Murder suspect enters insanity plea

John Eichner, accused of murdering his wife and burying her body, has pled not guilty by reason of insanity to all charges in a 28-count indictment issued April 30 by the Ottawa County Grand Jury.
The plea and request for an evaluation was submitted Wednesday by Eichner’s attorney, Esteban Callejas, Bowling Green.
Eichner, 43, of Genoa, was arrested after police received a report that his wife, Amber, was missing and that he had abandoned their four children in Tennessee. During the investigation, a friend of John Eichner’s notified authorities that Eichner had requested permission to bury his deceased dog on the friend’s property in South Toledo.
When police dug up the site April 26 they found human remains they believe to be Amber Eichner.
James VanEerten, Ottawa County prosecutor, said the Lucas County coroner’s office has ruled the cause of death to be strangulation but an analysis of the DNA to confirm the identity of the body hasn’t been completed.
In all, Eichner was indicted on one count each of murder and aggravated murder; one count of gross abuse of a corpse; 11 counts of tampering with evidence; 10 counts of possessing criminal tools, and four counts of money laundering.
During his May 3 arraignment in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court, he requested and received a court-appointed attorney and was declared indigent.
Pre-trial dates are scheduled for May 27 and July 7. The trial is set for July 13.

Other indictments
In unrelated cases, the grand jury also issued indictments for:
-Alejandro Santibanez, who is being held in the Ottawa County Detention Facility, on one count of rape, one count of kidnapping with sexual motivation, and one count of domestic violence. According to court reports, the alleged incidents occurred April 23.
-Jordan Rollins, currently held in the detention facility, on one count of felonious assault, one count of disrupting public services, and one count of assault. The indictment stems from an incident April 24. Rollins is accused of assaulting a woman and taking her phone to prevent her from calling 911. The woman suffered fractured vertebrae as a result of the assault, according to court records.