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Trumbull prosecutor asks that two men remain in prison for homicides
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins says Maximillian Bell, who has served 20 years of a 12-to-50-year prison sentence in the death of Mark Heltzel, should remain in prison longer. He is also asking the state not to parole Ignacio A. Palma, who was convicted of murdering his wife.
Bell and Palma will have parole hearings in the next few weeks.
Bell, 38, of Warren, was one of two men who police believe tried to rob Heltzel, 34, of his wallet, money and jewelry as the three men traveled in a car from Warren’s East Side toward the West Side in October 1995.
Heltzel was found beside the road at South Street and Pine Avenue. He died three days later, and his death was ruled a homicide. He was the brother of former Trumbull County Commissioner Paul Heltzel, who died in 2014.
Bell and Tarik Allen were both 17 at the time they were convicted of involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping and aggravated robbery in the case. Allen is eligible for a parole hearing in December 2017.
In a letter to the parole board, Watkins points out that Bell continues to be a risk to others because of his “continuing history” of rules infractions since he’s been in prison. They include drug offenses, fighting and taking the property of others.
In June, a corrections officer wrote him up for sexual conduct while alone and “staring at the [corrections officer] desk,” Watkins said.
“If he would do this in front of a [corrections officer] while in prison without any shame, it is self-evident that this type of behavior will have no bounds in front of the law-abiding citizens of Trumbull County,” Watkins wrote.
“With 12 convictions as a juvenile and three more at age 17 with this bind-over to the common pleas court as an adult, it is clear to this office that Maximillian Bell is a walking crime wave ready to happen,” Watkins said.
“His diagnosis as a juvenile was conduct disorder. Now as an adult, the evidence clearly shows he has truly graduated to become an inmate suffering anti-social personality disorder. His release would endanger the public,” the prosecutor said.
Palma, 58, also is eligible for a parole hearing after serving 22 years of a sentence of 15 years to life for killing his wife on May 4, 1994, in their home on Oak Street Southwest.
Palma called police that day, saying he had just killed his wife, Vivian Chancellor, who worked at the Trumbull Correctional Institute.
Palma told police he had killed her because he had read letters written to Chancellor from a man who wanted her to leave Palma, Watkins said. Palma asked that she come home early from work, saying her grandchild was sick. Police found her dead, shot in the head, when they arrived.
“The evidence showed that Palma plotted and schemed over a course of hours to kill Ms. Chancellor in cold blood,” a letter to the parole board from Diane Barber, assistant county prosecutor, says. Watkins is asking the parole board to refuse parole at this time.