TRUMBULL COUNTY Crime solver to call it quits

Capt. Gary Bacon is the personification of a good cop, the prosecutor says.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A detective who has worked on numerous high-profile cases, including the 2001 murder of a Howland Township businessman, will walk out of the Trumbull County Sheriff's Department for the last time Friday.
After 271/2 years of service, Capt. Gary Bacon has decided it's time to retire. At age 54, the one-time federal aircraft inspector said his plan is to spend time with Nancy, his wife of 20 years.
"For the first few months, I'm just going to kick back, and then I'll decide if I want to do something else," Bacon said. "Right now I'll just be glad that when the telephone rings after 10 p.m., it won't be work-related."
For the last several years, getting late-night phone calls was routine. As a member of Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins' homicide task force and the lead hostage negotiator for the county SWAT team, nighttime work was common.
"I didn't start out planning to be a cop," Bacon said. "I was an aviation inspector working at the airport in Vienna when a friend of mine who was a cop in Girard invited me to ride along with him. I went out a few times and decided that was the work I wanted to do."
Bacon worked as a part-time police officer in Girard for four years before taking a job with the sheriff's department in 1977. In 1981 he was promoted to the detective bureau.
His reputation
In police circles, Bacon is known as a detective who is extremely capable and able to solve just about anything, his colleagues say. However, the always-modest officer says he is "just part of the team."
"The part I liked about this job was figuring out what took place," Bacon said. "It was always a challenge, but sometimes luck played a big part."
He recalled a murder of a barmaid several years ago. He said it was late at night, and when he arrived, all the patrons had left.
"The victim's body was still in the bar, and next to her was a pair of men's eyeglasses," Bacon said. "We all got a list of names of the patrons at the bar and we had to go interview them. So the first house I go to, I ask the guy to come down to the station and answer a few questions. The guy tells me he can't because he lost his glasses and can't drive without them. There was our suspect."
The detective said the man ended up being convicted of the homicide.
"I believe Gary Bacon is one of the few law enforcement officers that is totally able to assist in an investigation from beginning to end," Watkins said. "He is the personification of a good cop."
Convictions
Bacon has worked on such cases such as the murders of Howland businessman Robert Fingerhut and 10-year-old Bridget Wetzl of McDonald.
Nate Jackson and Donna Roberts of Howland were charged with killing Robert Fingerhut in his Fonderlac Drive Southeast residence Dec. 11, 2001. Both were convicted and sentenced to death.
Bridget was killed in Weathersfield Township in May 1999. George Foster of Weathersfield was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Bacon has also solved robberies and rapes.
"Whatever I asked him to do, he could do it," said Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere. "He'd be able to get any job done. He is history in this office. He has done everything and been everywhere. He is someone who will be missed."
sinkovich@vindy.com