Kenneth Douglas Is One Sick Dude

July 30, 2008 by Morbid  

Update 9/8/2008 – Kenneth Douglas has pleaded no contest and has been found guilty of abuse of a corpse. He will undergo a psychological evaluation and then face sentencing on Sept. 30. He is only looking at a max of 18 months in prison.

Kenneth Douglas, David Steffen, Karen Range

CINCINNATI – Back in August of 1982, 19-year-old Karen Range answered her door and was greeted by a door-to-door salesman named David Joseph Steffen. Steffen severely beat the teen and slashed her throat with a paring knife in such a manner that the girl was almost decapitated. He was convicted of aggravated murder, rape and aggravated burglary in 1983, and sentenced to death. While he admitted to the killing, he has always maintained his innocence in regards to the rape. DNA tests later showed that he was not lying and he was not a match for the fluids found inside her body. Now, 20+ years later, a person has been charged with the sexual assault. Turns out it was morgue assistant, Kenneth Douglas, who worked at the Hamilton County morgue where Range’s body was taken to.

Douglas worked at the morgue from 1976 to 1992, but quit by just not showing up to work one day and giving no notice. In March of this year, Douglas, now 55 years old, was arrested for drug trafficking and as required by Ohio law, ordered to provide a DNA sample. That DNA sample matched the 1982 semen sample gathered from Range.

In the time that Douglas worked as a morgue attendant, 29 cases have been found where rape kit evidence is available to be tested. Investigators believe, after interviewing Douglas, that more offenses were committed.

“Our initial indication is it’s less than five but we don’t know,” Hamilton County prosecutor Joe Deters said.

While they are not revealing all the specifics of the conversations with Douglas, it is being reported that when Range’s body had been at the lab for testing, Douglas removed Range’s unwashed body from a refrigeration unit, where it had been stored for 4 hours, and sexually assaulted it. Now it is being revealed that Douglas has also worked for some funeral homes. Prosecutors are now checking with these past employers.

Douglas has pled guilty to the charge of gross abuse of a corpse and is being held on a $700,000 bond. Gross abuse of a corpse is a low-level felony and carries a maximum sentence of 12 months.

“This is just one sick dude,” Assistant Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier said after Douglas’ arraignment.