Convicted killer indicted in death of prison inmate

Toledo Correctional homicide is 1st at facility

Lawrence Michael Hensley

A Sidney, Ohio, man who is serving a life sentence for killing four people in Shelby County was indicted by a Lucas County grand jury Monday for the strangulation of a fellow inmate at Toledo Correctional Institution last year.

Lawrence Michael Hensley, 43, was indicted for aggravated murder in the death of Bradley L. Hamlin, 24, of Mantua, Ohio.

Hamlin was found unresponsive on the floor of Hensley's cell Sept. 20 and died two days later in Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center.

An autopsy found Hamlin had been strangled. He also had injuries to his arms and legs that indicated he had been restrained.

Hensley, who was moved from Toledo Correctional to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville after Hamlin's death, was convicted of killing three teen-aged girls and a man from his church in Shelby County in 1999.

He was arrested after a four-day manhunt and a standoff with police at a Sidney gas station where he was holding three hostages at gunpoint. He later pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, and kidnapping in court.

Based on his violent history, his most recent indictment did not surprise Shelby County Prosecutor Tim Sell.

“He’s very notorious,” said Mr. Sell, who was just elected prosecutor and was not involved in the case. “It’s probably one of the two worst murders we've had in our county. ... He killed these three young girls, then killed another gentleman, then shot his way down the highway.”

Rob Miller, chief of the Lucas County Prosecutor’s special units division, said investigators believe three inmates were present when Hamlin was assaulted in Hensley's prison cell, although only Hensley has been indicted.

“There was a previous disagreement between the victim and one or more inmates,” Mr. Miller said.

At the time of his death, Hamlin was serving a 60-month prison sentence for burglary, breaking and entering, and theft from Portage and Cuyahoga counties.

Mike Davis, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, said there were three homicides inside Ohio prisons in 2012.

Mr. Davis said Hamlin’s death was the first homicide at Toledo Correctional, which opened in 2000.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.