By: Tina Kaufmann, newsnet5.comAKRON, Ohio - In May 1999, the body of Hannah Hill from Kenmore was found stuffed in the trunk of her car three miles from where her accused killer, Denny Ross, lived. Now, Ross is being retried for Hill's murder. Below is a timeline of events over the past 13 years.
May 19, 1999: Eleven days before Hannah Hill’s 19th birthday, she leaves her parents house abruptly around 10:30 p.m. This would be the last day they saw her alive.
May 20, 1999: Hannah's employer, Diebold, calls her parents house because she didn’t report to work. Her parents file a missing persons report that night.
May 21, 1999: Jerry Reymann, an Akron resident who lived on Caine Road, called police about a suspicious car parked across from his home for more than 24 hours.
May 25, 1999: Akron police announce Hannah’s missing persons report to the media. The department faces harsh criticism from the community over their lack of response to the calls about a car matching the description of Hill's parked on Caine Road for days.
May 26, 1999: Akron police announce they have found Hill’s body in the trunk of her gold Geo Prizm parked along Caine Road in Springfield Township. Denny Ross is arrested for the crime.
May 28, 1999: Denny Ross is directly indicted
June 11, 1999: Ross's bond is set at $2 million.
June 15, 1999: Case transferred from Akron Municipal Court to Summit County Common Pleas Court.
June 16, 1999: Ross pleads not guilty to aggravated murder, rape, kidnapping, gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence charges. Case assigned to Judge Jane Bond. Ross is sent to the Summit County Jail.
June 21, 1999: Pretrial hearing held. Motion filed by defense to dismiss case for failing to indict in a timely manner and provide preliminary hearing.
July 2, 1999: Motion to preserve evidence samples granted.
July 6, 1999: Ross request for bond reduction denied.
Dec. 20, 1999: Supplemental indictment filed, adding death specification to aggravated murder charge. $2 million cash bond continued.
Dec. 29, 1999: Ross pleads not guilty to supplemental charge
Jan. 13, 2000: Defense attorneys file paperwork requesting change of venue. Judge later denies request.
March 23, 2000: Motion filed by Ross defense attorney to prohibit victim impact statements during trial. Also seeks separate jury for sentencing phase, if needed. Other paperwork requested Ross's statement made on May 27, 1999 be tossed.
April 17, 2000: Affidavit and search warrant unsealed
June 12, 2000: Trial continued to Sept. 28, 2000.
Oct. 2, 2000: Summa-St. Thomas Hospital ordered to provide prosecutor's office copy of Ross medical records and photos dated May 1, 1999-July 1, 1999.
Oct. 10, 2000: Judge denies request to drop death penalty.
Oct. 19, 2000: All jurors to be identified solely via number due to pretrial publicity and their protection.
Oct. 27, 2000: Ross aggravated murder trial begins
Oct. 28, 2000: Defense counsel files motion for mistrial with prejudice or reinstruct jurors. Judge grants mistrial motion on kidnapping count after juror discussed lie detector test. Jury dismissed. Trial rescheduled for Jan. 9, 2001.
Nov. 9, 2000: Motion filed to disqualify Judge Jane Bond.
Aug. 24, 2001: Court reduces Ross's bond from $2 million to $1 million.
2002: Ross's defense team argues in a pretrial motion that double jeopardy prevented him from being retried. Trial court judge rules in Ross's favor and bars retrial on double jeopardy grounds. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office appeals and Ohio's Ninth District Court of Appeals reversed the trial judge's decision in December.
Sept. 3, 2003: Court denies Ross's motion for acquittal and sets final pretrial for Oct. 15, 2003 and new jury trial for Nov. 17, 2003.
Oct. 10, 2003: Trial continued to March 22, 2004.
Dec. 10, 2003: Court grants Ross acquittal on rape and death specification.
Jan. 27, 2004: Motion to stay proceedings pending appeal in Ninth District Court of Appeals granted.
Sept. 13, 2004: Judge Joseph Cirigliano having been previously appointed as judge recuses himself from further proceedings. Judge Judy Hunter appointed to take over case.
Oct. 25, 2004: Ross is convicted of attempted murder, rape, felonious assault and intimidation in a separate attack on a 32-year-old Akron woman while he was free on bond in the Hill case. Ross is sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Dec. 2004: Ross is admitted to the Trumbull Correctional Institution to serve his sentence for the rape conviction.
Aug. 22, 2005: Federal District Court Judge David Dowd agreed with Ross's double jeopardy argument and again barred a retrial. The prosecutor's office then appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Jan. 25, 2008: The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns the 2005 ruling by a federal judge, who barred a retrial of Ross based on constitutional protections against double jeopardy. This opened the door for Ross to be tried again in the Hill murder case.
Feb. 26, 2008: Status conference continued
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