YOUNGSTOWN Cops seek friend of slaying victim

The woman used the victim's credit card at a kiosk at Southern Park Mall.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A friend of Suzanne M. Dalton, whose charred remains were found in the trunk of a Lincoln, is being sought on a warrant that charges forgery and receiving stolen property.
The warrant was issued today for Diane Knaff, 40, of Hill Creek Court, Columbus, and signed by Detective Sgt. Daryl Martin, according to the Mahoning County Court in Boardman. Knaff will be arrested in Columbus.
Knaff is accused of using Dalton's credit card over the weekend at a jewelry kiosk at Southern Park Mall in Boardman.
"Columbus police will arrest her on our warrant and she'll be brought before a judge there first," Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains said today. "Then she will be transported here once her identity is verified."
Gains said either city detectives or deputies will transport Knaff to Youngstown. He declined to comment further on the case.
The case
Dalton, 43, of Columbus, was found dead in the trunk of her husband's burned-out 1999 Lincoln Town Car early Sunday behind a former bar on Oak Street on the East Side. The death has been ruled a homicide.
Dalton had been shot in the head. The autopsy will determine if she died from the gunshot or the fire.
Dalton was last seen around 12:30 a.m. Sunday leaving a Columbus bar with a female friend, police have said.
Her husband last saw her Saturday when she left to go shopping.
Fire evidence
Lt. Alvin Ware, commander of the Youngstown Fire Department arson bureau, has taken evidence from the car fire to Reynoldsburg, a suburb of Columbus, for testing as part of the homicide investigation. Ware said the debris he dropped off Thursday will be tested at the state fire marshal's lab to determine if an accelerant was used on the 1999 Lincoln Town Car.
Ware said that he didn't smell gasoline at the scene but that it could have been used. He said the fire was deliberately set and burned quickly. The fire, he said, started in the backseat-trunk area. Lab test results should be available in less than a week, he added.
meade@vindy.com