Suspect in 1979 murder arrested

By Ed Runyan

This case doesn’t rely as much on scientific evidence as other recent cold cases, the police chief said.

WARREN — It took 29 years, but local and federal investigators say they have arrested the man they believe fatally stabbed 18-year-old Bernard Williamson on Main Avenue on April 29, 1979.

The U.S. Marshals Service, along with local and Arizona officials, arrested Ronald Stahlman, 55, in Payson, Ariz., Tuesday morning. Officials say they expect extradition proceedings to begin right away to bring Stahlman to Ohio to face charges.

A press release from the U.S. Marshals Service says Stahlman, then a member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, and some friends were involved in an assault in which Stahlman stabbed Williamson numerous times, killing him.

Warren police issued an arrest warrant in 1979 for Stahlman, but he fled from Ohio and started a new life in the Phoenix area with a new name, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

The marshals and task force officers from the Arizona Wanted Task Force and Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force arrested Stahlman at his home Tuesday morning.

The marshals service and members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force began their hunt for Stahlman in 2005, said Peter J. Elliott, U.S. Marshal for Northern Ohio.

John Mandopoulos, Warren’s police chief, said Warren Detective Brian Holmes and Detective Bill Bolden, of the U.S. Marshals Service, a former Warren police detective, developed an important lead on the case through an informant.

Holmes was familiar with the case from having studied old cases when he joined the Warren detective bureau, Mandopoulos said. Bolden also was familiar with the case before the new information was learned.

“We’ve had so many successes on cases like this — cold cases. We’re digging them out,” Mandopoulos said.

Early this year, William K. Gunther Jr., 35, pleaded guilty to killing Priscilla Code, Highland Avenue, on Jan. 15, 1994, in a Warren case solved by a DNA match. DNA gathered from Gunther while he was in prison was matched with evidence collected from Code’s body, which was found near the former Western Reserve High School. She had been shot.

Gunther, who was returned to Trumbull County from Miami to face the charges, was sentenced to 13 to 28 years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

The Stahlman case isn’t likely to focus as much on scientific evidence as the Gunther case and other recent cold cases, Mandopoulos added.

According to a news report from April 30, 1979, Williamson lived on Karl Avenue Southwest in Warren Township. His body was found in the middle of the intersection at the corner of Main Avenue and Fulton Street about 3:30 a.m.

Police discovered that Williamson had been stabbed about nine times in the chest and stomach. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and the county coroner’s office ruled the death a homicide.

Stahlman was a suspect in the death, and police issued a warrant for his arrest.

“Justice delayed is justice denied, but hopefully there will be justice in this case,” said county Prosecutor Dennis Watkins.

“The cooperation between our task force partners continues to benefit all of the communities in northern Ohio and across the country by effectively locating and apprehending those that evade the law,” Elliott said.

“Violent fugitives such as this will continue to be sought and arrested no matter where they attempt to hide,” he added.

runyan@vindy.com