A man who spent more than 25 years on death row for the robbery and murder of a woman at an Ohio hotel has had his case dismissed by prosecutors. Elwood Jones was released after a judge ordered a new trial in December 2022 due to prosecutors withholding crucial evidence from his legal team previously.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich disclosed the decision to drop the case after a comprehensive examination of evidence and court documents, stating that she took the decision seriously. She stated, “After reviewing the evidence, I am not convinced that Mr. Jones was responsible for Rhoda Nathan’s death.”
Jones was convicted of aggravated murder, robbery, and burglary in the 1994 fatal assault of a 67-year-old woman from Toms River, New Jersey, in Blue Ash, a suburb of Cincinnati. The prosecutor’s office, under Melissa Powers, had challenged the judge’s ruling, leading to ongoing legal proceedings.
Recent developments saw the Ohio Supreme Court identifying an error in blocking the challenge and returning the case to the lower court for reconsideration. Pillich deemed pursuing a new trial without sufficient evidence, witnesses, or updated scientific methods as futile.
Key issues highlighted in the review included the lack of direct physical or forensic evidence linking Jones to the crime, unexplored leads to other potential suspects, and inadequate disclosure of investigation materials to the defense before the trial. Additionally, modern medical tests have excluded Jones as a suspect.
According to police reports, Nathan, a grandmother in town for a family event, was killed during a robbery at the hotel where Jones worked. Jones’ defense team criticized the prosecutor’s office for pursuing victory without considering the consequences on Jones’s life.
Pillich announced plans to establish a Conviction Integrity Unit to investigate claims of wrongful convictions and unfair sentencing using best practices. She remarked, “The existence of such a unit could have expedited this decision years ago.”
Jones is now the 12th death row inmate in Ohio and the second in Hamilton County to be exonerated. Kevin Warner, from Ohioans to Stop Executions, expressed growing public discontent with wrongful convictions, emphasizing the harm caused by the state’s death penalty system to both the Nathan and Jones families.