Wayne Reed

A15374100

On the night of July 14, 1978, Russell Bell and Wayne Reed planned to rob a local convenience store at gunpoint. Armed with a .38 revolver and a .30-30 rifle, Bell drove them to the store and positioned the car for a quick getaway by a side entrance to the parking lot. Meanwhile Reed went to “case” the store. Reed positioned himself at a payphone by the front door to the store and began watching the clerk inside. At about this time, off-duty Cincinnati Police officer David Hamler pulled into the parking lot with the intent of making a purchase.

As Officer Hamler pulled into the lot, he noticed Bell in the parked car and found this suspicious. There were no cars in the front parking lot closest to the entrance, but Bell’s car was parked in a driveway that obscured it from view. As Officer Hamler parked in the front lot he observed Reed standing at the payphone, peering into the store. Officer Hamler testified that Reed was pretending to use the phone, but kept peering into the store. Upon entering the store, Officer Hamler observed the clerk with a large sum of money out on the counter. He approached the clerk, identified himself as a police officer, informed the clerk he was about to be robbed, and instructed the clerk to call the District 5 police station. While this was happening, additional patrons entered the store. Officer Hamler told the clerk that the robbers would not strike while there were other customers in the store.

A few minutes later, Officer Plum pulled into the parking lot in a marked cruiser. As soon as the cruiser pulled into the lot, Reed left the payphone and went around the corner to where Bell was waiting. The pair sped off as Officer Hamler explained what he had seen to the arriving officers. One of those officers was Officer Charles Burdsall. In the cruiser with Officer Burdsall was 19 year-old David Mellon, a civilian observer. David was the son of a brother officer, and was contemplating joining the police department and following in his father’s footsteps. Once he had the description of the suspects, Officer Burdsall pulled out of the parking lot and began driving in the direction Bell and Reed had fled.

A short distance later, Officer Burdsall observed the suspect vehicle turn onto a main street with its lights out and proceed in the same direction he was travelling. Officer Burdsall activated his overhead lights and affected a traffic stop. Once both vehicles were stopped, Officer Burdsall got out of his cruiser with his service revolver drawn, but at his side and a flashlight in his other hand. As he approached the driver’s side of the vehicle, Officer Burdsall ordered the occupants of the car to get out of the vehicle.

Bell came out the passenger door first. As Reed came out of the driver’s door, he turned, raised a pistol and fired a shot that struck Officer Burdsall in the face. As he fell to the ground, David Mellon dove to the sidewalk for cover. As Officer Burdsall lay face down in the street, Reed stood over him and shot him twice in the back. Reed then fired two shots at David, one striking him in the back as well. Bell and Reed then got back into their car and drove off. Despite his wounds, David crawled over to Officer Burdsall, picked up his fallen revolver and fired six shots at the fleeing car. His shots struck the car, but Bell and Reed escaped unharmed. David then picked up Officer Burdsall’s radio and called for help. Officer Burdsall was rushed to the hospital, but died a short time later. Officer Burdsall left behind a wife and three young children.

After their arrests, Bell told detectives that he and Reed had talked several times about robbing a convenience store, and admitted they went to the store with two guns that night. At trial, Reed’s cousin, Damon Thomas, testified that Reed told him that the two had gone to the store with the intention of robbing it. Reed further told him that when they got pulled over, Reed told Bell he could “handle it.” Bell also told a fellow inmate that he and Reed had gone to the store to rob it. Both Reed and Bell were convicted of the Aggravated Murder of a police officer and sentenced death, but that sentence was converted to Life in prison because the Ohio death penalty statute was deemed unconstitutional for a brief period. The death penalty was reinstituted shortly after their convictions. At the time, Life without the possibility of parole was not an available sentence, but is an available sentence today.

Officer Charles Burdsall had enlisted in the Army straight out of high school and served two tours in the Vietnam War, and earned a Purple Heart for being wounded in combat. Upon his honorable discharge from the Army, he joined the Cincinnati Police Department. At the academy, he became good friends with fellow recruits Dennis Bennington and David Cole. They referred to themselves as “The Three Musketeers.” Within 7 years of graduating from the academy, all three would be shot and killed in the line of duty. Poignantly, in reviewing parole previous opposition letters, I found a letter written by Officer Sonny L. Kim in 2011. In 2015, Officer Kim was shot and killed in the line of duty.

For the murder of Officer Charles Burdsall as he lay critically injured on the ground, Russell Bell and Wayne Reed both deserve the death penalty they both received. While that is not an option, keeping them in prison for the rest of their lives is. Anything less than that would be an insult to Officer Burdsall’s family, and to the families of all officers who have died in the line of duty. The Hamilton County Prosecutors Office strongly opposes early release for Wayne Reed.