Ex-Officer To Admit To Killing Rocky River Woman

Published in Cleveland Plain Dealer on May 6, 1993.
From staff and wire reports.

A former University of Toledo police officer charged in the 1992 slaying of Melissa Anne Herstrum, 19, of Rocky River, will plead guilty to murder today once the state drops a death penalty specification, the Lucas County prosecutor said yesterday.

Jeffrey Hodge, 23, of Toledo, was charged with aggravated murder and kidnapping with a gun specification in the slaying of Herstrum, whose body was found Jan. 27 on the university's Scott Park campus.

Herstrum, a nursing student, was shot 14 times with a 9mm semiautomatic weapon. Hodge was arrested Jan. 31.

Hodge will plead guilty to those charges today after Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Judith Lanzinger rules on the state's motion to drop the death penalty, Prosecutor Anthony Pizza said.

The defense proposed the plea bargain, Pizza said. He said he agreed because he did not believe prosecutors had enough evidence to prove both charges.

"I'll be dropping the death penalty specification because the case is based on circumstantial evidence," Pizza said.

The evidence is strong enough to prove murder but not kidnapping, he said. Convictions on both charges would be required for Hodge to receive the death penalty.

Alan and Diane Herstrum, Melissa's parents, said last night that they would attend the 10:30 a.m. hearing today.

"We have been well aware of everything happening" in the investigation, said Diane Herstrum. She and her husband declined to talk about the case.

Diane Herstrum said the Rev. David S. Bell, who has been the family spokesman, would release a statement after the court hearing. Bell could not be reached for comment last night. Pizza said Hodge could be sentenced to 33 years to life in prison on the charges.

Police have not released a possible motive for the slaying; a weapon never was found.

Hodge was indicted in the slaying Feb. 11, 1992. Hodge's arrest stunned many of his friends who described him as a "fine person."

While attending the University of Toledo, he became a student dispatcher in September 1989. The next summer he worked with Lucas County's 9-1-1 emergency system. He was hired by University of Toledo police in March 1991 and graduated from the police academy in May.

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