OH OH - Renee Wise, murdered, Suffield Township, 16 Jan 1997

[Ohio Mysteries]

Renee (in some media spelled Rene) Wise was 30 when she was killed on Jan. 16, 1997. She was stabbed and strangled in her apartment in Suffield Township, east of Akron.
The attack came after several weeks of Renee noticing that things around her apartment were moving or being broken. She began to wonder if she had done those things and forgotten, but a missing change jar was the last straw. She called police from work the day of her murder and was making plans to call them when she got home so they would come over and take a full report, but she didn't get to make that call. Apparently as soon as she got home, the intruder was inside and killed her.

More details in this Record-Courier story: Wise murder remains unsolved

We talked to two of Renee's friends and shared her story in a new episode of our podcast, Ohio Mysteries. You can listen on any free podcast app, or find direct audio links at www.ohiomysteries.com.

Renee put up a fight and is believed to have had skin beneath her nails. Here's hoping the DNA from that some day leads to her killer!

 

[dotr]

Bizarre "gaslighting" imo,
Posted Jan 25, 1998
Wise murder remains unsolved
"Thirty years wasn’t enough time for Rene Wise to finish everything she started.Results from a written exam she took with the hopes of becoming an Akron firefighter arrived in the mail shortly after her death. Her plans for a June wedding went unfinished. And she never had a child of her own, something she had always longed for.Those closest to her feel as if Wise’s zest for life and tireless ambition were stolen too soon. They continue to reel in heartache, feeling the constant pain of her loss.“I never thought it would happen to someone I was close to,” said Erin Batchlet, the middle daughter of three, describing the unbelievable reality of her older sister’s murder. “I didn’t think it would happen to someone in my family.“Wise’s beaten, cut and strangled body was discovered in her Cleveland Road apartment in Suffield Jan. 17, 1997. A year later, the Portage County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate who stole Wise’s future with a brutal act of violence."
"During the weeks leading up to her death, Wise tried to ignore the signs that someone may have been in her apartment when she wasn’t home. She even cleaned up muddy footprints on her kitchen floor, passing them off as her own, according to her family.But she became worried when she started to smell natural gas in her kitchen. Her stove had been shoved against the wall, bending a pipe and leaking gas into the air. A leg of her electric skillet also had been broken, but the appliance was returned to the counter where it was kept, Batchlet said.Days before her death, Wise discovered the screen door had been sliced on a rarely used entrance, and the door had been forced open"

 

[LadyL]

how terrifying

 

[Ohio Mysteries]

Bizarre "gaslighting" imo,
Posted Jan 25, 1998
Wise murder remains unsolved
"Thirty years wasn’t enough time for Rene Wise to finish everything she started.Results from a written exam she took with the hopes of becoming an Akron firefighter arrived in the mail shortly after her death. Her plans for a June wedding went unfinished. And she never had a child of her own, something she had always longed for.Those closest to her feel as if Wise’s zest for life and tireless ambition were stolen too soon. They continue to reel in heartache, feeling the constant pain of her loss.“I never thought it would happen to someone I was close to,” said Erin Batchlet, the middle daughter of three, describing the unbelievable reality of her older sister’s murder. “I didn’t think it would happen to someone in my family.“Wise’s beaten, cut and strangled body was discovered in her Cleveland Road apartment in Suffield Jan. 17, 1997. A year later, the Portage County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate who stole Wise’s future with a brutal act of violence."
"During the weeks leading up to her death, Wise tried to ignore the signs that someone may have been in her apartment when she wasn’t home. She even cleaned up muddy footprints on her kitchen floor, passing them off as her own, according to her family.But she became worried when she started to smell natural gas in her kitchen. Her stove had been shoved against the wall, bending a pipe and leaking gas into the air. A leg of her electric skillet also had been broken, but the appliance was returned to the counter where it was kept, Batchlet said.Days before her death, Wise discovered the screen door had been sliced on a rarely used entrance, and the door had been forced open"

Exactly what I thought. Pretty unusual MO - spending weeks going into her apartment in the daytime, and then ending in murder.

 

[OhioSluether86]

I just found the 1998 article today when I decided to research local cold cases after something that was said on a favorite podcast. Im interested to see how much more I can find. Its such an unusual story and so little information on my initial search. I'll be listening to your podcast today.

 

[HPgirl@1990]

She was a wonderful woman, so kind and caring. She loved her two soon to be step children very much. I was there the morning she was found, a day that will forever be engraved into my memory. The look on her fiancés face as he came out of that apartment that cold January morning. Those two children as they looked on in horror watching there dad panic and scared, the cops and EMT's showing up wondering why their soon to be step mom wasn't coming out of the house. 22 years later that day still plagues that family. It still hurts knowing that for 22 years her killer has been walking and living among everyone as if it never happened.

 

[dotr]

She was a wonderful woman, so kind and caring. She loved her two soon to be step children very much. I was there the morning she was found, a day that will forever be engraved into my memory. The look on her fiancés face as he came out of that apartment that cold January morning. Those two children as they looked on in horror watching there dad panic and scared, the cops and EMT's showing up wondering why their soon to be step mom wasn't coming out of the house. 22 years later that day still plagues that family. It still hurts knowing that for 22 years her killer has been walking and living among everyone as if it never happened.

Welcome to Ws HPgirl@1990!
So sorry about the tragic circumstances that brought you here, sometimes it takes just one tip to help solve a case, hoping that happens soon, perhaps through tell-tale DNA.

 

[HPgirl@1990]

Welcome to Ws HPgirl@1990!
So sorry about the tragic circumstances that brought you here, sometimes it takes just one tip to help solve a case, hoping that happens soon, perhaps through tell-tale DNA.

DNA testing requires money. Portage County doesn't seem to be too interested in spending the money not to mention they trashed the crime scene. They didn't secure it and let everyone that responded to the 911 call in the house instead of limiting it to only the people that NEEDED to go in. I can say one of the suspects that they didn't focus on much doesn't have an alibi and was more than capable of committing this crime.

 

[dotr]

DNA testing requires money. Portage County doesn't seem to be too interested in spending the money not to mention they trashed the crime scene. They didn't secure it and let everyone that responded to the 911 call in the house instead of limiting it to only the people that NEEDED to go in. I can say one of the suspects that they didn't focus on much doesn't have an alibi and was more than capable of committing this crime.

Is the suspect mentioned in any news reports that could be posted here, is the killer presumed to be a male or female?
imo.

 

[HPgirl@1990]

Is the suspect mentioned in any news reports that could be posted here, is the killer presumed to be a male or female?
imo.

No none of the suspects were ever mentioned in news articles. If you didn't notice there were never very many articles ever published about the case. Obviously her Fiancee was listed but cleared (as he should have been). He had an alibi and pasted the polygraph.