nerosleuth
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I remember this old murder case from 1975 that happened a week before the school year started after Labor Day in Columbus, Ohio. I also remember that this murder case made sensational headlines in the Columbus news media back then.
I’m going by old newspaper articles on microfilm from the public library as I discuss this murder case. I also have a link to a local magazine that wrote an article about the murder of Christie Lynn Mullins.
I must point out that the articles from the local newspaper and magazine had published the names of suspects that were involved with the case years ago that I cannot mention.
It is only after the details of this old murder case are explained that it can be understood why the names of the suspects involved cannot be mentioned.
Christie Lynn Mullins
Christie Lynn Mullins was 14 years old when she was kidnapped, raped, and brutally murdered on Saturday August 23, 1975 in Columbus, Ohio.
The murder occurred in a dense wooded area between Graceland Shopping Center and the Olentangy River. Graceland Shopping Center is located on the north side of Columbus on North High Street near Morse Road.
The body of Christie Lynn Mullins was found on the same day three fourths of a mile behind the former Woolco Department Store at Graceland Shopping Center.
Her hands had been bound with telephone wire and her clothing was partially stripped. She was struck in the head multiple times by a two-by-four board.
The crime scene was several blocks away from the residential street where Christie Lynn Mullins lived with her family.
Details of the crime
On Saturday August 23, 1975, Christie Lynn Mullins and a 14 year old girlfriend walked to the Woolco Department Store at Graceland Shopping Center on the north side of Columbus. They went to the shopping center around 1:30 p.m. after Christie’s girlfriend had received a telephone call from a man claiming to be a disc jockey from a local radio station.
The male caller said he was having a cheerleading contest at Graceland at 1:45 p.m. with a pass to the Ohio State Fair as a prize. The male caller told the girl to wait for him outside the Woolco Department Store.
Christie Lynn Mullins was sitting on a railing on the north side of Woolco combing her hair when her 14 year old girl friend went into department store to see what time it was. When the girl friend came out from Woolco, Christie Lynn Mullins was gone. The girl friend waited on Christie for 20 minutes before going to the home of another friend.
Not long after Christie Lynn Mullins disappeared, a man was walking with his family in the dense woods behind the Woolco Department Store at around 2 p.m. when he and his wife saw another man hitting something into the ground with a board.
The suspect saw the eyewitness and suddenly fled from the crime scene. The man and his wife then found the body of Christie Lynn Mullins. The male eyewitness then went inside the Woolco Department Store to report finding a body.
The male eyewitness gave Columbus Police a very detailed description of the attacker. A man matching the attacker’s description was arrested by police a few days later after he was seen walking on the sidewalk of a street in Downtown Columbus.
After the suspect had been arrested, the murder case had a speedy resolution which would later become controversial.
Not only did the police wrapped up the murder case so fast, the defense attorney was so sure of his client’s guilt and quickly made a plea bargain deal with prosecutors.
Eleven days after the murder was committed, the suspect appeared before a judge in a court hearing that was held without a jury. The suspect pled guilty to one count of aggravated murder and was sentenced to a term of life in prison. The police and prosecutors considered the Christie Lynn Mullins murder case to be closed.
A week later after the court hearing, the murder case became a public controversy. The public became increasingly skeptical over the police and prosecutors claims that the suspect, who was mentally retarded and had the mental age of a preteen child, had murdered Christie Lynn Mullins. The public believed that the wrong man had been convicted of the crime.
Two weeks later, the growing public controversy forced the original defense attorney to withdraw from the murder case. A new defense attorney was appointed and the guilty plea was later withdrawn.
After the guilty plea was set aside, a new team of defense attorneys were appointed. But legal wrangling in the murder case prevented a retrial from happening for a considerable amount of time.
Two and a half years later, the handicapped suspect finally had a jury trial in a packed courtroom on charges of kidnapping, rape, and murder in the Christie Lynn Mullins murder case.
During the week long highly dramatic trial, witnesses for the defense testified that the handicapped suspect was on the other side of the city during the time that Christie Lynn Mullins murder was committed.
The defense also had three last minute surprise witnesses that testified near the end of the week long trial. Their surprise testimonies cast serious doubts and suspicions concerning the male eyewitness that was at the crime scene during the time of Christie Lynn Mullins murder.
The male eyewitness who testified for the prosecution at the time of the trial was serving a prison sentence on an arson charge for burning down his own home a year after Christie Lynn Mullins was murdered.
After the defense and prosecution rested their case in the week long trial, the case went to the jury for deliberations.
The jury found the handicapped suspect not guilty of all charges in the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Christie Lynn Mullins. The jury believed the testimonies of the alibi and surprise witnesses that the defense presented during the week long trial.
The jury also believed that due to the handicapped suspect’s mental retardation, he didn’t fully comprehend the nature and the severity of the crime that he was accused of and also couldn’t have committed the crime.
Immediately after the jury announced its verdict, police and prosecutors still insisted to the public and to the news media that they had brought the correct suspect to trial and that the murder of Christie Lynn Mullins was solved.
The police and prosecutors suddenly found themselves on the hot spot as the public and the Columbus news media became outraged over their insistence that the Christie Lynn Mullins murder case was closed.
The huge public outcry prompted police and prosecutors to reopen the investigation into the murder of Christie Lynn Mullins.
Two and a half years after the murder of Christie Lynn Mullins, the original crime scene in the dense woods behind the Woolco Department Store had been cleared by a bulldozer. Police and prosecutors were back to square one.
Even though there were serious doubts, questions, and suspicions concerning the male eyewitness who happened to witness the murder of Christie Lynn Mullins, the male eyewitness was never arrested or charged with the murder of Christie Lynn Mullins.
The Christie Lynn Mullins murder case is still open as her murderer has never been brought to justice.
The murder of Christie Lynn Mullins remains unsolved to this day.
Sources:
http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Law-Enforcement/Investigator/Cold-Case/Homicides/Mullins-(1)
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=81870569
Note: This is the link to the local magazine article. The article was orginally published in 1978 and republished in 2009. It is a long article, so you may want to grab your favorite drink before reading this article.
http://www.columbusmonthly.com/June-2009/The-Trial-Jack-Carmenas-day-in-court-a-Part-1/
I’m going by old newspaper articles on microfilm from the public library as I discuss this murder case. I also have a link to a local magazine that wrote an article about the murder of Christie Lynn Mullins.
I must point out that the articles from the local newspaper and magazine had published the names of suspects that were involved with the case years ago that I cannot mention.
It is only after the details of this old murder case are explained that it can be understood why the names of the suspects involved cannot be mentioned.
Christie Lynn Mullins
Christie Lynn Mullins was 14 years old when she was kidnapped, raped, and brutally murdered on Saturday August 23, 1975 in Columbus, Ohio.
The murder occurred in a dense wooded area between Graceland Shopping Center and the Olentangy River. Graceland Shopping Center is located on the north side of Columbus on North High Street near Morse Road.
The body of Christie Lynn Mullins was found on the same day three fourths of a mile behind the former Woolco Department Store at Graceland Shopping Center.
Her hands had been bound with telephone wire and her clothing was partially stripped. She was struck in the head multiple times by a two-by-four board.
The crime scene was several blocks away from the residential street where Christie Lynn Mullins lived with her family.
Details of the crime
On Saturday August 23, 1975, Christie Lynn Mullins and a 14 year old girlfriend walked to the Woolco Department Store at Graceland Shopping Center on the north side of Columbus. They went to the shopping center around 1:30 p.m. after Christie’s girlfriend had received a telephone call from a man claiming to be a disc jockey from a local radio station.
The male caller said he was having a cheerleading contest at Graceland at 1:45 p.m. with a pass to the Ohio State Fair as a prize. The male caller told the girl to wait for him outside the Woolco Department Store.
Christie Lynn Mullins was sitting on a railing on the north side of Woolco combing her hair when her 14 year old girl friend went into department store to see what time it was. When the girl friend came out from Woolco, Christie Lynn Mullins was gone. The girl friend waited on Christie for 20 minutes before going to the home of another friend.
Not long after Christie Lynn Mullins disappeared, a man was walking with his family in the dense woods behind the Woolco Department Store at around 2 p.m. when he and his wife saw another man hitting something into the ground with a board.
The suspect saw the eyewitness and suddenly fled from the crime scene. The man and his wife then found the body of Christie Lynn Mullins. The male eyewitness then went inside the Woolco Department Store to report finding a body.
The male eyewitness gave Columbus Police a very detailed description of the attacker. A man matching the attacker’s description was arrested by police a few days later after he was seen walking on the sidewalk of a street in Downtown Columbus.
After the suspect had been arrested, the murder case had a speedy resolution which would later become controversial.
Not only did the police wrapped up the murder case so fast, the defense attorney was so sure of his client’s guilt and quickly made a plea bargain deal with prosecutors.
Eleven days after the murder was committed, the suspect appeared before a judge in a court hearing that was held without a jury. The suspect pled guilty to one count of aggravated murder and was sentenced to a term of life in prison. The police and prosecutors considered the Christie Lynn Mullins murder case to be closed.
A week later after the court hearing, the murder case became a public controversy. The public became increasingly skeptical over the police and prosecutors claims that the suspect, who was mentally retarded and had the mental age of a preteen child, had murdered Christie Lynn Mullins. The public believed that the wrong man had been convicted of the crime.
Two weeks later, the growing public controversy forced the original defense attorney to withdraw from the murder case. A new defense attorney was appointed and the guilty plea was later withdrawn.
After the guilty plea was set aside, a new team of defense attorneys were appointed. But legal wrangling in the murder case prevented a retrial from happening for a considerable amount of time.
Two and a half years later, the handicapped suspect finally had a jury trial in a packed courtroom on charges of kidnapping, rape, and murder in the Christie Lynn Mullins murder case.
During the week long highly dramatic trial, witnesses for the defense testified that the handicapped suspect was on the other side of the city during the time that Christie Lynn Mullins murder was committed.
The defense also had three last minute surprise witnesses that testified near the end of the week long trial. Their surprise testimonies cast serious doubts and suspicions concerning the male eyewitness that was at the crime scene during the time of Christie Lynn Mullins murder.
The male eyewitness who testified for the prosecution at the time of the trial was serving a prison sentence on an arson charge for burning down his own home a year after Christie Lynn Mullins was murdered.
After the defense and prosecution rested their case in the week long trial, the case went to the jury for deliberations.
The jury found the handicapped suspect not guilty of all charges in the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Christie Lynn Mullins. The jury believed the testimonies of the alibi and surprise witnesses that the defense presented during the week long trial.
The jury also believed that due to the handicapped suspect’s mental retardation, he didn’t fully comprehend the nature and the severity of the crime that he was accused of and also couldn’t have committed the crime.
Immediately after the jury announced its verdict, police and prosecutors still insisted to the public and to the news media that they had brought the correct suspect to trial and that the murder of Christie Lynn Mullins was solved.
The police and prosecutors suddenly found themselves on the hot spot as the public and the Columbus news media became outraged over their insistence that the Christie Lynn Mullins murder case was closed.
The huge public outcry prompted police and prosecutors to reopen the investigation into the murder of Christie Lynn Mullins.
Two and a half years after the murder of Christie Lynn Mullins, the original crime scene in the dense woods behind the Woolco Department Store had been cleared by a bulldozer. Police and prosecutors were back to square one.
Even though there were serious doubts, questions, and suspicions concerning the male eyewitness who happened to witness the murder of Christie Lynn Mullins, the male eyewitness was never arrested or charged with the murder of Christie Lynn Mullins.
The Christie Lynn Mullins murder case is still open as her murderer has never been brought to justice.
The murder of Christie Lynn Mullins remains unsolved to this day.
Sources:
http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Law-Enforcement/Investigator/Cold-Case/Homicides/Mullins-(1)
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=81870569
Note: This is the link to the local magazine article. The article was orginally published in 1978 and republished in 2009. It is a long article, so you may want to grab your favorite drink before reading this article.
http://www.columbusmonthly.com/June-2009/The-Trial-Jack-Carmenas-day-in-court-a-Part-1/