It’s that wonderful time of year when people’s yards and houses are filled with skeletons, pumpkins and monsters. For Chillicothe, Ohio, a yard decoration turned out to be the real thing. At 8:30 am on Wednesday morning, a construction worker went to get a close up look at a body decorating a fence, only it turned out be a lot more than just your average stuffed dummy, it was the body of a murdered woman. The body was hanging from it’s sleeve from the fence, and the neighbors all thought it was just a decoration.
Tammy Dixon, one of the witnesses to the find, was quoted as saying “Just put my hands over my face and said ‘This can’t be happening here, it’s not real’, and ‘I just didn’t see what I thought I saw.”‘
The victim had been beaten so badly that her face was unrecognizable. Later the body was identified as Rebecca Cade, a 31 year old mother, who has lived in the Chillicothe community all of her life.
Donnie Cochenour Jr. was arrested Tuesday night, and later confessed to the murder. According to Cochenour, the two had been in an argument and she ran from the him, getting caught in the fence, where she was killed. The Chief of police announced Wednesday afternoon that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. The weapon, a large rock, was found at the scene. Cochenour is being held on a $2 million bond.
Our condolences go to Ms. Cade’s family. We hope that justice will be served.
