MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (WXIX) – A man who had dismembered a woman’s body and dumped it in a barrel behind a Middletown home on June 30 has been indicted for murder.
William Slaton, 35, was charged with murder, felonious assault, four counts of tampering with evidence, three counts of gross abuse of a corpse, involuntary manslaughter, assault, and failure to report a crime.
Officers got a call informing of the house in the 3200 block, Yankee Road to investigate a report of a suspected dead female inside a barrel at that address. At the house, as soon as the officers discovered Slaton, he went to the back of the house and “tossed a barrel over the fence,” a release from the department stated. Officers found the corpse of 21-year-old Cecily Cornett.
According to the arrest report, Slaton admitted being present at the residence with Cornett. He said after consuming narcotics, he woke up and went to the basement where he found her hanging.
“Slaton stated that he then used a sharp object to cut off all the victim’s fingers. He then used a razor knife to cut off all of the victim’s tattoos on her body. He put the items in a sealed bowl and hid the fingers and skin in the basement,” the arrest report states.
The dead body of Cornett was found inside the metal drum.
The police searched Slaton’s residence on June 30 and seized a hatchet, a book titled “Sex Crimes,” a brown leather belt, a video camera, tapes, a necklace, an extension cord, cellphones, Social Security cards, credit cards and a pink wallet, according to court documents.