Oakwood woman indicted for aggravated murder

Suspect also indicted on four counts of endangering children and one count of insurance fraud

3/9/2013

DEFIANCE — An Oakwood, Ohio woman was indicted by a Defiance County grand jury on an aggravated murder charge for allegedly shooting and killing her former husband.

Judith Hawkey, 46, was charged in the shooting death of Robert Breininger, who was found in a bedroom of a Mark Township residence Nov. 3, 2003, with a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.   

About 4 p.m. that day, county sheriff's deputies and emergency medical personnel responded to 9463 Kyle St. in Mark Center on the report of an alleged accidental shooting involving a then 10-year-old boy. The death was originally considered accidental, but  the county prosecuting attorney's office says there is evidence that Ms. Hawkey was "in complicity in the commission of the offense by having caused an innocent or irresponsible person to commit the murder."

The suspect was also indicted on four counts of endangering children and one count of insurance fraud. Authorities allege that for three or four years she tortured or cruelly abused a child who was between seven and 10 years old at the time. The fraud charge stems from life insurance proceeds that she allegedly collected as the result of her former husband's death.

She is being held without bond at Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio. If convicted, she faces up to life in prison.