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Questions remain as coroner releases details of Craft death
By ROBERT CONNELLY
BOARDMAN
The coroner’s final report on Christopher D. Craft, 48, says he died of blunt force trauma — but does not reveal how that happened.
Craft was found dead June 8 on the floor in front of his computer on the ground level of his 1736 Alverne Drive home. The death has perplexed investigators.
Township police were called to the home by a 38-year-old Boardman man who stayed the night and discovered the body. He initially told police that Craft “shot his face off.” He died from blunt force trauma about noon that day, later covered up by removal of facial skin.
The report from the Mahoning County Coroner’s office describes Craft’s face: Skin had earlier been described as removed from his face — from the center of his mouth to his ear, and then down onto his neck on the side of his face.
The coroner’s report states: “A gaping wound, exposing the underlying bone, is on the right side of the face and involves the chin and neck. The edges of the wound occasionally have a jagged appearance; the lowest edge of the wound is smooth ... no palpable fractures are in the head. Dried blood is smeared on the left hand.”
Craft’s body was found on the floor in front of his computer, with his head turned to the left as he lay on his back, his arms outstretched and his left leg still on the computer chair.
Boardman Capt. Don Hawkins said Wednesday that he had not yet seen the coroner’s report. The investigation is in the “same place we were last time,” he added.
A police report states that the 38-year-old man who was with Craft the night before said the two drank beer, did cocaine and watched pornography in an upstairs bedroom before Craft went downstairs early that Sunday. The man told police that Craft gave him a Xanax to fall asleep and the coroner’s report said both Craft and the man took Xanax.
New in the coroner’s report is that the man took a shower before going downstairs to drink two beers outside before discovering the body.
Toxicology results show alcohol, cocaine, alprazolam or Xanax, and benzoylecgonine (an indicator of cocaine presence) in his heart blood – alcohol and benzoylecgonine in his urine, and alcohol in his eye fluid.
Also, the coroner’s report details finding empty beer cans in the home along with a half-empty case of beer, a bottle of vodka half-full, an empty pill bottle by the computer and cigarettes throughout the home. In the upstairs bedroom, a pornographic DVD was found along with a rolled up dollar bill by the DVD. Empty plastic bags, a lighter and a glass pipe were in the top drawer of the night stand in the room.
Both the computer Craft died in front of and his cellphone, found near his right leg, were taken into evidence that day. The man who called police to the home was interviewed. The last text message sent from Craft’s phone was at 10:38 a.m. June 8, the coroner’s report detailed. The report doesn’t reveal the message.
The coroner’s report does detail what Craft’s widow told authorities: Craft had begun using cocaine a year ago, but was believed to have stopped six months ago. She also told them that Craft’s rings were missing and that one of the knives from a knife block in the kitchen was facing the wrong direction. The coroner’s report also noted that one of the kitchen knives was facing a different direction, but “no blood is on any of the knives.”
Theresa Vale, a coroner investigator who detailed part of the report, said Wednesday that her report was based on what she saw June 8 at the home. “We did not see any items at the scene with visible blood,” she said.
Craft’s widow had been living in Tiffin, Ohio, for work, and the couple would split time between there and Boardman.
Finger and palm prints, clothing, DNA of Craft and a gunshot-residue analysis kit were transferred to Boardman police June 16, the report detailed.