Judge rejects ‘respectfully ridiculous’ motion in Ferrara case

Judge rejects ‘respectfully ridiculous’ motion in Ferrara case

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge R. Scott Krichbaum today rejected a motion to exhume the bodies of other suspects in a 1974 triple homicide case from Canfield Township.

The request was made by Anthony Meranto, attorney for James Ferrara, 64, who faces three counts of aggravated murder for the December 1974 murders of Benjamin Marsh and his wife and 4-year-old daughter inside their South Turner Road home in Canfield Township.

Meranto wants to compare DNA found on a cigarette butt at the scene with other suspects at the time of the murder. Ferrara was not indicted for the crimes until this summer, when a fingerprint collected at the scene matched his.

Meranto said the DNA collected from the cigarette does not match his client.

Judge Krichbaum said the motion was “respectfully ridiculous” and overruled it, but did say he would consider it in the future if Meranto could make a better case as to why he needs the exhumations.