The Mail-Journal, Volume 21, Number 12, Milford, Kosciusko County, 4 April 1984 — Page 1

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VOLUME 21

How several Webster residents saw murder By M ARK WEINSTEIN Staff Writer The murder of 16-year-old Melinda Ann Young in North Webster last week rocked Northern Indiana News media all across the northern part of the state reported the facts. But possibly more of a surprise came in the aftermath when Kurt Ohlwine. 19. North Webster, confessed to the shooting death of Melinda Ann Young. Ohlwine. who had dropped out of school prior to his senior year, was thought to be an outstanding basketball player Always seen at the “mat" next to the schools in North Webster, he seemed willing to help younger players improve their skills in the sport

MARSH A CONKLING BILLSTROMBECK Bbl JEFF AMICK GLEN FEAZEL

Visit home town of Confuscius in China

KUFU, China, Feb. 26, 1984 - We were to have two overnight train rides during our China odyssey, the first being from Nanjing to Kufu, deep into rural China. The second, to come later, would take us from Kufu to Peking (Beijing). First of all, we should point out that Kufu (pronounced Chu-foo) is the home of the ancient philosopher and teacher Confuscius. So it would stand to reason that we were taken to the Confucius Mansion’s Hotel. We arrived in the early morning hours and were taken through a maze of hallways until we arrived at what was a definite let-down from the swank accommodations at the Jingling at Nanjing. Oh yes, we did have hot water, but only after it had run a considerable time. The beds were soft to a fault, and the floors were a bare, cold cement. This being the home of this wise old rascal Confuscius, it would seem only natural that our guide for the day would be a descendant. He claimed to bethe 75th generation, pointing out that Kong De Cheng, 64 and living in Taiwan, is the 77th generation. His son and grandson make up the 76th and 77th generations. It

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Consolidation of THE MILFORD MAIL /Esr. 18881 and THE SYR ACUSE-WAWASEE JOURNAL (Est. 1907)

"He was a very good basketball player, at least that is what my son Bobby told me,” said Bill Strombeck of J and J Motors, North Webster. “Bobby and Kurt spent the majority of the summer last year playing basketball. He was always talking about the sport and trying to help others improve. He kept telling me that Bobby plays good on offensive, but needs some help defensively." Ohlwine. an above average athlete, was noted for being somewhat outspoken or cocky throughout his prep days in North Webster and at Wawasee It was his attitude more than anything that resulted from him being cut from the North Webster eighth grade basketball team But this behavior was never evident in front of the Strombecks. “He always came around here ( at the car dealership on SR 13). but he never seemed to be cocky,” said Strombeck. “He talked sensible, just like anyone else. I guess it is just a matter of who you are around My boy always got along with him without any problem. This is really hard to understand, it doesn’t sound like anything he would do.” Former co-workers with Ohlwine were as stunned as Strombeck when finding out the news To the employees. Ohlwine was a hard worker but had a problem of consistency. "I was absolutly shocked." said Marsha Conkling, a present employee at the Al-N-De Grill. North Webster. “He always seemed to be a quiet, shy boy when he worked here. He did seem scared of his own shadow, but he was a good worker " Still Ohlwine’s difficulties were not totally unexpected “When I first met him, I thought to myself, this boy must be on drugs or something.” said Miss Conking. “When he talked to you. you knew he really wasn't looking at you He kind of drifted off into his own little world." But he still was a good worker, according to Miss Conkling and another employee. Jeff Amick. “When he was here, he worked hard, but he wasn’t very outgoing." informed Amick. “I know he was a good basketball player, and had a good attitude. But he always seemed to be worrying about something else while here at work.” With the horrible memory of this latest murder lingering in our minds, people in North (Continued on page 2)

Tom Mullen to be speaker at 'Citizen of the Year' banquet

Milford Development Council officers are anticipating the sale of over 100 tickets for the annual “Citizen of the Year” Banquet. The event will be held at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. April 7, at the Milford Community Building. Tickets for the evening are available at most Milford merchants. The agenda for the evening will include a meal and a speaker, prior to the awards presentation which will recognize Milford's honored citizen. The speaker for the evening will be Tom Mullen, Associate Professor of Applied Theology and Minister-at-Large at Earlham School of Religion, Earlham College. Richmond. Mullen has held numerous positions both within the college and the Society of Friends churches. A 1956 graduate of Earlham College and 1959 graduate of Yale University, he is a well-published author, having both books and

Area residents express concern over factory's injection well

By BEN SMITH Staff Writer Milford and New Paris area residents are expressing concern over the construction of a 3.000 foot injection well begun recently by Hoskins Manufacturing Company, 71103 C.R. 23, New Paris. Joan Neer, who lives near the construction site, said her husband. Donald, has asked her to check into the situation to see whether future danger exists in the form of water pollution caused by the well s existance. "All I know is what I see over there,” Mrs. Neer said. “I’ve heard some very bad reports.”

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DEEP WELL AT HOSKINS — Despite a cold, early spring rain Tuesday, workmen labored until late in the afternoon on Hoskins Manufacturing Company's 3.000 foot injection well system. Construction of the waste treatment plant has caused rumors about hazardous chemicals to abound, despite assurances from company and state officials that all necessary safety procedures are being followed. (Photo by Ben Smith)

seems like only sons are considered in this generation count. He said they go up as far as the 79th generation. Confuscism In Eclipse The philosophy and teachings of Confuscius appear to be in eclipse at the time, but that doesn't amount to much, as his teachings come and go in popularity in China. Confuscism and Taoism (ancestor worship) are things the government frowns on, replacing it with love of state. As part of this, the government is encouraging cremation, much as the Hindues do in India. Kufu is rich with cultural relics, we were informed, with some 200 sites of historical interest in the area. Eleven of the sites are under the protection of the provincial government. There are 4,000 stone tablets, showing the Chinese to be expert calligraphers. It takes some 140 beds on the huge grounds that includes temples of all sorts to accommodate the 70,000 tourists who flock to this area each year, many of them foreigners like ourselves. A big new hotel is to be completed in 1985 to further attract tourism. The Chinese are catching on to capitalizing on tourism in a big way

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4,1984

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Many of her friends are worried as well, she added. Tom Wilson, Director of Environmental Health for the Elkhart County Health Department, said Hoskins is creating a waste treatment facility, with the injection well constituting only one portion of the treatment operation. Hoskins, headquartered in Detroit, Mich., manufactures form-bent metal products such as fences and heating elements, Tom Byers, director of the Elkhart Plan Commission, said Tuesday. Hoskins uses chemicals to treat and clean nickel chrome alloy resistance

the past few years. Confuscius lived from 5518 Cto 479 BC and lived to be 72 years of age, quite a feat for that period. He was buried 479 BC, and the area will observe the 2,535th year of his birth on We visited the temple erected in his name after he died, but his Aristotle-like musings were held in buildings long since destroyed. The government is pumping all kinds of money into this area to restore many buildings on the grounds in their original condition, or some resemblance thereof. Visit Cemetery Inasmuch as confuscism makes a big thing of ancestor worship, one can imagine the type of cemeteries they have. There is an 800-acre cemetery, for instance, where only ancestors of tins wise old bird are buried. The headstones defie the imagination in size and description. Bodies are buried above ground and heaped high with dirt. Some of the headstones are large stone animals. One that keeps looming up is a large (about five ton) (Continued on page 2)

magazine articles published. He was formerly a monthly columnist for The Disciple, and has spoken to many audiences throughout Indiana. Among Mullen's other interests, affiliations and credits, he is a recipient of the Underwood Fellowship-Danforth Foundation. He and his wife, Nancy, are the parents of four children. The topic on which he will be speaking at the Citizen of the Year Banquet will be “An Attitude of Gratitude”. $l5O damage as car hits deer James Hann, 49, r 2 box 50 Syracuse, was involved in a car/deer accident at 6 a.m. Monday, April 2. The mishap occurred on County Line Road at Warner Road. Damage was estimated up to $l5O to the front grill and left fender.

wires, and it is these chemicals which have people very worried. Upon attempting to contact a representative from Hoskins on Tuesday, The Mail-Journal was told by a receptionist that plant manager Stan Jerlecki was in Detroit and would be not be available to be interviewed on the ■'telephone. The receptionist, who said she couldn’t answer any other questions, did say Hoskins has been in this area for a little over two years. Wilson said the firm plans to inject neutralized acid waste in (Continued on page 5)

Dispute case jurisdiction as investigators — % ■ k Seek 'real motive' in North Webster Murder

By ARCH BAUMGARTNER The people of the tiny town of North Webster are still reeling under the impact of a blatant and uncalled-for murder that shook their community at its very foundation a week ago. One young 16-year-old girl is dead and buried and a 19-year old youth is incarcerated in the Kosciusko County Jail as a result of the incident which can only be classified as cold blooded murder Second Murder While a small town like North Webster seldom has a murder case amongst its annals, this is the second one for the popular little lakes community. In a separate article in last week’s issue of The Mail-Jour-nal, correspondent Mary Lee Willman recalled the unsolved murder of 17-year-old Laurel Jean Mitchell, who vanished on the rainy night of August 6, 1976 on the Epworth Forest Road. A SIO,OOO reward was put up by a newly-formed “Citizens For Law Enforcement" committee for information leading to the apprehension and conviction of the murderer in that case, but it was never claimed. In last week’s murder, dead was 16-; ear-old Melinda Ann daughter of Walter (“Wally" Young, of 813 South Front Street, Syracuse, and Ann Marie Young, also of Syracuse. “Mindy” Young was a sophomore in Wawasee High School. Her final services were held at 11a.m. last Thursday at the Harris Funeral Home, located on State Road 13 south of Syracuse. Rev. Henry McCray, pastor of the North Webster Church of God. was in charge and interment was in the Syracuse Cemetery. State Police Investigation Held in the Kosciusko County Jail in the murder is Kurt Eugene Ohlwine. son of David and Jean Ohlwine of the North Webster community. When the murder was first discovered early Sunday, March 25, state police detectives were called in on the investigation at the request of North Webster town marshal Judy Coleman. Investigation of all the details surrounding the case rests in the hand of State Police Detectives Ray Carich and Mel Keplinger, State Trooper Tom Perzanowski, and laboratory technicians Frank Jagoda of the Fort Wayne State Police Post and Mike Harman of the Bremen Post. Detect ve Keplinger was present with the murder suspect when he .onfessed to the murder. Ohlwine was not taken to Elkhart for a polygraph (lie detector) test as first reported. It was when he was told he would be taken for such a test that he confessed, officers sad. Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Detective Tom Kitch, Kosciusko County Sheriff Al Rovenstine and

I ELIE VE IT OR NOT-This little youngster was found sitting along a pile of snow at the base of Mow t Tai. using chop sticks to eat snow.

►x Whose jurisdiction was North Webster murder case? See At Large column on page 5. Sheriff’s Captain Ron Robinson were invited into the case by state police detectives to give what assistance they could. Have Contacted Sowers Trooper Perzanowski has contacted Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Sowers, of Second Street, North Webster, where the shooting occurred, at the Long Beach, Calif., home of their son where the Sowerses are vacationing. Their son Gary is an executive in Honda research in Long Beach. Officers said they planned to be back in their North Webster home about May 1. Mr. Sowers said he had some old guns around the house, along with some ammunition, and it appeared one of his small hand guns was used in the murder of Melinda Young. Investigating officers said it was a .38 caliber weapon thought to be one taken from the Sowers gun collection. Officers said she was shot five times about the head and chest, inside the house, and was dragged by her feet from the house to the shoreline, some 75 feet away from the house, where her body was thrown into about 18 inches of icy water. Close friends of the Sowerses did not know he had guns in his house. Young Ohlwine had been in a friend’s house in North Webster watching the finals of the IHSAA basketball tournament won by the Warsaw Tigers at about 11:30 p.m. that fatal night. The apartment was thought to be a mobile home in the Mid-Lakes Trailer Park just west of the Crystal Flash Service Station on SR 13 north of North Webster. He later said he walked toward the Crystal Flash and saw Miss Young walking along the road alone. He said he recognized Melinda from a meeting at the Syracuse gym about two weeks earlier. They discussed meeting at the Sowers lakeside home, which Ohlwine had entered earlier. The two parted, since Melinda said she wanted to make a telephone call, each going his separate direction. When Ohlwine met Miss Young she was said to be distraught and crying, according to Ohlwine’s testimony. When Ohlwine arrived at the Sowers house and entered it, Melinda was already there and surprised Ohlwine, according to his statement to officers. It was then that he fired five shots into her body. Not Whole Truth’ Kosciusko County Sheriff Al Rovenstine, commenting Tuesday of this week on the case, said, “He johlwine) has changed his story about 20 times. We can’t be sure we have the whole truth yet.” He commented further that young Ohlwine “didn’t seem to have any direction.” Sheriff Rovenstine said there

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was no indication drugs were involved in the case, but investigation revealed Ohlwine was not getting along with his parents very well. “He had been drinking at the time of the murder, but not that much,” the sheriff said. Investigating officers said thre were 60 different and separate items of testimony taken and catalogued. And at the same time they reported having no clear motive tor the brutal slaying. One officer even suggeted “we may never find out what the real motive is." Lab reports from the autopsy have not been forthcoming in their complete form as of this date. The restless youth spent a lot of time around the outdoor basketball court at' the North Webster Elementary and Junior High Schools. “He love basketball,” the sheriff stated, and often met his friends there, but basically he was described as a “loner.” Ohlwine In Jail Meanwhile, Kurt Ohlwine is in the county jail at Warsaw undergoing further questioning. Sheriff Rovenstine said Ohlwine was arraigned before Kosciusko County Circuit Court Judge Richard Sands' last Tuesday, and attorney Vern Landis was a court-appointed counselor for the young man. Sheriff Rovenstine said the judge automatically enters a not guilty plea and set a 20-day omnibus date from the time of arraignment. His attorney has 30 * days to answer the charge. From that time the judge sets a trial date which will follow. Meanwhile, a host of questions appear to be unanswered, and investigating officers are working with the troubled youth to get to the bottom of one of the most bizarre murder cases to occur in North Webster, if not in Kosciusko County’s history.

3 grass fires at Syracuse Syracuse Firemen were kept busy Sunday afternoon, April 1, fighting three grass fires. Mary Thornburg called the department at 3:04 p.m. and reported a grass fire at Wawasee Airport. When firemen arrived they extinguished what fire was remaining with 15 gallons of water. A tntfeh fir was listed as thecause. The fire department was called at 4:39 p.m. to an area on Warner Road, near Smith-Waldbridge Camp, when a large field caught fire. David Marshall called the c department. Firemen used 400 gallons of water on the fire which was caused by a trash fire. Within secondscof being excused from the field fire, firemen were called to the old Hess Farm on Syra-Web Road by Jeff Rhodes. The call was received at 5:15 p.m. Firemen used 800 gallons of water to extinguish a large field and swamp fire. The cause of this fire is unknown.