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THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Dooley to get new murder trial
NKY drug fight receives funding
Scott Wartman swartman@nky.com
The short, grainy video might not have seemed like much. It showed a man walking to a door and pulling on it. But it will lead to the retrial of one of Northern Kentucky's most notorious murder cases. Boone County Circuit Court Judge J.R. Schrand on Friday ordered a new trial for David Dooley, concluding that the video was crucial evidence withheld from the defense of the man sentenced to life in prison. It's another twist in a shocking case that has grabbed national headlines and revealed an affair between the lead detective and prosecutor. It's also raised doubts about the future of a well-respected prosecutor. A jury in 2014 convicted Dooley of murdering Michelle Mockbee, a 42-year-old mother of two. Mockbee's battered body was found on an early May morning in 2012 outside her work at Thermo Fischer Scientific in a Boone County industrial park. Dooley worked as the janitor at Thermo Fisher and has maintained his innocence.
Terry DeMio tdemio@enquirer.com
The drug trafficking fight in Northern Kentucky just got a federal financial boost from Washington. Boone, Campbell and Kenton county officials said March 15 that the Office of National Drug Control Policy will provide $275,000 as part of the region’s inclusion in the Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. That means a stronger fight against drug trafficking in Northern Kentucky. The region has been battered with heroin addiction for years, and has worked to diversify its fight against the relentless heroin and opioid epidemic. Last year, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell helped Northern Kentucky secure the designation. The federal funds will help fill gaps in funding for the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force, said its director, Chris Conners. His investigators are seeing a surge in methamphetamine, or crystal meth, in the region even as they continue to fight against heroin trafficking. They’re seeing less heroin overall, with much of it mixed with the highly potent synthetic opioid fentanyl. Occasionally, the investigators have seized straight fentanyl or carfentanil. He cautioned that mixing the syn-
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These heroin strips seized by the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force were sewn into fabric to hide them.
thetics with heroin and other conventional opioids make them far more deadly. “These drug trafficking organizations aren’t wearing white coats and manufacturing their product in a laboratory,” Conners said. “They’re doing it ad hoc.” It’s clear to the agents, too, that even some of those selling the heroin don’t know whether it’s pure. “We had one case where the person we were buying from said, ‘Be careful. I think there’s fentanyl in it,’ ” Conners said. Northern Kentucky, Greater Cincinnati and other communities around the country are experiencing surges in overdose deaths where fentanyl is included. Last fall, the region was inundated with overdoses that, in some cases, were fueled by the elephant opioid carfentanil. The Northern Kentucky Drug Strike
force that includes Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties is expanding, Conners said. Now, Highland Heights, Fort Thomas, Erlanger and the Kentucky State Police take part. As part of the Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, Conners said the region will gain new intelligence-sharing tools and be able to fund more officers and pay overtime costs that come with drug investigations. McConnell joined with Boone, Campbell and Kenton county officials in a prepared statement, saying they’re sure the trafficking area designation will enhance the region’s ability to fight the heroin epidemic. McConnell said the new funding is “critical” in protecting Northern Kentucky families. “By bolstering the good work of local officials and law enforcement, these funds will help to fight the devastation caused by opioid addiction,” he said.
See DOOLEY, Page 2A
St. Henry District High School plans $6 million addition Chris Mayhew cmayhew@communitypress.com
St. Henry District High School will spend $6 million to build the largest auditorium at any Diocese of Covington Catholic school. A new 650-seat auditorium will be centerpiece of a construction project scheduled to start in 2018, according to a news release from St. Henry. Renovating class areas for an improved STEM (Science Engineering Technology and Math) program and a new outdoor campus grotto sanctuary are other parts of the project. The auditorium and other projects are phase one of a
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new financial giving campaign called Building on Excellence, Guided by Faith. This is the Catholic high school’s first expansion in more than 20 years. There are 560 students from 20 grade schools enrolled at St. Henry paying a $7,200 annual tuition. St. Henry is the largest co-ed school in the diocese. Enrollment has increased by 18 percent since the school won a 2012 National Blue Ribbon of educational excellence award. Parishes served by the high school include St. Henry and St. Barbara in Erlanger and the Boone County parishes of All Saints, Immaculate Heart
of Mary, Mary Queen of Heaven, St. Paul, St. Timothy and Cristo Rey. School assemblies, lectures and community gatherings are other planned uses for a new auditorium that will be home of St. Henry’s drama department. Classrooms will be built to better serve the school’s established Fine Arts department programs including band, visual arts, chorus, chamber choir, and drama. “Our Fine Arts department engages more students each day than any other extracurricular activity on campus,” Principal David Otte said.
Otte went on to say he is excited to provide a space to match fine arts students’ creativity and dedication. Former St. Henry parents Boone and Karen Riegler, who are now SHDHS grandparents, chair the Building on Excellence, Guided by Faith campaign. The Rieglers stated in the news release they want to invest in the future of their children and in their faith. “Like so many alumni and parents, we have a special place in our hearts for St. Henry District High School,” the Rieglers said.
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David Dooley was convicted in 2014 of the 2012 murder of Michelle Mockbee outside her office in a Boone County industrial park. He was a janitor. He has maintained his innocence and now will get a re-trial.
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