Investigators from the Ironton Police Department will soon have DNA test results from evidence found at the scene of May’s murder of an Ironton cab driver.

Thursday, July 20, 2000

Investigators from the Ironton Police Department will soon have DNA test results from evidence found at the scene of May’s murder of an Ironton cab driver.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI) has been processing evidence gathered during the investigation of the murder of cab driver William C. Keen, 62, 1727 Echo Drive, Ironton,

Keen was found dead in the south end of the city at about 1:22 a.m. May 10. Police found his body in an alley off South Fourth Street between Ashtabula and Clinton streets, only a few feet away from his car.

"We have crime scene evidence and trace evidence found at a suspect’s residence that we have been waiting to have analyzed and tested," Ironton police Detective Capt. Chris Bowman said. "We don’t anticipate the test results to take much longer."

Bowman said the state’s DNA test results could be made available as early as late next week.

"We are still waiting on the BCI to finish the DNA testing, which shouldn’t be much longer,’ he said. "When we get those results back, we will be even closer to solving the murder case. BCI told us they are near completion on the processing of our evidence."

Bowman said he could not reveal details of what the DNA evidence might show because the case still remains under investigation.

"When the reports are made available to us, we will examine the information and if something comes back to point to a suspect, we will take action," he said.

Bowman said the IPD was able to narrow the list of suspects down to one individual within a week of beginning the investigation, and added that the results of BCI’s testing will be the key to making an arrest.

"We are very hopeful for an arrest, but we have to wait on BCI to finish processing the evidence that has been gathered," Bowman said. "We also will be waiting on them to summarize the Franklin County Coroner’s Office autopsy report on the victim. What a lot of people don’t realize is that BCI is the crime lab most cities in Ohio use and we definitely don’t want them to rush their examination."

Keen, a Sureway Cab Co. driver, was dispatched to a Third Street bar at about 11 p.m. but he never arrived.

Sureway officials reported Keen missing shortly before midnight May 9. Coal Grove police, county prosecutor’s office investigators and the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department assisted with IPD’s initial inquiry shortly after cab company officials reported Keen missing.

A representative of the cab company found Keen’s body early the next morning.

Keen was found to have suffered a stab wound and his throat appeared to have been cut, police officials said.

"The last contact the cab company had with Keen was at about 10:30 p.m.," Bowman said. "He reported to them then that he was parked near the VFW. The contact they made with him at around 11 p.m. was the last they heard of him."

Despite the evidence delays, IPD will continue to move forward with the murder investigation, Bowman added.

"It’s not going to be a quick case by no means," he said. "We still some investigating to do, but we are definitely getting closer."