Bennie Adams

Background

Bennie Adams was convicted and sentenced to death in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in 2008 for the murder of Gina Tenney. Adams was on death row after his conviction.

Gina Tenney was a 19-year-old Youngstown State University student and was Adams’ upstairs neighbor in an Ohio Avenue duplex. Gina had graduated from Edgewood Senior High School in Ashtabula and was attending Youngstown State University at the time of her murder.

Gina’s father was Lucian Tenney. Gina’s mother was Avalon Tenney. Gina’s sister was Gliva Tenney.

The offence

Gina Tenney was strangled on December 29, 1985. Her frozen body was found in the Mahoning River near West Avenue the next day.

Prosecutors said Tenney, of Ashtabula, was tied up, raped and strangled by Adams and then dumped in the river.

Authorities suspected Bennie Adams after investigators noticed his connection to the case. Adams dated a girl who lived in the apartment below Gina. Witnesses testified during the trial that Gina was afraid of Adams because he would call her and stare at her and her friends. Gina had changed her phone number to stop the calls.

Evidence described at trial included that detectives questioned Adams the day Tenney’s body was found and found Tenney’s bank card in his coat. Detectives also found Tenney’s television in his apartment and a pot holder in his trash can that had Tenney’s hair and blood on it. The matching mate to a potholder from the downstairs apartment was found in Gina’s apartment. Adams also had a television believed to be from Gina’s apartment.

Investigation

The case involved DNA evidence collected in 1985 that had been preserved for decades. Adams was indicted for the murder in 2007 after a DNA match was found in evidence that police had preserved for 22 years. The appellate proceedings described legal and procedural errors raised by the defense.

The appellate court’s explanation addressed why the DNA testing and prosecution took a long time: the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation did not get accreditation for the needed DNA test until 2000 and began accepting more requests for cold-case analyses in 2004 when grant money was available.

Adams was a registered sex offender after being released in 2004, after spending 18 years in prison for the rape, kidnapping and robbery of a school principal in 1985. DNA samples taken from Adams tested positive as a match to the DNA found on Gina Tenney’s body and clothing, and the rape kit had been preserved for over two decades.

Arrest

Adams was arrested in October 2007 and charged with Tenney’s death after police were able to link him to the crime through DNA evidence collected in 1985. The appellate proceedings also stated that Adams was arrested for receiving the woman’s stolen property before being indicted for the murder. Adams was described as 54 during the appellate proceedings.

Trial

Adams was convicted of aggravated murder for the death of Gina Tenney.

During sentencing proceedings, Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Timothy Franken imposed the sentence after a jury recommendation. A jury recommended that Adams be sentenced to death after deliberating for 11 hours.

Judge Timothy Franken’s remarks at sentencing included statements that Adams showed no remorse and had accepted no responsibility, and that Adams was not rehabilitated.

“A rehabilitated man shows remorse and accepts responsibility,” Franken told Adams Thursday.
“Mr. Adams, you have no remorse and you accepted no responsibility for your wrongdoing. Mr. Adams, you are not rehabilitated. You are no different from the Bennie Adams of 1985.”

Adams responded “no” when asked if he had anything to say before Franken announced the sentence.

Anthony Meranto, one of Adams’ lawyers, shook Adams’ hand and said, “I’m sorry, man.” Adams’ mother, Lula Adams, met briefly with reporters and said her son is innocent.

“I do believe that before he's put to death the truth will come out,” Lula Adams said.

Tenney’s parents were not permitted to address the court. Judge Franken said victim-impact statements were not allowed in capital cases.

Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa, helped by Assistant Prosecutor Martin Desmond, said she was pleased with the sentence.

Sentencing

On October 30, 2008, Judge Timothy Franken sentenced Bennie Adams to death for the 1985 kidnapping, rape and strangulation death of YSU co-ed Gina Tenney.

Franken set an execution date of March 2, 2009, which was described as almost certain to be pushed back because of Adams’ automatic appeal.

Appeals

After the trial, Bennie Adams appealed to the Court of Appeals State v. Adams cases listed as 2011-Ohio-5361 and 2012-Ohio-2719.

The appellate court heard oral arguments in August and issued a ruling on October 15, 2011. The 7th District Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction and death sentence.

The defense attorneys were Attys. John B. Juhasz and Lynn A. Maro. They presented 21 allegations of legal and procedural error. One allegation was undue delay in prosecution.

Defense counsel argued that Adams was not indicted for the murder until 22 years after the crime even though he was arrested for receiving the woman’s stolen property. They also claimed Adams’ right to a speedy trial was denied.

The appellate court rejected those claims and stated that Adams’ due-process rights were not violated if the reasons for the delay are taken into account.

Other allegations of error pertained to jury selection and instructions, the admissibility of trial testimony and evidence, trial location, and the constitutionality of the death penalty. The defense attorneys argued that the trial should have been moved because of pretrial publicity. The appellate court ruled that changing venue, or electing not to do so, for the trial attorneys was a matter of strategy.

The defense attorneys also claimed the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment. The appellate court ruled that the claim was lacking in merit.

The attorneys said the case could be appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court. One defense attorney stated he had not seen the court’s opinion as of Friday afternoon and would not comment on what Adams would do next.

Outcome

The Court of Appeals for the 7th District affirmed Bennie Adams’ conviction and death sentence.

Aftermath

Following the sentencing decision, members of the Tenney family did not wish to comment on the court’s decision Friday.

Gina’s father Lucian Tenney said “We’ve never lost sight of who Gina Tenney is and who Gina Tenney could have been.” He also described visiting her grave regularly.

Gina’s father Lucian Tenney made additional remarks:

“As we remember Gina, this will be something that we can fall back on,” Gina’s father Lucian said of the verdict.
“We visit her grave just about every day. And a lot of people say that’s odd. But it’s a place to go and reflect on our life and on Gina’s life, and we loved her very much,” he said, adding that she worked and studied hard.
“We know she’s at home now. ... She was — and deserved to be — happy today,” he added.

Gina’s sister Gliva said:

“I always wanted a brother or sister, so when Gina was born, I was thrilled. I will always miss her. There’s not a day that goes by I don’t think of her. And I want everyone to know what a wonderful, wonderful person Gina was. She was vivacious, bubbly, the most loving, gracious, giving, caring person, and I will miss her until the day I die.”

Detectives expressed satisfaction that the family received justice:

“It’s a day that we’ve thought about for many years. We’ve never lost sight of who Gina Tenney is and who Gina Tenney could have been. We reflect today that she would have been 42 years old today,” said Capt. Kenneth Centorame, chief of detectives.

Lucian Tenney also said:

“We reflect today that she would have been 42 years old today,” Gina’s father Lucian said of the verdict.

The body was found floating in the Mahoning River on December 30, 1985 by a muskrat trapper checking his traps in freezing water. Gina’s mother had last spoken with her daughter at 6:30 pm on December 29, when Gina said she was on the way to meet a friend. Two weeks after Gina’s body was discovered, the coroner ruled that her death was caused by asphyxiation, and Gina had ligature marks on her neck and around her wrists, contusions all over her torso, and her ankle was broken after she died.

Lucian Tenney described the coroner’s officer period and response to seeing Gina:

“I'll never forget that day. We had to sit there in the coroner's officer until midnight...she had been out of the water since early morning but they had to warm her up. When we saw her, she was pretty as a picture, like she was asleep.”

Adams was arrested last October and charged with Tenney’s death after DNA evidence was used. Prosecutors said Adams had been unable to be definitively connected with the actual rape and murder at an earlier time. Authorities suspected Adams, but forensic testing had not been adequate at the time. Adams could not be definitively connected with the actual rape and murder then, and he had been charged with possession of stolen property but never went to trial.

Other details

The appellate court record included 528 pages. Oral arguments were held in August. The appellate ruling was issued on a Friday.

The appellate proceedings included discussion of trial location due to pretrial publicity, including the strategy issue raised regarding whether to change venue.

Adams’ age was stated as 54 during the appellate proceedings and as 50 on the day he was arrested for DNA testing. Another portion stated Adams was 54 is on death row.

Gina Tenney was described as an Ohio Avenue duplex upstairs neighbor to Adams, and her body was found near West Avenue in the Mahoning River.