BUCYRUS, Ohio – Investigators say a person of interest in the slayings of four men found at separate homes in this small northern Ohio city is scheduled for a preliminary hearing.
The Crawford County prosecutor’s office announced the Thursday morning hearing for Donald Hoffman, 41, of Bucyrus.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Hoffman has an attorney.
The prosecutor’s office says Hoffman is currently in custody on a probation violation but has not been charged in the deaths of four men whose bodies were found Monday and Tuesday.
Police say the deaths in Bucyrus, about 65 miles north of Columbus, were likely related but they don’t know if the victims knew each other.
Two bodies were found Monday and police say a man came into the department the next morning and led officers to two more bodies.
The website CrawfordCountyNow reported that police identified the four victims Wednesday as Billy Jack Chatman, 55, found Monday on Fremont Street; Freelin Hensley, 67 found Monday at Marion Road Apartments; Darrell Lewis, 65, found Tuesday at Bucyrus Plaza, and Gerald Lee Smith, 65, found Tuesday on W. Mansfield Street.
The police chief says all four men suffered trauma above the shoulders but are awaiting autopsy results before releasing the causes of the deaths. Police aren’t discussing many other details or possible motives.
Friends and relatives say at least some of the victims knew each other and Hoffman.