University of Toledo officer held in
death of student

Published in The Toledo Blade on February 2, 1992.
By Jennifer Feehan, Blade Staff Writer.

A rookie University of Toledo police officer is in the Lucas County jail today, charged with pumping 14 bullets into UT sophomore Melissa Ann Herstrum last Sunday morning.

Jeffery T. Hodge, 22, a former Lucas County 911 operator and student police dispatcher at UT, was arrested at his Bronx Street home about 8 a.m. yesterday on a charge of aggravated murder in connection with the brutal slaying of Miss Herstrum, 19, of Rocky River, Ohio. Her frozen body was discovered lying face down in the snow about 12:30 a.m. Monday.

Chief Assistant Prosecutor Curt Posner said the county will seek the death penalty when it presents its case to the grand jury.

Police allege that sometime around 4 a.m. last Sunday Officer Hodge, while on duty, abducted Ms. Herstrum from a Westwood Avenue parking lot in a secluded spot at the Scott Park Campus a mile away.

They say he then shot her 14 times in the head, back, and legs. Capt. Thomas Gulch said one round to her head was fired at closer range than the other shots.

As a news conference yesterday, Captain Gulch and UT Safety Director Frank Pizzulo, Jr. offered no explanation for the murder.

Captain Gulch said police do not think the officer and Ms. Herstum knew each other nor was there any evidence he had been stalking her. "It was a random contact. As best we an ascertain, there was not premeditation," he said. "We believe this was a traffic-type stop or some other purposeful stopping of Melissa by the offier."

The fact that her driver's license was taken, but her wallet was left in the car, was consistent with a traffic stop in which an officer asks to see identification, he said. Her license and coat were recovered along Westwood Avenue on the far east of UT's main campus, while her car keys were found in a trash bin near the murder scene.

Police further suspected that a police officer was responsible when the coroner found abrasions on Ms. Herstrum's wrists, suggesting that she had been restrained, possibly with handcuffs.

Captain Gulch said another key to the investigation was the telephone call that alerted UT police to the murder scene about 12:20 a.m. Monday. While the average person would dial 911 to report seeing a robbery or hearing gunshots, this person notified the Checker Cab Co. "The focus of the investigation turned emphatically toward (Officer Hodge) when we received information on the origin of the phone call," he said.

A caller, in what sounded like a woman's voice, reported seeing a cab driver being robbed and hearing a shots fired in Lot 23 at the Scott Park Campus. The caller told the dispatcher to contact 911 or UT police and gave her the department's emergency phone number.

Captain Gulch said police subpoenaed the telephone records of Ohio Bell and, on Friday afternoon, determined that the call had been from a pay phone on UT property. "It was not a woman," he said. We believe it was (Officer Hodge) impersonating a woman."

Sgt. Art Marx said the focus on Officer Hodge intensified after police executed four search warrants early yesterday morning and confiscated several items thought to be evidence in the case.

The search of Officer Hodge's home, two vehicles parked there, and his locker at the university safety department did not turn up the 9mm handgun thought to have been used in the slaying, Captain Gulch said.

Police seized other items they described as evidence, but wouldn't specify what they were.

UT police officers are issued 38-calibar handguns, although some have off-duty weapons, said Joseph Skonecki, the university's assistant director of public safety. Captain Gulch refused to say whether Officer Hodge owns a 9mm handgun.

The weapon is a vital link in connecting the officer not only to Miss Herstum's slaying but also to a Jan. 20 incident in which six bullets were fired at a UT dormitory and two narrowly missed a sleeping student.

Ballistic tests on shell casings gathered at the dormitory shooting and at the murder scene are believed to have been from the same gun, sources said.

Captain Gulch confirmed that police believe the two instances are tied together, but said Officer Hodge has not been charged in connection with the dorm shooting.

UT police reports show that Officer Hodge and one other officer arrived at MacKinnon Hall where the shots were fired "within 40 seconds after the dispatcher gave us the information," he wrote.

Less than a week later, Ms. Herstrum was killed, again at at time when Officer Hodge was on duty.

Captain Gulch said police still are not certain of what happened in the final hours of Ms. Herstrum's life.

He said she apparently left her College Station apartment around 1 a.m. last Sunday, went to a nearby service station for gas then stopped at a traffic accident on Secor Road to see if she could help.

Captain Gulch said Officer Hodge was at the accident scene, although he does not know if the two met or spoke at that time. Ms. Herstrum apparently went home from there, but left again about 4 a.m. after receiving a number of phone calls from acquanitances.

Her destination was unknown.

"At some point she and Officer Hodge came together, but we can't pinpoint it any further than that." Captain Gulch said.

Police have not given a motive for the murder.

Police speculate he reported the bogus robbery at Scott Park nearly 20 hours after the shooting so that the body would be discovered. Officer Hodge was one of two UT officers who rushed to Scott Park after receiving the cab company's call.

Upon arriving there, they found nothing out of the ordinary, Officer Hodge wrote in a report, but, "We decided to go ahead and check behind the buildings and in the woods for anything unusual."

It was behind the south side of the Engineering Technology building that Officer Jeffery Gasiorowski discovered Ms. Herstrum's body frozen to the ground. They called for back-up help, and waited as paramedics, Toledo police, and the county coroner arrived.

Officer Hodge concluded his report on the homicide by saying Toledo and UT police were investigating, "and at this time we have no suspects or witnesses."

Officer Hodge is to be arraigned in Toledo Municipal Court at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

In the meantime, he is being held in a private cell on the medical floor of the jail, Capt. Daniel Contreras said.

Officer Hodge is under 24-hour watch to prevent him from doing any harm to himself until jail officials feel confident he is not a threat to himself, Captain Contreras said.

"He has talked to no one, has requested to talk to no one, and has made no attempt to contact an attorney, family, or friends," Captain Contreras said yesterday afternoon.

A stricken Safety Director Pizzulo said, "Obviously, when the investigation turned in this direction, it was very painful, but our principal concern was to pursue this investigation as vigorously as possible."

He said Officer Hodge had been with the department about a year, "and had a very good record and was a productive officer."

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