Inmate confesses to 1983 homicide

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By Press Staff Writer

A 39-year-old murder case in Wood County has been solved, culminating in an inmate of the Marion Correctional Institution pleading guilty and being sentenced to 15 years to life.
Wood County Common Pleas Court Judge Matthew Reger on Oct. 27 imposed the sentence on Kenneth Holmes, who entered his plea via video from the correctional institution where he is already serving sentences for convictions of aggravated murder and rape in Henry County and kidnapping, felonious assault, and attempted rape in Warren County.
The Wood County case was opened in 1983 when the skeletal remains of Patricia Ann Heer, then 30 and a resident of south Toledo, were found near the intersection of Poe and Custar roads. The remains were identified through dental records and the coroner ruled her death as undetermined – presumed homicide.
During an investigation of another case related to Holmes, authorities obtained a search warrant for a cabin he owned along the Maumee River west of Grand Rapids in Henry County near the border with Wood County. While executing the warrant, clothing and other items belonging to Heer were found.
Authorities had determined Heer was known to Holmes, who, at the time, also lived in south Toledo, but they lacked evidence directly connecting Holmes to the homicide.
But more recent investigative work by Ginnie Barta, a former detective with the Wood County Sheriff’s Office, and the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, helped further develop a case against Holmes. Following up on that work, Det. Barta and Todd Curtis, an investigator with the Wood County prosecutor’s office, interviewed Holmes in prison and he confessed to killing Heer at his cabin and dumping her body in Wood County, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Holmes was convicted in 1984 and 1990 in the other cases.
“The friends and family of Patricia Ann Heer now know what happened to their loved one and can now at least rest in knowing that justice is being served upon him,” said Paul Dobson, Wood County prosecutor. “Kenneth Holmes is now serving sentences for a fuller picture of the crimes he has committed. I want to thank the detectives and investigators over the years who have kept vigilance over this case.”

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