Friend testifies ex-officer said he would kill pregnant lover

2/7/2008
ASSOCIATED PRESS

CANTON - A longtime friend of a former police officer charged with murder testified yesterday that the defendant threatened to kill his pregnant lover a month before she was found dead in a park.

Bobby Cutts, Jr., said he was going to kill Jessie Marie Davis and "throw her in the woods," calling her a derogatory name, Richard Mitchell said. He added that he didn't think his friend was serious.

Mr. Cutts is accused of killing Ms. Davis, who was the mother of Cutts' 2 1/2-year-old son and was nine months pregnant with his daughter.

Mr. Mitchell testified that Mr. Cutts denied knowledge of Ms. Davis' whereabouts after she was reported missing June 15. He was with Mr. Cutts every day between June 15 and 22. Mr. Cutts led investigators to Ms. Davis' body June 23.

Mr. Cutts' ex-wife, Kelly Schaub, testified that she believed Ms. Davis wanted to destroy their marriage. Ms. Schaub said that in November, 2005, she opened her makeup drawer and found underwear that she said belonged to Ms. Davis.

"I threw them at Bobby," she said.

Ms. Schaub, who has a daughter with Mr. Cutts, told Ms. Davis she was happily married and the two had many conversations about their relationships with Mr. Cutts, she said.

"I asked her why she wanted to continue to be with Bobby," Ms. Schaub said.

Mr. Cutts' relationship with Ms. Davis spurred his third and final separation from Ms. Schaub in February, 2007. Their divorce was completed last month.

Another friend of Mr. Cutts testified earlier that she saw Mr. Cutts dump Ms. Davis' body in a park about 20 miles from her home. Defense attorneys have not challenged her testimony but say prosecutors have no evidence linking him to her death.

Mr. Cutts, 30, could face the death penalty if convicted of aggravated murder in the death of Ms. Davis and her fetus. He has pleaded not guilty and resigned from his post as a Canton patrolman.

Thousands searched for Ms. Davis in the area surrounding her northeast Ohio home in the days she was missing after her June death.