Saturday, July 18, 2015
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins is opposing parole for Joseph M. Dudley, 56, who is serving a life prison sentence for killing William Peterson, 45, Dec. 12, 1992, in Howland Township. Dudley is eligible for parole next month.
Dudley, who lived on Willard Avenue Southeast, was returning to Warren after spending time with friends in two taverns in the Niles area when he and Roger Hunt noticed someone tailgating their car, according to a statement from a woman riding in the car with them.
Hunt, who was driving, and Dudley stopped in front of Peterson and got out to talk to him, with Dudley having a gun that belonged to Peterson.
The woman said that she heard four rapid gunshots shortly after Hunt and Dudley went back to Peterson’s car at the intersection of Fairview Avenue and Ridge Road beside the current Trumbull Business College.
They came back to Hunt’s car, and both men apologized to the two women in Hunt’s car. Hunt told one of them the dead man was Peterson, whom she knew and with whom Dudley had played pool earlier that night, Howland police said.
Hunt told police Peterson was friendly when he and Dudley walked up to his car and started to say something to Hunt when Dudley said to Peterson “Hey,” and suddenly fired three times at Peterson’s head, hitting him all three times.
Hunt told police he cursed at Dudley for doing it, but Dudley just smiled and later told Hunt: “It was the best execution I’ve ever seen.”
A Ridge Road resident later verified that she heard three gunshots at 2:30 a.m. Dec. 12.
In an interview with a Vindicator reporter after he was convicted of the murder, Dudley admitted he fired the fatal shots because Hunt had told him the gun was loaded.
Dudley said “I don’t really know why” he pulled he trigger two more times after realizing that the gun was loaded. “I was really drunk. Maybe the gun just kept bucking in my hand. As drunk as I was, I coulda stumbled.”
In his letter to the parole board, Watkins noted that he also opposed parole for Dudley in 2005 and 2010.
“In my view, Dudley at age 56 would be a clear risk to society if released at this time,” Watkins wrote.
“Dudley even told Hunt [who passed a polygraph and was corroborated by other witnesses] that he would like to kill a couple more persons,” Watkins said.