December 15, 2005

By Diane Chiddister

A year after Timmy Harris was found murdered in his Pleasant Street home, the investigation into his death is continuing, according Yellow Springs Police Chief John Grote.

“I’m pleased with the way the case in going,” Grote said in an interview last week. “It’s going slowly but still being worked on.”

He said the case is moving slowly because “we’re being very careful.”

“We think we have a good case but we’re still building a case,” Grote said. “The more diligent we are, the more information we have, the better off we are.”

The police are confident that they can take the time and be thorough because a “person of interest” identified in the case “isn’t going anywhere. Time is on our side,” Grote said.

Asked if this meant the person is in prison, Grote said he could not comment. He also declined to comment about whether the person of interest is from Yellow Springs.

A lifelong Yellow Springs resident, Harris, 45, was known for his friendliness and generosity. His body was found in his home on Dec. 16, 2004.

Investigators at the time said they believed he had been dead at least two days. According to Greene County Prosecuting Attorney William Schenck, Harris had died of multiple blunt force injuries to the front of his head.

Last December investigators said there were few signs of struggle in Harris’s home.

Grote said last week that police are “confident that we know what occurred” that led to Harris’s death. He said he could not comment on specifics. He also declined to comment on whether drugs or alcohol were involved.

Grote said part of the reason for the delay is that all of the evidence that police sent to three crime labs has not yet been analyzed and returned. Police used crime labs in California, London, Ohio, and Dayton, Grote said.

In February, Yellow Springs police and the prosecuting attorney’s office sent potential DNA evidence for testing to a lab in Richmond, Calif. At the time, Schenck said the evidence was blood.

“It’s really not like TV,” he said. “DNA takes a long time, especially as many pieces as were concerned.”

Grote declined to comment on what type of evidence was sent to the crime labs.

At the time of his death, Harris’s car, a 1987 Toyota Corolla, was missing, and was found in March at a Xenia scrap yard. At the time, Schenck speculated that the perpetrator of the crime probably stole the car to sell it for drug money, although he stressed that he didn’t know that for a fact. When the car was located, it was also sent to crime labs for analysis.

A friend of Harris said this week that his many friends in town still talk about him frequently.

“He’s still missed,” said Deborah Benning. “He comes up often in our conversations. He was such a fun-loving person. We say ‘Timmy would have loved that.’ ”

Pam Davis recalled how Harris always said that Ellis Pond was his “church,” and that he went there to worship sunrises and sunsets.

“He was a special person who is sorely missed,” she said. “He was such a good soul.”

Benning said that Harris’s friends and family feel frustrated and sad that the “investigation is taking so long,” although they understand that analysis of evidence takes time.

Born in Springfield, Harris was raised in Yellow Springs and was a familiar figure on the village’s streets. A musician, he loved to play the harmonica and the spoons, according to friends. He had two daughters, Portia and Allison Vie-Harris, who live with their mother, Heidi Viemeister. Harris’s mother, Opal Harris, died not long after he was killed.

Grote said although the investigation is ongoing, prosecutors have told police that “if something occurred tomorrow, and we had to take the case to trial we could get a conviction.”

He also said that he is “looking forward to when I can say more.”

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com