Daughter testifies against dad at trial in firefighter death

BONNIE MEIBERS

Miami University journalism student

HAMILTON— Two daughters of a man accused of plotting with his nephew to set a fire that killed a Hamilton firefighter testified against their father during his trial Wednesday.

Their father, Lester Parker, 67, and his nephew, William “Billy” Tucker, 50, are being tried on arson and murder charges in the death of Partrick Wolterman, 28.

Prosecutors have said Parker was in debt and decided to set his Pater Avenue house on fire to get insurance money. In exchange for setting the fire, Parker would pay Tucker in pills. Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

'I didn't mean for that to happen'

Parker's eldest daughter, Melissa Lainhart-Jones, testified Wednesday that while she was jailed in Butler County in 2016 she talked with an EMT who was helping her with a medical problem. That EMT was upset about the fire that killed Wolterman. She later recounted the conversation to Parker, who had come to visit her at jail.

“He hung his head and then looked right up at me and said: ‘You tell them that I did not mean for that to happen,’” Jones testified.

Jones said she then started talking with detectives about the fire. She told them that Tucker and another relative may have been invoved in the blaze.

But Parker's lawyer David Washington seized on the fact that the city of Hamilton has paid Jones $1,240 over the past year and a half. The city has been paying for her phone bills and her to stay in a motel for the last three weeks.

“And so you’ve been talking [about the fire] because your heart was touched?” Washington asked.

Washington worked to discredit Jones, describing her as a drug addict.

Jones' younger sister, Cheryl Sullivan, testified that her sister is a "user."

“My sister is a user of everything and everyone,” Sullivan testified.

Missing photographs and Las Vegas trip

Prosecutors called Sullivan to show that in the weeks before the fire, Parker moved prized personal possessions from inside his home to a nearby unattached garage.

Sullivan and her husband, Ken Sullivan, took her parents to the airport on Dec. 27, 2015 to catch a flight to Las Vegas to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary.

Sullivan and her husband went inside her parents' home to check that all doors and windows were locked before helping them move their bags into her car. Prosecutor David Kash asked if, when she went inside, she noticed anything different than when she had last been there. Sullivan said two photographs, one of her and one of her sister, were missing from their usual spot.

“Those photos were important to everyone,” Sullivan said, when asked if it was unusual for the photos not to be there.

On their way out of the house, Parker handed his daughter an envelope and told her paperwork like bills, taxes, the mortgage and insurance were inside.

After dropping her parents off at the airport, Sullivan received a call from her father.

“He told me all the important stuff was in the garage if anything were to happen,” Sullivan said.

Just hours later, Parker's house was engulfed in flames and Wolterman was dead.

Wolterman, one of the first firefighters at the scene, charged through the front door thinking people may be trapped inside. He fell through the first floor to the basement. He was found lying prone with his helmet, mask and a boot removed apparently from the fall. He died from smoke inhalation.

The prosecution is expected to wrap up its case Monday afternoon, Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said.

The jury of seven men and five women will begin deliberations at that time.

-- Top photo: Melissa Lainhart-Jones identifies Lester Parker, 67, and William “Billy” Tucker, 50, as her father and first cousin at the beginning of her testimony. Photo by Bonnie Meibers.