Trial to start in 1979 slaying

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — Jury selection begins Monday for a 56-year-old man plucked from his home in Arizona and accused of fatally stabbing an 18-year-old Warren Township man nearly 30 years ago.

The trial will be in the courtroom of Judge Andrew Logan in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

Ronald Stahlman, of Payson, Ariz., is accused of killing Bernard Williamson on April 29, 1979, and leaving him to die at Main Avenue and Fulton Street Southwest.

Williamson’s body was found about 3:30 a.m., stabbed nine times in the chest and stomach.

Stahlman, who was a 26-year-old member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club at the time, was a suspect in the crime just after it happened, but he disappeared and could not be located by authorities.

He assumed another identity and raised a family in Arizona, authorities say.

Authorities found him and arrested him Dec. 9 in Payson after getting information from an informant.

The U.S. Marshals Service, which helped with Stahlman’s arrest in December, said Stahlman and some friends were involved in the assault that led to Williamson’s death. Williamson lived on Karl Avenue in Warren Township.

If convicted of the crime, Stahlman could get 15 years to life in prison.

Chris Becker, an assistant county prosecutor, told Judge Logan during the final pretrial hearing for the case Tuesday that it will take until about Thursday for him to present his witnesses after jury selection is completed.

He said a couple of the witnesses will be coming from out of state.

Stahlman’s attorney is Tracey A. Laso of Alliance, who said she will present a day’s worth of witnesses also.

Stahlman has remained in Trumbull County Jail in lieu of $2 million bond since his arrest.