Friday, June 22, 2012

Summit County, OH: Ex-boyfriend charged with murder of Jackson Township woman

A woman working as a pizza delivery driver in Summit County was lured to a secluded business where police believe her former boyfriend ambushed and killed her Thursday.

Chad Cobb, 30, of Rittman, is being held in the Summit County Jail on charges of aggravated murder and kidnapping. He was being held under a $1.5 million bond.

Cobb is accused of killing Ashley Biggs, 25, whom co-workers reported as missing early Thursday morning from a Green pizza shop. Her body was found hours later in Chippewa Township. An autopsy Friday showed she was beaten and then strangled to death.

Police say Cobb, who owned a cable installation company worker, used of four-foot long zip tie to strangle Biggs.

The two are parents of a 6-year-old daughter and were involved in a contentious custody dispute, police said. The dispute continued through Thursday morning with the most recent court filing.

Biggs’ attorney acknowledged that the dispute was contentious.

“Ashley loved her daughter and she was fighting to get custody of her,” said Charles Olminsky Jr., Biggs’ domestic relations court attorney. He declined further comment.

New Franklin Police Chief Dan Davidson said Biggs, a driver for Domino’s on South Main Street, was sent to a West Turkeyfoot Lake Road business in New Franklin late Wednesday or early Thursday morning to deliver a pizza.

The business was closed and Davidson said he believes the delivery was ruse to get Biggs to the site. It was there that police believe Cobb attacked her, striking her on the head.

Co-workers reported Biggs missing about 12:45 a.m. Thursday and filed a missing person’s report. Police and Summit County sheriff’s deputies went to the West Turkeyfoot Lake Road one-story office building and found evidence of a struggle, Davidson said.

“We checked the area and we had found there had been a struggle there of some sort because we found large amounts of blood on the pavement outside the business,” Davidson said.

Police learned from Biggs’ co-workers that she was having a dispute with Cobb over child custody, and officers later went to a nearby relative’s home of the man, where Cobb was found hiding in a patch of woods.

He was taken into custody for questioning and later charged.

Later that morning, Wayne County sheriff’s deputies found Biggs’ car and her body. Police believe she was killed in Summit County and her body was moved to Chippewa Township.

Davidson said Cobb is not speaking with detectives.

“He lawyered up,” he said.

“Chad is a family oriented guy who loves his children very much,” said defense attorney Adam Van Ho. He declined further comment until he can review the case evidence.

Cobb’s domestic court attorney, Beth Judge of Cleveland, declined comment.

Workers at the pizza shop had no comment Friday morning. Family members could not be reached. Biggs lived with a co-worker in Jackson Township. No one answered the door Friday afternoon.

Davidson said it appears Cobb drove Biggs’ car to Chippewa and returned to Summit County. His department’s investigation is ongoing, and others might be charged, he said.

Jail records this week show Biggs’ daughter lived with Cobb, his three other children and his wife, Erika, in a Mount Eaton Road home in Rittman. Deputies noted he was cooperative during booking Thursday night, but cried when talking about his children.

Cobb’s family members could not be reached.

Court records show an original custody action was filed in 2007 and Cobb was named residential parent that same year.

All appeared to be amicable in the custody case and no motions were filed for more than four years until events turned contentious between Cobb and Biggs in October and continued through this month.

Different allegations, including contempt of court claims, were filed monthly against each other, court records show. For example, Biggs filed an affidavit alleging that Cobb changed his phone number and was in violation of custody orders.

This month, Cobb filed papers contending that Biggs was interfering with his planned vacation with his daughter. He also recently claimed Biggs was attempting to alienate his daughter from him and that Biggs blocked the girl’s ability to contact him.

The father further alleged that Biggs made false claims to sheriff’s deputies that he had taken the girl to Florida.

As recently as Thursday morning, Cobb’s attorney filed a subpoena to the Northeast Ohio Behavioral Health facility seeking medical and psychological records for his daughter.

The daughter is in custody of Stark County Department of Job and Family Services.

Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.

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