Plea entered in 20-year-old case
By MARK LAW, staff writerArticle Photos
STEUBENVILLE - Michael L. Harris, 53, of Apartment 1, 1219 State St., who was indicted last week by the Jefferson County grand jury on charges of aggravated murder and murder in connection with the January 1987 stabbing death of Jill Howard, entered a not guilty plea Wednesday at arraignment proceedings before Jefferson County Common Pleas Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr.
Two other high profile cases were heard Wednesday by the judge.
Bruzzese appointed attorney David Vukelic to represent Harris. The judge set Harris' bond at $1 million.
The 18-year-old Howard was found stabbed 61 times in Webster Alley on Jan. 6, 1987.
Harris had initially been charged with the murder of Harris but was not indicted by the county grand jury.
Jefferson County Prosecutor Thomas Straus asked the Ohio Attorney General's Office to take over prosecution of the case because Frank Bruzzese, an assistant prosecutor, had represented Harris when he was charged 20 years ago.
Howard's brother, Harry Howard of Toronto, said he is glad a suspect is in jail and hopefully the case will be solved.
"It's been hard on the family. It has been 20 years and we have had a lot of false hopes. We just want to get justice," Harry Howard said.
Human blood was found on the inside and outside of a car owned by Harris and a leather jacket taken from a house on North Sixth Street, according to testimony from Harris' municipal court hearing. Howard and Harris lived at the address on North Sixth Street.
Harry Howard said Harris either knows who committed the murder or he did it himself. He said Harris, if he didn't do it, needs to come forward and say who committed the murder.
"My sister was stabbed 61 times - someone needs to go to jail," he added.
City Police Detective John Stasiulewicz obtained a search warrant in May to obtain saliva samples from Harris that will be used for DNA comparison.
Also at arraignments, David B. Workman, 52, of state Route 213, Irondale, a former Jefferson County coroner's investigator who was indicted on a charge of theft in office, entered a not guilty plea.
Workman retained attorney Steven Stickles to represent him. He was released on a personal recognizance bond.
Workman was employed as a county coroner's investigator when he allegedly took a credit card from a deceased man at the morgue and used it at a strip club in Weirton.
Workman was obtaining blood samples from Joseph VerStraten, 51, of township Road 259, Richmond, who was killed June 2 on Route 152 after the driver of a pickup truck went left of center and struck VerStraten's motorcycle head-on.
Workman was arrested by Weirton Police on June 21 on a charge of fraudulent use of a credit card.
Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla has requested the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation's assistance in investigating whether Workman took other items from bodies at the morgue in the past.
Also, Crist S. Mullet, no age listed, of Ross Township Road 280, Bergholz, who was indicted on three counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, entered a not guilty plea.
He was released on a personal recognizance bond and was appointed an attorney.
Jefferson County Prosecutor Thomas Straus said Mullet committed the acts on two boys and a girl from January 2000 through January 2006.
Abdalla has said there were reports of sexual abuse in the Amish community in Bergholz.
(Law can be contacted at mlaw@heraldstaronline.com.)
