Ohio authorities have resolved a decades-old murder case from 1985. The investigation revisited evidence originally found behind a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Georgia.
John Warren, a traveling salesman for an auto parts company, was found dead in his Holiday Inn room in Middletown, Ohio on October 17, 1985. Middletown is situated about 35 miles east of Cincinnati. At the time of his discovery, several personal belongings and his 1985 Oldsmobile were missing, according to Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell.
Not long after the murder, police in Dalton, Georgia recovered some of Warren’s property behind a local Cracker Barrel; his car later surfaced in Redington Beach, Florida. Despite many leads, law enforcement faced insufficient evidence to advance the case.
In 2019, the investigation was reopened. Items from the various crime scenes were submitted for laboratory analysis. This analysis identified Randy McAllister from Columbus, Ohio as a suspect. Another potential accomplice was identified but had already passed away.
Fornshell’s office, working with sheriff’s detectives, continued to gather evidence, which a grand jury reviewed recently. The jury indicted McAllister on charges of murder and aggravated murder.
“‘Cold case’ investigations are often ‘cold’ due to insufficient evidence or diminishing leads over time. However, Warren County Sheriff’s Office detectives have been persistent over the past five years, allowing us to charge McAllister,” stated Fornshell.
The motive behind McAllister’s alleged crime remains undisclosed. CBS affiliate WKRC cited that the indictment suggests Warren was killed during a robbery.