More on the1 killed in the cheapy motel
Niki
very upscale communuity about 20 miles N. Ugly goings on there.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071116/NEWS01/311160059
Police know Tri-County Inn well
BY JANICE MORSE | JMO...@ENQUIRER.COM
WEST CHESTER TWP. – “We would kind of like to, um, keep this in
dispatch – we don’t want news crews to come – but we think we
have a dead body in a room.”
That was how motel manager Heather Haueter reported finding guest
Sabyasachi Debnath, 31, stabbed to death Monday.
He was found face-down, restrained with black tape and rolled
inside bed sheets beside a bloody king-sized bed at the
Tri-County Inn.
It was a gruesome scene, even for a motel that has been no
stranger to crime scenes.
Since 2005, officers have been sent to Tri-County Inn nearly 700
times.
“We go there more times in one year than we have gone to all
seven other hotels put together,” said Police Chief John Bruce.
The other hotels in this township of more than 60,000 people have
generated a total of 184 police runs since 2005.
Many police visits to Tri-County Inn are routine checks. But
dozens of times a year, officers respond to complaints about
drugs, violence, robberies, thefts and noise.
Until Debnath’s slaying, Tri-County Inn’s troubles had been
decreasing, officials say. Now, police and politicians are trying
to figure out what, if anything, can be done to reduce illegal
and disruptive activity at the 106-room motel whose purple doors
beckon to motorists on Ohio 747 north of Interstate 275.
“Wow, that’s very disturbing,” said West Chester Township Trustee
George Lang, when told how many times police have been called to
the motel. “There’s no doubt that place gets more than its fair
share of police attention...but until now, it hadn’t been on my
radar screen.”
He and Trustee Catherine Stoker said they will see whether
police, zoning or other agencies in the township can take more
action.
Many communities are home to similar hotels and motels, where low
rates attract a mix of families on vacation, truckers and
businesspeople intermingled with drifting drug addicts, party
animals and criminals.
One notorious example: the run-down Tri-Star Motel in Montfort
Heights, which was demolished last month as neighbors cheered.
That motel had 50 police runs in a year.
Another location that keeps cops running: the Hamilton Inn, where
the suspects in Debnath’s slaying were caught. Police went to 283
calls there last year and 232 calls so far this year.
Despite its problems, officials say the Tri-County Inn is
well-maintained.
“Whoever is operating that place is keeping the physical premises
in very good condition – and that’s usually an indicator that
they’re trying to keep an eye on their clientele, too,” said
Zoning Director Brian Elliff.
In fact, Tri-County Inn’s police call volume may make the place
seem worse than it is, Bruce said. That’s because managers there
do report problems, despite apparent concerns about negative
publicity, he said.
Further, Tri-County managers say they’ve been enforcing policies
to weed out – and ward off – troublemakers. Those include curfews
on outdoor activity, bans on drinking outside rooms, no
unregistered visitors and no renting to minors or large groups
sharing a single room. Some of these policies have existed for at
least three years, others have been added in the past year.
“They are calling us, and they shouldn’t be penalized because
maybe there are some other places that are having the same kind
of problems, but they’re not telling us,” Bruce said. “We want
them (Tri-County Inn) to continue to clean the place up and work
harder.”
Haueter, a shift manager who has worked and lived at Tri-County
Inn for 3½ years, said she and other hotel staffers supplied much
of the information that helped detectives track down the teen
suspects in Debnath’s death.
“They (police) had no clue who he was hanging with. We did – and
we helped them,” Haueter said.
The hotel gave detectives security-camera footage showing the
suspects with Debnath, she said.
Haueter also said her calm-sounding demeanor during her 47-second
call reporting Debnath’s death actually reflected being “zoned
out,” in shock after seeing his body. She said she expressed
concern about news crews because no business wants exposure from
a homicide.
The Tri-County Inn was built in 1988. Its current owner is CPY
Property Management of Cincinnati.
Some of the motel’s problems date back years before new managers
took over, police said. Some issues also arise from the motel’s
extended-stay option.
Some guests stay for months or years at Tri-County. For some
people, “it’s cheaper than an apartment, because everything is
included,” Haueter said.
Others stay during the week because their homes are so far away
from their jobs that it’s cheaper than paying the cost of
commuting. “They just go home on the weekends,” Haueter said.
People who stay in one spot are more likely to report problems
with neighboring renters – much like in an apartment complex,
Bruce said. Conflicts are more likely to arise when long-term
renters mingle with those who stay for just days or even hours.
“Certainly you have unique problems if you’re going to make that
a long-term living place,” he said.
Shortly after the motel opened, Tim Holston of Louisville stayed
there while he was part of a crew that built the neighboring
Thornton’s gas station and convenience store.
“It was a real nice hotel back then,” he said.
Holston, now 39, returned recently to do remodeling work at
Thornton’s. He saw Debnath’s body.
“I saw them bring him out in a black bag. They had him on a
gurney and covered him up with a sheet,” Holston said. “I’m just
glad it wasn’t me.”
Days earlier, he had seen the 16-year-old girl who is among the
suspects in Debnath’s slaying.
“She had a black eye,” Holston said. “It sticks with you when you
see a woman with that kind of injury. It makes you wonder what’s
going on there.”
One of Holston’s co-workers, Harold Stewart, 44, of Louisville,
also recently stayed at Tri-County Inn. His room was clean, but a
little run-down, he said.
“The first day we were there, the police came,” Stewart said.
Now he’s staying at another hotel where he feels safer.
“We’ll never stay there again,” Stewart said.
But other people who came to rent rooms Friday are loyal
customers – many of whom Haueter knows by name.
They rave about the motel’s friendly staff and bargain rates:
$154 a week, or about $35 per day, plus tax. Rates are higher on
weekends, and lower with corporate discounts.
Amy Bounds, 34, of Colerain Township, has stayed at the hotel
before “to get away for a while.” She wasn’t worried about the
homicide or other reports of incidents there. “I feel safe,” she
said.
Ralph Sapp, a clerk who manages the Thornton’s store, is familiar
with many of the inn’s repeat guests.
“Yeah, it can be a rough place. But there’s still good people,
even in the worst neighborhoods,” Sapp said.
The homicide is a bit troubling, he said, but that would be true
anywhere.
“If you lived in Indian Hill and your next-door neighbor got
killed, that would give you pause,” Sapp said.
Haueter said it’s been tough overcoming the motel’s unsavory
reputation.
In 2004, Amy Rezos, then 35, was nearly killed at Tri-County Inn
in one of several attacks by her husband. She went on to crusade
for an Ohio law that adds safeguards for domestic violence victims.
“I will not lie. When I first came here, we had problems,”
Haueter said. “It took us three years to build a decent client base.”
“Yes, the police are up here,” she said, “but that’s because we
are calling....We are strict.”
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Niki