By GUY VOGRIN

Staff writer

Jane Kleese, described by family members as a 35-year-old effervescent woman, was found dead at her Cynthia Street home in Niles on Jan. 23, 2002 — 20 years ago today.

At first, it was thought she died from a fall down the stairs. But later family members learned it was no accident, and the killer has gotten away with it for two decades.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins notes that the “case file is still open, and there’s a new generation of investigators there to work the case.”

Family members of the victim say the investigators still are looking for that one bit of information that will make the case against the killer.

“Several times we contacted police and investigators, but (authorities keep saying) they need more evidence,” Jane’s sister, Cheryl Bortz of Hubbard, said. “We are never going to give up on it as long as I am alive. We are waiting for justice for Jane.”

Bortz said there’s no doubt among her family members about who killed Jane.

“I am just trying to keep this case in the minds of people … someone in the family knows who did it … It’s not a secret … but everybody wants to know,” Bortz said.

In 2007, Jane’s family paid for a billboard that was placed in a prominent place near the Eastwood Mall Complex off busy U.S. Route 422 in Niles.

The billboard had a picture of Kleese and the question, “Do you know who killed me?” in the hope of gaining information about her death. It also contained her birth date and the day she died. Back then, she would have turned 41.

MURDER SCENE

Bortz said she remembers going to the scene the night of the murder.

Police detective “Chuck Wilson stood at the doorway so I couldn’t see my sister,” she remembered. Wilson is now deceased.

There was no break-in and Kleese’s 11-year-old daughter found her at the bottom of the basement stairs, Cheryl Bortz said.

“It was a nightmare. It seems like yesterday when I started talking about it,” she said.

The family knows who did it, Bortz said, but detectives tell the victim’s family members there is not enough evidence to get a guilty verdict.

“The person who did this to her took away her experience of seeing her kids graduate, get married, have children of their own, ” Bortz said — noting Jane Kleese now has three grandchildren: two girls, ages 7 and 8, and one 3-year-old boy.

‘A GOOD SISTER’

At 35 years old, Jane Kleese was beautiful inside and out, her sister said.

“A good sister … I can’t say enough good things about her, ” Bortz said. “We got closer as we got older.”

She remembers Jane as helping with her kids at school, decorating the house and shopping and as a good relative.

Brother Thomas Woodward said Jane grew up on the North Side of Youngstown, graduated from The Rayen School, and was always a fun-loving person with a “bubbly” personality. She was the youngest daughter of Tom and Ilajean Woodward.

“She was especially a good friend to me, someone I could confide in,” Woodward said about his slain sister.

Woodward, of Youngstown, said he thinks it wouldn’t be difficult to make an arrest in this case.

“There’s enough evidence out there to solve the case,” Woodward said. “We know there are people who are holding back. We are appealing to their consciences to come forward.”

Woodward remembers the night of Jane’s death as “being surreal.”

“It was very difficult and confusing, because at the time we were told it was an accident,” he said.

Two weeks later, he said police called the family to Jane’s mother’s home to tell them it wasn’t an accident.

At that time, coroner Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk ruled that Jane Kleese died of asphyxia because of a fight, and the death was ruled a homicide.

Bortz said the Trumbull County coroner had several other forensic scientists double check the cause of death, but others had hired a medical malpractice lawyer to try to disprove the ruling.

Woodward said he thinks police erred in not making it a crime scene the night of Jane’s death.

“You hear all the time, a classic scenario of cold cases 20, 30 or 40 years old of being solved,” he said. “I’m tired of the police’s rhetoric to pacify us.. I just want them to make an arrest.”

Watkins agreed there have been cold cases successfully prosecuted in Trumbull County 10 or 15 years after the fact. One cold case Watkins remembers is Donald Morris, 41, and Judith Delgros’ son, Christopher Styles, 5, who died in 1978. Judith Delgros was convicted 15 years later of aggravated murder for stabbing Morris to death and starting a fire that killed the child.

“The pursuit for justice never rests,” Watkins said.

FRUSTRATIONS

Niles police officers also understand the family’s frustrations.

“This is called a cold case simply because of the amount of time that has passed,” said detective Capt. John Marshall. “There is a lot of substance to the evidence from the work already done on the case. We are looking for that bit of information to really solidify it. I’m confident we will get it.”

Marshall said he would also like to see the case solved for those detectives, like Wilson and retired Capt. Ken Criswell, who worked their hardest to solve it.

“I knew if I was in their shoes and retired, I wouldn’t feel good about it,” Marshall said.

To the murderer of his sister, Woodward has a warning:

“A pay day is coming some day,” he said. “I just want to see justice served one day.”

gvogrin@tribtoday.com