Trial begins in slaying of woman from North Baltimore

BOWLING GREEN - The last time Misty Mason talked with her mother, Karen Coldwell, Ms. Coldwell said she had been fighting with her boyfriend, Randy Corbin.

The next day, she was gone without a trace.

It would be four days of searching for Ms. Coldwell, 51, of North Baltimore, before investigators called Ms. Mason and her sister to say they had found their mother's body.

"[They said] they found her in a rural area of Fostoria … wrapped up in leaves and a blanket," Ms. Mason said between tears.

Corbin, 49, of Fostoria is charged with murder and tampering with evidence stemming from the October, 2007, death of Ms. Coldwell.

Prosecutors said the two had been dating about six months when Ms. Coldwell disappeared and was found strangled in a rural area of Perry Township.

Heather Baker, an assistant Wood County prosecutor, told the jury during opening arguments yesterday that among incriminating statements Corbin made to friends and family in the days Ms. Coldwell was missing, he told his brother, Frank Corbin, "he strangled Karen and he put her body out on Hall Road. Hall Road is where the defendant and his family used to live."

With information from Frank Corbin, Ms. Baker said, investigators found the body off Hall Road the next day, Oct. 18, underneath a comforter.

Defense attorney Dave Klucas cautioned the jury that many of Corbin's apparent admissions of guilt arise from questionable circumstances or were reported by people with self-serving motives.

The first witness to take the stand, Deb Mellinger, said she had been friends with Ms. Coldwell since grade school. She described her friend's relationship with Corbin as "topsy-turvy."

"One day they would get along. The next day they wouldn't," Ms. Mellinger said. "It was a rocky relationship."

She said Ms. Coldwell came to her house the evening of Oct. 15 upset because Corbin had taken her car and she had to find a ride to work that morning.

"Right before all this happened, that Monday night was the last time I spoke to her, she said she had enough and she just wanted it over with. She wanted him out," Ms. Mellinger said.

The trial, which is expected to run at least through Monday, was to resume at 8:30 this morning.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at

jfeehan@theblade.com

or 419-724-6129.