RICHFIELD —
A Pierpont Township man poisoned three years ago is one of a handful of unsolved homicides to earn the special attention of state investigators.
On Thursday, Attorney General Mike DeWine announced an initiative aimed at connecting culprits to the 5,153 death cases still active in Ohio. The attorney general’s office will post information on its website and also provide local law enforcement with the considerable resources of the state’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Among the cases the state picked to launch the new program is the 2009 death of Raymond Kotomski Sr., 65, of Pierpont Township. On Aug. 13 of that year, a family member found Kotomski on the floor of his Hammonds Corner Road house, officials said. He died three days later at a Pennsylvania hospital. The coroner’s office determined Kotomski had been poisoned with ethylene glycol, commonly known as anti-freeze, authorities said.
The death recently became a homicide case after “new evidence” surfaced, according to a statement from DeWine’s office.
Detective Lt. Terry Moisio Jr., of the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Office, said Thursday they have a suspect in the death, but declined to elaborate. He also declined to discuss a possible motive or how the anti-freeze may have been administered. An autopsy quickly found anti-freeze in Kotomski’s body, Moisio said.
The nature of Kotomski’s death was never made public by the sheriff’s office. Moisio said the crime was not disclosed as a “investigatory technique,” he said.
The program was unveiled Thursday afternoon at BCI’s headquarters in Richfield. Moisio and three of Kotomski’s relatives from Pittsburgh attended the announcement.
Kotomski was a father, grandfather and former police officer who worked in the Pittsburgh area before moving to Ashtabula County, said Dennis Sweet, special agent supervisor with BCI’s northeast Ohio region. At the outset, there had been talk — which upset survivors — that Kotomski had committed suicide, Sweet said.
Moisio said he is hopeful media attention paid the case will generate some leads.
“That’s what we’re hoping for,” he said. “We want someone or something to come forward. This is an on-going investigation.”
BCI agents will help law enforcement agencies review cases, conduct interviews, identify and analyze evidence and digitize and preserve case files and also examine electronic devices, according to the statement. Scientific tools at BCI’s disposal could prove a big help to the case, Moisio said.
“Forensics and technology changes every day,” he said. “Hopefully it makes it difference here.”
BCI’s crime lab and specialists will be utilized on the Kotomski case and — along with recent developments — could result in a good outcome, Sweet said.
The state plans to showcase one unsolved homicide case each month. People will be asked to call BCI’s tip line at 855-BCI-OHIO, and the information will be relayed to the investigating local agency.
“By bringing attention to this cold case investigation and others like it, we hope to help give victims’ families closure and justice,” DeWine said in a statement.
To learn more about the initiative, visit www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/OhioUnsolvedHomicides.
Local News
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RAYMOND KOTOMSKI
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HOMICIDE BY POISON
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