Middletown police were called around 1 p.m to Slaton’s home to investigate a tip about a dead woman in a barrel on the property. When police knocked on the door and told Slaton about the complaint, he refused to let officers inside. He went back into the house, ran out of the back and dumped the barrel over a fence into a neighbor’s yard, Middletown police Maj. Scott Reeve said.
When officers opened the barrel, they found a nude woman’s body.
During an interview with detectives, Slaton admitted to being in the house with the victim and said that after using drugs, he woke up and found her hanging in the basement, according to Middletown Municipal Court documents. He told police he used a knife to cut off her fingers and tattoos
Slaton said he put the pieces of her body in a sealed bowl and hid the fingers and skin in the basement, according to the complaint.
On July 8, Slaton’s case as bound over to a grand jury following a hearing in municipal court. His bond is $210,000.
In addition to bond, Slaton is being held on a federal holder for allegedly violating community control after a conviction for “conspiracy to murder (a) federal officer,” according to court documents.
In 2011, Slaton was also convicted in Butler County Common Pleas Court of of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material or performance and four counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor. He served seven year in prison for those charges.
More charges are possible when the case is presented to grand jury and could depend on the autopsy results, which would include cause of death, are still pending, according to police and prosecutors.
“We are continuing to work on it and we are going to continue to do our best to find justice for this girl,” said Martin Schneider, coroner’s office administrator. A completed autopsy report can take up to 12 weeks to receive
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