The Day

UA Police Chief Kenneth Borror said, “That area was so busy that day, you almost needed a traffic cop. And nobody saw anything?” (UA News, August 6, 1980) Additional accounts make the timeline even more difficult to reconcile.

Asenath Dukat was last seen walking west on Waltham Road at approximately 3:20 p.m. At 7:26 p.m. that same day, her body was found in a creek bed at the opening of a culvert that ran under a service road in First Community Village.

Between 3:40-3:50 p.m., a Riverside Drive resident walked across the culvert and thought about taking a rock from the creek bed to use as a paperweight. As a result, she looked directly into the area where Asenath’s body was found.

Shortly after returning home from school, two boys who lived on Malvern started looking for Asenath. The two boys rode their bikes across the culvert two different times around 3:50-4:00 p.m.

A First Community Village resident walked in the culvert area and looked east at approximately 4:00 p.m. (Asenath’s body was found on the east side of the culvert.)

Around 4:10 p.m., two brothers arrived to the culvert area on their bicycles. They hid their bicycles in the creek bed between the west side of the culvert and Frankenstein’s cave – on the opposite side of the culvert from where Asenath’s body was found. (The service road above the culvert was 13 feet, 7 inches wide.) The brothers walked to McDonald’s, where they met a friend. At approximately 4:45 p.m., the brothers returned to the culvert area, retrieved their bikes, and rode away.

A Malvern resident was observed playing with his dog in the field near the culvert between 4:30-4:35 p.m. This man was apparently in the field as late as 5:10 p.m.

The first police cruiser was spotted in First Community Village at approximately 5:00 p.m.

A girl who lived on Malvern rode her bike over the culvert around 5:30 p.m.

At approximately 5:45 p.m., a Hillside resident walked across the culvert on her way to vote.

A Waltham resident walked across the culvert around 5:55-6:00 p.m. on her way to vote. She was with her young son, who was riding a Big Wheel. The two of them crossed over the culvert again around 6:20-6:25 p.m.

At approximately 6:15 p.m., two teenagers who lived on Malvern walked into the field near the culvert. They walked from Malvern straight towards the creek. The teenagers followed the creek east for a few hundred feet, turned around, and then followed the creek back west to a spot across from Malvern.

Over the past year-and-a-half, we’ve brought answers to the many questions. However this one remains: There were at least 13 people in close proximity to the site of Asenath Dukat’s murder between 3:40-6:25pm on June 3rd, 1980. 

What isn’t in doubt is the location of the murder. Science shows she was struck by the rock at the mouth of the culvert.

Was her body in the culvert for 3+ hours and nobody saw it? 

Or 

Did the murder happen in the open, in the middle of a widespread search, less than 200 feet from Malvern Road with police and neighbors in an active search of the area? 

In the months leading up to the murder of Asenath Dukat there were a series of events that police feel may have been connected. Below is a closer look at these events in the sequence in which they occurred.  

3/16/80; 5:15 p.m. 

• A female victim was running on the Ohio State University bike path West of Bevis Hall. Those from Upper Arlington will recognize this path that cuts from North Star Avenue in Upper Arlington to Kenny Road through a corn field. A white male suspect grabbed the victim as she ran by and choked her until she was unconscious. The victim woke in a shallow pond, 10 feet from the attack. No sexual assault was attempted. Witnesses saw a male run from the area to a bicycle then ride west bound toward Kenny Road. The victim could not identify the the suspect. A description was provided, presumably by the witnesses. 

• The suspect was described as a white male, 6’2”, slim build, brown/black wavy hair, long brown jacket, flannel shirt and dark pants. The bicycle was brown or maroon in color. The suspect said nothing during the attack.

4/13/80; 10:50 p.m.

• A female victim was chased by a white male on 11th Avenue near Mack Hall. No further information was given.

4/14/80; 6:20 a.m.

• A female victim was walking on 12th Avenue near Baker Hall when she was grabbed from behind by a suspect with a knife. The victim screamed and she and the suspect both fell to the ground. The suspect ran away and was chased by witnesses. 

• The suspect was described as a white male with olive complexion and dark curly hair.

4/15/80; 7:45 p.m.

• A female victim was riding her bike eastbound on the OSU bike path and passed a white male suspect walking westbound. The suspect came up from behind the victim, pulled her from her bike and began stabbing her. The victim received 15 stab wounds. The suspect then ran eastbound on the bike path. No sexual assault was attempted. 

• The suspect was described as 5’10”, dark complected, wearing a “watch cap” and wearing a gold ring with a red stone on his left hand. The suspect said nothing during the attack.

4/22/80

• A crime bulletin (see image accompanying this post) was distributed throughout the OSU campus referencing the attacks on 4/13, 4/14 and 4/15.

• The suspect was described in the bulletin as a white male adult, early 20’s. 5’9” to 5’11”, dark complexion as if of Mediterranean extraction, dark brown feathered hair style, medium build, wearing blue jeans and white tennis shoes with a blue jacket of waist length with knit collar and cuffs. 

4/27/80; 8:50 p.m.

• Suspect2 was field interviewed on the OSU bike path. According to OSU police reports he was riding a red bicycle and was wearing a green jogging shirt, blue jeans, beige jacket and brown gloves. It is also noted that the suspect “appeared to be nervous"

5/7/80; 4:00 p.m.

• The attack most often connected with the murder of Asenath Dukat, as referenced in our narrative occurs on Canterbury Lane. 

• In short, the white female victim, age 9, was grabbed by the subject in some bushes at the rear of her home as she was walking home from school. He punched and choked the victim unconcious and had her pants down. At some point the subject was scared off by barking dogs next door. Before fleeing he may have thrown one of her shoes 55 feet. The suspect was described as a white male, age 18-20 with pale olive complexion. 

• The subject was wearing a brown jacket with elastic on the collar and cuffs, brown gloves, brown shoes and blue jeans. Subject said nothing during the attack.

5/28/80; 6:20 p.m.

• Suspect2 was checked out by the Upper Arlington Police in the area where a white female, age 25 had reported she had been followed on Asbury Drive, which is roughly .65 miles from Canterbury Lane, by a white male on a red bicycle. 

• At the time he was stopped which was shortly after the incident, the suspect was wearing a dark blue t-shirt and jeans.

6/3/80; 3:20-7;26 p.m. 

• Asenath Dukat was raped and ultimately found murdered in a culvert at First Community Village off of Waltham Road.

For more information on Suspect2, please read chapter nine in the section, "The Suspects".