Cousins held in slaying of East Toledo shop owner

12/15/2010

More than a decade after they were convicted of beating and torturing a Vietnam veteran, two cousins were arrested Wednesday for the murder Saturday of a legally blind man who worked in his family's store.

Alexander Osley, 25, of 402 Daniels Ave. and Luis Osley, 26, of 4114 Fairview Dr. were in the Lucas County jail Wednesday night, each charged with aggravated murder.

The men came to the Safety Building to speak with detectives after the broadcast of a video that showed them leaving Main Street Exchange, 134 Main St., where William Lamar Carswell, 53, worked.

About 4 p.m. Saturday, Mr. Carswell was shot three times and found in the back room of Main Street Exchange, his family's resale shop. He died of a gunshot wound in the chest, Dr. James Patrick, Lucas County coroner, said.

A helper in the shop had gone across the street to Rite-Aid to buy batteries, leaving Mr. Carswell alone with two men.

"After the suspects were interviewed by detectives, it was determined both suspects would be charged," Toledo police Sgt. William Wauford said in a statement.

Mr. Carswell's brother, Kevin, who owns the business, said Detective Kermit Quinn left him a phone message about the arrests.

"We are very happy," Kevin Carswell said. "We've been praying [that] before we laid him to rest, an arrest be made."

Mr. Carswell had a degree in social work from the University of Toledo, his brother said. Diabetes caused him to become legally blind in recent years.

Nothing was taken from the shop, Kevin Carswell said.

The video came from an adjacent business.

"We were a struggling business and thought several times on [installing video surveillance], but just didn't have the finances to do it, but they did," Kevin Carswell said. "We are grateful to the businesses around us."

The Osleys were among eight boys, then ages 10-14, who in October, 1996, broke into the North Toledo home of a veteran with mental illness. The boys dragged the man, 45, into his living room, bound his hands with electric cord, beat him, dripped melted plastic on him, poured glue on his genitals, and tried to set him afire. The boys urinated in his face, threw Comet in his eyes, and forced him to eat human feces.

Alexander Osley and his cousin Luis were sentenced to the Indian River School, an Ohio Department of Youth Services facility in Massillon.

Both have criminal histories as adults. Alexander Osley in 2004 was convicted of receiving stolen property and failing to comply with a police officer's order, both felonies. Luis Osley has been convicted of such felonies as robbery, receiving stolen property, and escape.

The Main Street Exchange has been closed since Mr. Carswell's death. Kevin Carswell, who is on disability and is occupied with the care of his three sons, ages 5, 4, and 2, let his brother run the shop.

"I'm not going to reopen," Kevin Carswell said. He added that he has not spoken with a silent partner in the business.

The funeral will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the C. Brown Funeral Home, where visitation will begin at 4 p.m., Kevin Carswell said.