By Ed Meyer
Akron Beacon Journal
Related: Ohio deputy testifies about pepper spray struggle
AKRON, Ohio — Stephen Krendick was identified this afternoon as the Summit County Sheriff’s deputy responsible for stomping on the head of inmate Mark D. McCullaugh Jr. during the fatal 2006 struggle at the county jail.
Fellow deputy Keith Murray, who witnessed the struggle in McCullaugh’s fouled cell in the jail’s mental health unit, testified that McCullaugh was kneeling on the cell floor — his head over his bunk, his hands cuffed behind his back and his legs shackled — with four or five other deputies around him.
''I observed Deputy Krendick standing on the bunk, and I observed Deputy Krendick striking Mr. McCullaugh in the head with the bottom of his foot,’' Murray said in questioning on the witness stand.
Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor John R. Kosko, the lead attorney in the government’s case against Krendick, then asked Murray how many times Krendick struck McCullaugh in that manner and Murray replied: ''Four to five times.’'
Krendick, 35, is in the fourth day of his trial in Common Pleas Court before visiting judge Herman F. Inderlied Jr. He is charged with one count of murder.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to prison for 15 years to life.
The testimony of Murray, who was assigned to a canine unit at the jail, backed up earlier testimony by the county’s chief deputy medical examiner, George C. Sterbenz, who performed McCullaugh’s autopsy.
Sterbenz said McCullaugh suffered multiple, stomping-type injuries to the left eye and surrounding orbital area, resulting in external and deep-tissue bruising and abrasions.
His testimony, in turn, was accompanied by a series of autopsy photos showing the deep-red bruising in detail on a courtroom projection screen.
Pointing to a rounded area of bruising to McCullaugh’s left eye, Sterbenz said at one point in his autopsy presentation that it corresponded to the shape of an officer’s boot.
Krendick’s defense attorneys, Robert C. Baker of Akron and James M. Kersey of Cleveland, were preparing to cross examine Murray when Inderlied recessed the proceedings for lunch.
But in opening statements on Monday, Kersey contended the injuries occurred when deputies dropped McCullaugh as they were attempting to move him to a clean cell after the struggle.
According to the autopsy findings by Sterbenz, McCullaugh died of asphyxiation from the combined effects of chemical, electrical and mechanical restraints on his airway.
The lethal injuries were caused when when McCullaugh inhaled the fumes from a 16-ounce can of pepper spray used by Krendick when McCullaugh was already subdued, Kosko said.
Stephen Krendick was identified this afternoon as the Summit County Sheriff’s deputy responsible for stomping on the head of inmate Mark D. McCullaugh Jr. during the fatal 2006 struggle at the county jail.
Fellow deputy Keith Murray, who witnessed the struggle in McCullaugh’s fouled cell in the jail’s mental health unit, testified that McCullaugh was kneeling on the cell floor — his head over his bunk, his hands cuffed behind his back and his legs shackled — with four or five other deputies around him.
''I observed Deputy Krendick standing on the bunk, and I observed Deputy Krendick striking Mr. McCullaugh in the head with the bottom of his foot,’' Murray said in questioning on the witness stand.
Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor John R. Kosko, the lead attorney in the government’s case against Krendick, then asked Murray how many times Krendick struck McCullaugh in that manner and Murray replied: ''Four to five times.’'
Krendick, 35, is in the fourth day of his trial in Common Pleas Court before visiting judge Herman F. Inderlied Jr. He is charged with one count of murder.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to prison for 15 years to life.
The testimony of Murray, who was assigned to a canine unit at the jail, backed up earlier testimony by the county’s chief deputy medical examiner, George C. Sterbenz, who performed McCullaugh’s autopsy.
Sterbenz said McCullaugh suffered multiple, stomping-type injuries to the left eye and surrounding orbital area, resulting in external and deep-tissue bruising and abrasions.
His testimony, in turn, was accompanied by a series of autopsy photos showing the deep-red bruising in detail on a courtroom projection screen.
Pointing to a rounded area of bruising to McCullaugh’s left eye, Sterbenz said at one point in his autopsy presentation that it corresponded to the shape of an officer’s boot.
Krendick’s defense attorneys, Robert C. Baker of Akron and James M. Kersey of Cleveland, were preparing to cross examine Murray when Inderlied recessed the proceedings for lunch.
But in opening statements on Monday, Kersey contended the injuries occurred when deputies dropped McCullaugh as they were attempting to move him to a clean cell after the struggle.
According to the autopsy findings by Sterbenz, McCullaugh died of asphyxiation from the combined effects of chemical, electrical and mechanical restraints on his airway.
The lethal injuries were caused when when McCullaugh inhaled the fumes from a 16-ounce can of pepper spray used by Krendick when McCullaugh was already subdued, Kosko said.
Copyright 2008 Akron Beacon Journal