CORONER ORDERS CARROLLS TO TESTIFY

CORONER ORDERS CARROLLS TO TESTIFY

August 3, 1993

Jim Dillon

Dayton Daily News

Kathleen and Timothy Carroll, the Cedarville couple who adopted 10 disabled or troubled children, have been subpoenaed to testify when a Greene County coroner's inquest into the deaths of four of the children resumes Thursday.

James Carroll, 17, the couple's adopted son, also has been subpoenaed to testify, said William McCarthy, chief investigator for the Greene County coroner's office. Over the weekend, investigators reviewed notes from the first three days of the inquest and determined they want "more detail" about when and where the children died, McCarthy said.

But Dennis Gump, an attorney for Carroll, called the continuing inquest a "witch hunt" and a "goat and pony show" orchestrated by county officials frustrated by the fact that a judge has refused to remove the surviving children from the couple's home.

Gump said county officials want "something concrete and they don't have it yet."

Meanwhile, authorities are hope to expedite a hearing on a motion to remove four remaining children from the Carroll household and place them in foster care.

A hearing on that motion is scheduled for Aug. 24. But Judge Robert A. Hagler of Greene County Juvenile Court removed himself from the case Friday, and whether the Ohio Supreme Court can appoint a new judge and give him time to review the case in three weeks is debatable, authorities said.

Hannah, Noah, Mollie and Josiah Carroll died under suspicious circumstances between Sept. 21, 1992, and June 14, 1993.

Hannah, 6, had Down syndrome and trouble seeing, speaking and walking. She died of bleach burns that covered 27 percent of her body. Authorities were told Hannah spilled the bleach on herself, but an expert testified last week that couldn't have been the case.

Noah, 3, was a crack baby and on medication for seizures. The Carrolls took him to a doctor's appointment on Nov. 15, returned home and checked him once after returning. Family members found him dead about 15 minutes later.

Paramedics said the body was cold when they arrived, and pathologists said suffocation is a possibility.

Mollie, 3, suffered from Cri du Chat syndrome, a rare genetic disorder causing mental retardation and physical deformities. Testimony revealed she may have been dead for 12 hours before her body was found. She, too, may have died of suffocation, a pathologist said.

Josiah, 12, suffered brain damage before birth and couldn't speak, walk or feed himself. He was found dead on his stomach, an improbable position since his legs were permanently bent. Marks inside the lips and one eyelid indicate evidence "very suggestive" of smothering, an expert said.