An Ohio man has been identified as the killer of an 18-year-old woman who was beaten to death with an oven grate in 1981.
James Vanest, who was 26 at the time he lived upstairs from Debra Lee Miller in a Mansfield apartment building, was shot to death in November after barricading himself in a hotel from law enforcement attempting to serve an indictment against him on gun charges, The Associated Press reported.
Mansfield Police Chief Jason Bammann said prosecutors were preparing to take the murder case before a grand jury after developing a “firm DNA profile” of Vanest when invsetigators reopened the case to take advantage of advances in DNA technology.
Vanest had been questioned at the time of the murder but was never named a suspect as the initial investigation became mired in allegations of possible police misconduct.
Miller’s death was one of several in the Mansfield area that was examined for possible links to city police officers. A special investigation determined no officers were tied to the deaths in 1989, but the report from that investigation raised questions about officers’ sexual involvement with Miller. The investigation prompted the retirement of the city police chief in 1990.
Police questioned Vanest again in November 2021, at which time he admitted lying to the original investigators. Bamman said the new investigators thought he might be trying to concoct an explanation for how his DNA was found in Miller’s apartment.
But when detectives sought another interview early last year, Vanest declined and requested an attorney. Then he abruptly sold his house, bought a truck and trailer, and fled to West Virginia.
But he left several firearms behind at the Ohio house, and when police stopped him in West Virginia, they found two more guns. He was arrested on state weapons charges and released on bond.
At that point, the federal Bureau of Alcohol Firearms and Explosives indicted him on federal gun charges. On November 18, US Marshals and a local SWAT team tried to serve him with that indictment.
“It is our understanding that when confronted by Marshals and the Canton Regional SWAT team, Mr. Vanest pointed a gun at them and barricaded himself inside the hotel,” Bammann said. “After a short shootout, one Canton SWAT member was shot in the arm, and Mr. Vanest was fatally shot.”
Bamman said the department now considers the Miller case closed.
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[Featured image: The apartment building where Debra Lee Miller and James Vanest lived in 1981. Inset: Debra Lee Miller and James Vanest/Mansfield Police Department via AP]
