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Bob Gondor and Randy Resh were convicted of murdering Connie Nardi, 31.  Nardi had left the Upper Deck pub in Mantua with Troy Busta for a ride on his motorcycle.  Three hours later Busta returned to the pub alone.  They next day Nardi's dead body was found in a pond.  She had been strangled.  At about the same time that Nardi and Busta left the pub, Gondor entered the pub and joined his friend Resh.  The two friends knew Busta from the pub, but did not consider him much more than an acquaintance.  The two left the pub to visit the nearby Village Tavern, but returned after an hour.

Authorities used Gondor and Resh's absence from the pub to assert that they rendezvoused with Busta.  The three then allegedly attempted to rape Nardi, but killed her when she resisted.  Busta agreed to testify against Gondor and Resh and his testimony led to their convictions.  In 2002, a judge overturned the convictions because defense attorneys failed to locate exculpatory evidence in the prosecutor's master file.  However, few believed the defense attorneys were that incompetent and instead believed the prosecution played hide and seek with the evidence.

The missed evidence revealed authorities coerced testimony, blurred timelines, and concealed forensic data.  Among this evidence is a taped interview with Busta in which he admits a willingness to say anything to avoid going to the electric chair.  The prosecutor, David Norris, left office in 1994 for cocaine possession, but his successor fought the judge's ruling.  In Dec. 2006, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld the 2002 ruling and ordered new trials for Gondor and Resh.  Resh was acquitted on retrial in April 2007.  Gondor was scheduled for retrial, but nine days after Resh's acquittal, charges against him were dropped.  (Cleveland Scene)  [6/07]

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