Suit Drags On In Student's Slaying

Published in The Columbus Dispatch on October 21, 1996.

More than four years after the shooting death of a University of Toledo nursing student, the matter remains in the court system - even though a man has been convicted.

The family of Melissa Anne Herstrum has two lawsuits pending in state and federal courts.

One is scheduled for November in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. The other, in the Ohio Court of Claims in Columbus, has been on hold since 1994 pending the outcome of the federal case.

The lawsuits contend that the university and its officials were negligent in hiring and supervising Jeffrey Hodge, a former university police officer.

Hodge was convicted of handcuffing and shooting Herstrum 14 times on Jan. 26, 1992. Her partially clothed body was found the following day face down in the snow at the university's Scott Park campus.

Hodge pleaded guilty after prosecutors agreed not to pursue the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison and must serve a minimum of 33 years. He is at the Warren Correctional Institution in Lebanon, Ohio.

Hodge does not understand what led him to kill the student, said his attorney, Alan Konop.

Attorneys for Herstrum's family hope Hodge will give a more detailed explanation of why he killed Herstrum. The family also wants to attract attention to the hiring and monitoring of campus police officers.

Teresa Grigsy, an attorney for the University of Toledo, said yesterday that she is handling only procedural issues in the federal case. She referred calls to Susan Tucker, whose number was not available.

The family's attorneys are scheduled to appear Nov. 22 before the appeals court in Cincinnati in a dispute about whether claims can be filed against the university as well as against individuals.

Dennis Lansdowne, a Cleveland attorney representing the Herstrums, said there is no indication that the cases will be resolved, even by the end of next year.

Return to University of Toledo police corruption.