Opinion ID: 7089211
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Witness-Murder Specification

Text: {¶ 294} Finally, we must determine the sufficiency of the evidence to support the witness-murder specification under R.C. 2929.04(A)(8) : The victim of the aggravated murder was a witness to an offense who was purposely killed to prevent the victim's testimony in any criminal proceeding and the aggravated murder was not committed during the commission, attempted commission, or flight immediately after the commission or attempted commission of the offense to which the victim was a witness   . The principal evidence on this point was the note in Mary's handwriting that said Leave and Tell police, which police found in Tench's bedroom. The note's presence in Tench's room shows that he knew Mary was considering complaining to the police about his thefts. Moreover, there was evidence that Tench had monitored Mary's e-mails using his cell phone and had deleted an e-mail headed Confidential Message for Address Only that Discover had sent to her on November 5, 2013. We hold that the evidence supports the jury's finding of guilt on the R.C. 2929.04(A)(8) specification. See State v. Osie , 140 Ohio St.3d 131 , 2014-Ohio-2966 , 16 N.E.3d 588 , ¶ 200-203 ; State v. Conway , 109 Ohio St.3d 412 , 2006-Ohio-2815 , 848 N.E.2d 810 , ¶ 56.