Eaton man gets life for shooting death

11/25/2004

An Eaton, Ohio, man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison for the March 7 murder of a Findlay businessman.

Estel Wayne Buck, 55, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Warren County Common Pleas Court to aggravated murder for the shooting death of William E. Doolittle Jr., 41. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed to drop a death penalty specification.

Mr. Doolittle, who owned a tool shop on Main Street in Findlay, was working as a vendor at a flea market off I-75 south of Dayton when he went to talk to Buck about a trailer and some tools he allegedly had for sale. Prosecutors said Buck shot Mr. Doolittle and stole $6,000 in cash from him.