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Still few details known about murder of Chris Craft four months later
Coroner’s report still unavailable for Chris Craft homicide
By ROBERT CONNELLY
BOARDMAN
Four months after a township man was found slain in his home, few details are known.
Similarly, not much has changed in the case from when The Vindicator updated the Chris Craft homicide case two months ago.
Craft was found dead on the floor of his home, 1736 Alverne Drive, on June 8 — authorities think he died about noon that day — with a pool of blood, about the size of a wall clock, around his head and no splatter.
From the beginning, Boardman authorities found the case perplexing.
Days later, it was revealed that someone had removed the skin from Craft’s face to conceal how he died. That cut-away ran from his ear to the center of his lips and then down vertically to underneath his jawline and onto his neck.
The murder weapon and the detached skin still haven’t been found.
Police drained a backyard pool but found nothing.
Police took Craft’s phone and the computer he was found lying on the floor in front of.
Boardman Capt. Don Hawkins said of the case, “It’s still under investigation.”
The other officer on the case since the beginning, Sgt. Mike Hughes, said, “I wish I had news for [The Vindicator], but I don’t.”
The final report from the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office is still not available — even Hawkins said he had not seen the final report.
Hughes confirmed that and said, “these things can take awhile.”
Earlier in the case, authorities had been running tests on Craft’s body.
“We do have some things that are still at the lab, but the majority of those tests are back,” Hughes said.
He added that Boardman authorities continue to work with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation in the case.
Lorraine Caldwell, 73, of Youngstown, knew Craft through her son, David Caldwell, who passed away from a drug overdose Jan. 5, 2013.
“I just feel that by now there should be something pointing to someone by now,” she said. “I thought something certainly would have happened by now.”
Caldwell added, “Nobody deserves to die like this, and it seems like nobody cares.”