More than 27 years after a man was exonerated in the robbery and killing of 33-year-old Robert Fields at a Hamilton apartment, authorities have identified another suspect.
A Butler County grand jury on Nov. 24 indicted Hubert Whitehead III, 49, on charges including murder and felonious assault, court records show. Officials have not said what evidence led to charges being filed against Whitehead.
Whitehead was sentenced in October 2024 to more than a year in prison after he pleaded guilty to illegal weapons possession, court records show.
Witness pointed finger at innocent man, leading to earlier murder case being dropped
According to earlier Enquirer reporting, Robert Fields was shot in the chest on July 14, 1997, at the front door of his Village Street apartment. Gmoser said the shooting happened during a robbery.
Police previously arrested Moses Jackson in connection with the killing. The charges against the then-39-year-old were dropped after evidence came to light that a witness had misidentified Jackson as the killer, according to Gmoser.
Jackson told police that he wasn’t at the shooting scene. The case was dropped two weeks before the start of Jackson’s trial in January 1998, after witnesses came forward to corroborate his alibi.
“The only thing left to do was the right thing – cut him loose,” Former Butler County Prosecutor John Holcomb said at the time.
Investigation heated up with involvement from cold case detectives
Gmoser said the case went cold after the charges against Jackson were dismissed. Two others were prosecuted on robbery and burglary charges; however, it would take nearly 28 years for Whithead to be charged in the killing.
The investigation intensified again as cold case detectives with the Hamilton Police Department began looking into the case. The prosecutor said his office also assisted with the investigation, even sending two investigators as far as Florida.
“There are a lot of cold cases in this country,” Gmoser told The Enquirer, adding that advances in forensic science have provided police with better tools than they had decades ago.
Detectives are now using those new tools to solve unclosed cases.
“It’s the new wave in investigations and I’m glad we’re doing it,” he added.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: New suspect charged in 1997 killing after witness ID’d wrong man in earlier case
Reporting by Quinlan Bentley, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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