State Park the place investigators initially looked for Johnson’s physique following her disappearance.
Brittany Haywood — Johnson’s older sister
Haywood was the second witness referred to as. Initially referred to as up Tuesday afternoon, the decide dismissed the courtroom throughout her cross-examination and requested Haywood to return to the stand very first thing Wednesday morning.
Haywood stated she and Johnson had an excellent relationship and would speak day by day, calling and texting on the telephone.
Prosecutors requested Haywood about her and Johnson’s drug use. She informed them she had a ache tablet dependancy on the time however that Johnson would sometimes drink and smoke marijuana in social settings.
Haywood stated she knew Bumpass as a result of they attended the identical highschool and ran in the identical social circles.
She stated she by no means frolicked with him one-on-one however Johnson would.
Haywood had been residing along with her father’s little one in 2010 however in September she moved again into her mom’s condominium, the place Johnson additionally lived.
She stated she frolicked with Johnson throughout the day on Sept. 22 earlier than leaving to go to her boyfriend’s condominium to fulfill up with him and a mutual buddy. She stated Johnson reached out to her about coming over that evening, however Johnson by no means confirmed up. She by no means heard again from her sister.
Haywood stated the subsequent day she bought a name from Ronnie Rider, Johnson’s boyfriend on the time, who informed her he was fearful and did not know the place Johnson was.
Haywood stated she referred to as her mother after which referred to as Johnson’s mates however nobody knew the place she was. She stated she, Rider and one other buddy filed a lacking particular person report later that evening.
“It wasn’t like her. We may at all times get in touch along with her and no one had seen her and each second that glided by it was simply an increasing number of regarding,” she stated.
Haywood stated Johnson did not have a telephone on the time she went lacking and would typically use both her mother’s or grandmother’s. The evening Johnson went lacking she was utilizing her grandmother’s. Haywood stated she seemed by the telephone and noticed Johnson had been texting Bumpass.
When she requested Bumpass the place Johnson was, he informed her he had dropped her off on the nook of fifteenth and Scott streets in Covington and hadn’t seen her since, she stated.
Prosecutors requested Haywood if Bumpass ever helped in any searches for Johnson. She stated he did not.
Ronnie Rider — Johnson’s boyfriend on the time
Rider was the third witness to take the stand.
He stated he and Johnson had been courting on and off for 3 and a half years on the time and described Johnson as happy-go-lucky, vivid and a “princess.”
Rider stated on the time of Johnson’s disappearance, they’d an excellent relationship and that he liked her. He stated he had simply given her his grandmother’s ring and the 2 had been engaged to be married.
He stated he dropped medication off to Paige at her mom’s condominium throughout the day on Sept. 22 after which went house. He stated he spoke with Johnson on the telephone later that evening round 9 p.m. He needed to go to mattress early for work and he thought she was going to join her GED the morning, he stated.
As soon as off the telephone, Rider stated he did not verify it once more that evening.
Throughout his first break at work the subsequent morning, Rider stated he texted Johnson’s grandmother’s telephone, which she had been utilizing the evening earlier than, however she did not reply.
He stated he referred to as Johnson’s sister and mates looking for out the place she was. He went to her condominium and requested Johnson’s grandmother to indicate him her telephone. He stated that is when he noticed Johnson had been texting a quantity that matched Bumpass’ contact in his telephone.
Rider stated he referred to as Bumpass and requested what occurred, however Bumpass gave him the identical reply he gave Haywood. He informed him he picked Johnson up, they frolicked for a bit and he dropped her off on the nook of fifteenth and Scott in Covington.
He stated he and Bumpass even made a plan to fulfill as much as search for Johnson later that day. When prosecutors requested how he felt about Bumpass dropping Johnson off in that space, Rider stated he did not prefer it. He stated Johnson was the kind of particular person to get what she wished and may very well be “manipulative” and she or he would have requested to be taken to wherever she was going, which Rider believed was the place Haywood was, not a “scummy space.”
Rider stated he and Haywood referred to as Covington police and filed a lacking individuals report. He stated he and Johnson shared passwords so he logged on to her Fb account to see if he may be taught something about her whereabouts, however that effort turned up nothing.
Roder stated he slipped right into a deep despair and spiraled into drug use within the days after Johnson went lacking. He stated he blew by most of his cash till he determined he wanted to depart city and get a recent begin.
He stated he agreed to an interview with police earlier than he moved to Minnesota to stick with his cousin. He moved again to Northern Kentucky in March 2011. He stayed in touch with Johnson’s household since she disappeared and stated for a few years he attended her memorial vigils at Devou Park, he stated.
Rider stated he by no means noticed Bumpass present as much as any of them nor take part in any searches for Johnson.
The protection introduced up Rider’s felony historical past. He had been convicted of rape, tampering with proof and escape in 2013 and is at present serving a 180-day sentence in Campbell County for a misdemeanor assault cost on a lady he was courting. He was launched on furlough for the day to testify.
Protection Legal professional Louis Sirkin gave the impression to be holding telephone information when he introduced Rider’s relationship with Johnson into query.
“Would you be stunned that she made a remark to somebody that she was mad at you as a result of she came upon you had been dishonest on her?” Sirkin requested.
Rider responded he could be stunned.
Sirkin requested Johnson if Covington detectives requested him to not go away the town throughout the early levels of the investigation. Rider stated they instructed he keep on the town however did not demand it.
Sirkin additionally questioned Rider’s confessed drug use after Johnson’s disappearance.
“Whereas Paige was being seemed for, you had been out spending your cash and doing medicine?” Sirkin requested.
Rider informed Sirkin he did not begin utilizing medicine till a number of days after she went lacking.
Tawny Sanford — Bumpass’ former buddy
Tawny Sanford was the fourth witness to take the stand. She knew Bumpass on the time of Johnson’s disappearance and described the 17-year-old as an acquaintance whom she knew by Haywood.
She informed prosecutors she met Bumpass at a celebration in highschool and that the 2 would typically hang around with others at events. She stated there could be a variety of ingesting and smoking weed.
Sanford stated she had been with Bumpass on Sept. 22. She stated he gave her a trip house from work within the early night and dropped her off at her home.
She stated Bumpass informed her he could be hanging out with Johnson later that evening, which she discovered odd. She did not assume they had been that shut of mates, she stated. She stated Bumpass invited her and her girlfriend to come back, however Sanford turned that down.
Sanford stated Bumpass referred to as her the subsequent morning fearful. He informed her individuals had been on the lookout for Johnson. Sanford stated he informed her he dropped Johnson off and hadn’t seen her since. She stated she did not take it critically at first.
“I simply thought, ‘Oh, she was out partying,’ or was, you already know out with a boy someplace, no matter you already know,” she stated. “That is what us children again within the day had been like.”
Sanford stated Bumpass then requested her and her girlfriend to come back over and so they stopped by. She stated they had been speaking about Johnson and Bumpass appeared panicked and stated one thing she thought was unusual.
“He was saying like, ‘What if she does not flip up? I am the final one along with her, that is going to look unhealthy,'” she stated. “And I am like, ‘She’s going to show up,’ I simply did not perceive.”
Sanford stated she then remembered a few of Johnson’s household knocking on Bumpass’ door. She stated Bumpass would not allow them to inside or communicate with them. He was chilly to them, shut the door and stated he was getting a lawyer, she stated.
Prosecutors then requested Sanford about what in the end led to a falling out between her and Bumpass.
Sanford wakened and texted Bumpass at 4:13 a.m. on Sept. 23 to apologize for an earlier dialog they’d. Sanford stated when she realized Bumpass’ telephone pinged in Clermont County at the moment, she grew indignant.
Sanford stated because the seek for Johnson dragged on and she or he spoke with Bumpass extra, he informed her he had by no means been in Clermont County that evening. He informed her he dropped Johnson off then went again house and stayed there.
John Schneider — Bumpass’ buddy
John Schneider was the fourth to take the stand. He stated he was mates with Bumpass having met him by his stepbrother. He stated they did not hang around typically.
Schneider stated he was at his different buddy’s home the evening of Sept. 22. These mates then determined to go to Bumpass’ home, he stated.
Schneider stated all of them left to fulfill up with Bumpass hours later within the early morning of Sept. 23. Prosecutors stated information present Schneider’s arrived at Bumpass’ home round 1:40 a.m.
He stated he walked inside along with his mates and noticed Bumpass and Johnson in the lounge. Johnson was on the sofa, he stated.
He stated he solely stayed on the home for about 10 minutes after which left.
Sgt. Jay Zerhusen — Covington Police Division
Sgt. Jay Zerhusen was the fifth to take the stand. Now a 15-year veteran with Covington police, he was a beat patrol officer on the time of Johnson’s disappearance. He wrote up Johnson’s preliminary lacking individuals report.
He informed prosecutors he spoke with Bumpass after studying he had been along with her the final evening she was seen. He stated he was asking him questions to collect info for the report when Bumpass stated one thing that caught his consideration.
“I simply requested about the place she had been dropped off at, throughout the dialog he stated he had dropped her off at fifteenth and Scott. I requested about approximate time, approximate time would have been about 1 o’clock within the morning at that location. Throughout the dialog different feedback had been made, reminiscent of, ‘I simply don’t desire this to come back again on me,'” Zerhusen stated. “I made a notation of it as effectively as a result of it was a press release that drew my concern. It was only a very uncommon assertion for me as a result of I used to be simply making an attempt to determine that final identified location of an individual that everybody sort of knew one another so my thoughts wasn’t considering that something was essentially fallacious. We had been simply making an attempt to find Ms. Johnson on the time.”
Zerhusen additionally described the nook of fifteenth and Scott as an space with “excessive felony exercise.” He stated the East Facet of Covington at the moment saved officers busy. Due to that, he stated he discovered it odd Bumpass would drop Johnson off there.
Fmr. Detective Bryan Frodge — Covington Police Division
Bryan Frodge, a retired Covington police detective who now works in actual property, was the sixth to take the stand.
He led Johnson’s case for its first 5 years.
Frodge broke down in tears at one level, struggling to explain how heavy the load of the decade-long seek for Johnson was.
“It was the toughest factor I ever needed to do,” he stated. “We had been determined.”
Prosecutors had Bumpass’s element telephone information throughout the time of Johnson’s disappearance.
He learn the final textual content interplay between Bumpass and Paige at 12:53 a.m. on Sept. 23 during which Bumpass informed Paige he was exterior her condominium.
Frodge informed prosecutors Bumpass modified his telephone quantity on Sept. 29, lower than every week after she went lacking. His authentic quantity had been lively since 1999.
When prosecutors requested if Bumpass ever tried contacting Johnson on the quantity she texted him from the evening of her disappearance, Frodge stated he did not. When prosecutors requested if Bumpass had ever tried contacting Johnson’s mom, Donna after Johnson went lacking, Frodge stated he did not.
On Oct. 4, shortly after taking up the case from Zerhusen, Frodge stated he and one other detective confirmed up at Bumpass’s home to additional query him.
“After we knocked on the entrance door, we came upon Jacob was making an attempt to sneak out the again,” Frodge stated.
Protection lawyer Louis Sirkin questioned Frodge about searches that had been performed close to East Fork Lake.
Frodge had stated these efforts by no means turned up something, though Johnson’s stays had been present in 2020 inside a mile of an space groups had searched.
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Sirkin stated there was a variety of media publicity surrounding East Fork Lake Park and requested Fordge if it was attainable Johnson’s stays may have been positioned there someday later due to that.
“Something is feasible,” Fordge replied.
Testimony continues Thursday with the prosecutor’s closing 4 witnesses, together with the hiker who found Johnson’s stays and the pathologist who recognized them.
