COLUMBUS – The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld the 2016 conviction and death sentence of a northern Ohio man who murdered his mother because he suspected she might tell police that he had been stealing money from her.
A jury convicted James Tench, then 30, in 2016 of beating his mother, Mary Tench, and running over her body, which was found inside her SUV in an open field at a Brunswick industrial park on Nov. 12, 2013, court records show.
The justices rejected claims that errors at Tench’s trial led to his wrongful conviction for the murder of his mother, who worked as a nurse’s assistant at a Lakewood retirement community.
The court reversed an aggravated robbery charge against Tench that was used as one of three specifications supporting the prosecution’s effort to seek the death penalty.
After Tench reported his mother missing to Brunswick police, investigators discovered a trail of footprints that led from the scene where Mary’s body was found toward Tench’s home, where they found muddy boots with long blades of grass on them.
Tench said he had cut the grass but police say there was snow on the ground when they questioned the suspect.