UPDATED | Coroner rules Boardman man's death a homicide



Published June 10, 2014 at 9:42 a.m.
Updated June 10, 2014 at 12:23 p.m.

BOARDMAN — The death of a 48-year-old man, who was found in a home on Alverne Drive on Sunday, has been ruled homicide, Deputy Coroner and Forensic Pathologist Dr. Joseph Ohr said Tuesday morning.

Chris Craft’s death perplexed Boardman police officers who were at the home on Monday and took the computer that Craft was found in front of on the floor of the home.

Dr. Ohr described the injury as a blunt force trauma with possibly smothering involved.

“He was struck on the right side of his face while he was still alive,” Dr. Ohr said. “It looks like someone went in there to remove injured tissue on the face and neck.”

Dr.Ohr said it is reasonable that the perpetrator removed the tissue with a knife to hide what happened to Craft.

The size of the wound was from the victim's lips and then to the front of his right ear and then the wound extended underneath the jaw line and onto the neck.

"[The] most common reason to disfigure or dismember a body in anyway is to hide a crime," Dr. Ohr said.

"I found no other injuries [and] there were no defensive wounds," Dr. Ohr said, adding he will look at the wound tissue to see if he can find any other clues.

The official toxicology report will be done in three weeks, but Dr. Ohr said he could tell Craft drank alcohol and he found pills in his stomach even though he was not on a prescription.

Dr. Ohr believes the death happened between 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday.

Captain Rick Balog is hosting a press conference at the Boardman police station at 1 p.m. today.

The details of the press conference are unknown.

The situation began when a call came in from a man on a cell phone at 1:19 p.m. Sunday.

Captain Donald Hawkins of the Boardman police said on Monday they initially thought Craft’s wound in the jaw and neck area was an exit wound from a gun. But they didn’t find a gun or splatter that would result from a gunshot.

This is a breaking news story. Watch Vindy.com for updates and see Wednesday's Vindicator for the complete story.