CRIME

Trial of Heather Bogle murder suspect delayed

Suspect Daniel Myers treated at hospital Monday, chief deputy says

Craig Shoup
The News-Messenger
Attorney Merle Dech, left, filed a sealed motion Tuesday in the homicide trial of Daniel Myers, right.

FREMONT - The trial scheduled to begin Monday for Daniel Myers, charged in the murder of Heather Bogle, has been postponed and a gag order has been issued by Sandusky County Common Pleas Court Judge John Dewey.

While no explanation was given for the delay, Sandusky County Sheriff Chief Deputy Ed Hastings said Myers had been taken to ProMedica Memorial Hospital Monday for treatment after becoming ill.

"He was woozy and incoherent and was transported to the hospital, but he was released and is back in the jail," Hastings said on Wednesday. 

Hastings said he was not told whether Myers was ill or had attempted to harm himself at the Sandusky County Jail.

Myers, 49, of Green Creek Township, could be sentenced to death if convicted of aggravated murder, kidnapping and assault with gun specifications.

A scheduled hearing with 157 prospective jurors was canceled Wednesday as Myers' attorneys, Merle Dech and Jane Roman, filed a sealed motion Tuesday.

The defense attorneys and Sandusky County Prosecutor Tim Braun were to have had the prospective jurors fill out questionnaires.

More:  2009 case reopened

Braun said he could not speak about why the trial has been continued due to the gag order.

Although the murder trial, scheduled to last two to three weeks, has been postponed, it will move forward, Braun said.

Myers is accused in the brutal 2015 slaying of Bogle, a 28-year-old single mother from Ballville Township. 

Daniel Myers was arrested on murder and kidnapping charges on June 1.

She was found dead in the trunk of her 2001 Oldsmobile Alero parked at the Somerton Apartment Complex in Clyde. Bogle had been badly beaten, bound at the wrists and ankles, and her hair had been cut in a jagged pattern, according to a preliminary autopsy performed by the Lucas County Coroner's Office

The report said she died from two gunshot wounds through her lungs. 

After Bogle did not pick her daughter up from school on April 9, her mother, Renae McLaughlin, reported her missing. Bogle was last seen alive clocking out at 6:15 a.m. that day from her job at Whirlpool Corp. in Clyde, where she and Myers both worked.

Authorities were alerted April 10 that her vehicle was parked at Somerton Apartments. Her body was found in the trunk around 8 p.m.

The initial investigation, led by former detective Sean O'Connell, resulted in no arrests, despite him naming three suspects in the case.

O'Connell was suspended in June 2017 after leaking the murder investigation to a worker at Sandusky County Job and Family Services. O'Connell resigned in September before any punishment was administered.

In December 2017, O'Connell was indicted on misdemeanor and felony counts related to his handling of the Bogle case. Charges included dereliction of duty and tampering with evidence.

He pleaded guilty to felony tampering with evidence charges in July and was sentenced to 24 months in prison in September.

Sandusky County Sheriff Chris Hilton, after taking office in January 2017, restored the department's investigation into the Bogle case, citing a desire to investigate new leads.

In May 2017, authorities descended on the Emerald Estates mobile home park where Myers owned three trailers.

Heather Bogle homicide suspect Daniel Myers is led out of Sandusky County Common Pleas Court after a pretrial hearing in April.

Investigators seized evidence from two of the trailers that was sent the Bureau of Criminal Investigation crime lab in Bowling Green for testing.

The Sandusky County Sheriff's Office arrested Myers without incident June 1, charging him with Bogle's kidnapping, assault and murder.

More: Myers indicted on murder charges

More:  Family thrilled arrest made in Bogle homicide

 Braun said the next hearing in the case will be scheduled in six weeks.

A plea agreement is possible, Braun said, but he said he is ready to go to trial and seek the death penalty against Myers.

If convicted, a jury would then determine if Myers would be sentenced to death or life in prison.

cshoup@gannett.com

419-334-1035

Twitter: @CraigShoupNH