Convicted murderer confesses to killing foster son

By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press Writer

Updated: June 17, 2010, 9:55 am /
Published: June 17, 2010, 9:40 am

An aging con man convicted of killing two young couples in Wisconsin and Ohio decades ago has claimed he also shot his foster son to death.

In a jailhouse interview with The Associated Press, Edward W. Edwards, 77, said he lured Dannie Boy Edwards to a secludedcemeteryy near the family's home in Burton, Ohio, in 1996. He said he pressed a 20-gauge shotgun to the man's chest and pulled the trigger twice.

Edwards said he was angry because the man, who was in his mid-20s when he was killed, had stolen credit cards and other belongings from his children and he wanted to collect on $250,000 worth of life insurance.

Edwards said he's telling the story now, 14 years later, because he wants to be sentenced to death in Ohio, even though prosecutors haven't charged him in the death.

"I'm responsible for it," Edwards said. "It didn't work on my conscience. I spent the money. I was having a good time. ... you do it, forget it was done and go about your business until next time."

Geauga County, Ohio, Sheriff Dan McClelland said investigators have spoken to Edwards many times about his foster son's death and that they were still trying to corroborate his story. Edwards is in custody and doesn't present a threat, he added.

"Each time he talks, we get a sliver more. You get enough of those slivers, pretty soon you have a lot of information," McClelland said.

In a deal with prosecutors in Wisconsin and Ohio, Edwards pleaded guilty earlier this month to killing William Lavaco, 21, of Doylestown, Ohio, and Judith Straub, 18, of Sterling, Ohio, in 1977. He also pleaded guilty to killing 19-year-old Wisconsin sweethearts Tim Hack and Kelly Drew in 1980.

A Summit County, Ohio, judge last week sentenced Edwards to two life terms last week. Homicide is a capital crime in Ohio, but a U.S. Supreme Court ruling invalidated the state's death penalty statutes between 1974 and 1978, making Edwards ineligible for execution.

He is set to be sentenced in Hack and Drew's deaths in Jefferson County, Wis., on Monday. Wisconsin does not have the death penalty.

From: http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/06/17/1085348/convicted-murderer-confesses-to.html