Elwood Jones arrested for OVI days after murder case against him dropped

Elwood Jones arrested for OVI days after murder case against him dropped

Aaron Valdez and Cameron Knight, Cincinnati Enquirer

Thu, December 25, 2025 at 1:27 AM UTC

2 min read

Elwood Jones, a former death row inmate whose murder case against him was recently dismissed, was arrested and charged with an OVI on Christmas Eve.

Cincinnati police confirmed to Enquirer media partner Fox19 that Jones was taken into custody around 5 p.m. Dec. 24 after he allegedly crashed his vehicle near the corner of East McMillan Avenue and Woodburn Avenue.

He is being charged with OVI, failure to control a motor vehicle and fleeing the scene of a crash.

Jones's attorneys did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

Officers said he refused a breathalyzer. He has since been released from custody, police told Fox19, and has been cited for the three misdemeanor violations. He will appear in court on Dec. 29 at 12:30 p.m.

Elwood Jones visits Clifton United Methodist Church on Sunday August 10, 2025.

The now-73-year-old Jones was accused of beating Rhoda Nathan to death in the suburban Cincinnati hotel room in 1994 as she prepared to attend a family friend's bar mitzvah.

Prosecutors said Jones used his job as a hotel employee to steal items from the rooms of guests. When Jones unexpectedly found Nathan in her hotel room, they said, he struck her with his fist and hand-held radio until she was dead, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors built their case around circumstantial and forensic evidence that they said proved Jones murdered Nathan. That evidence included bruises on Nathan that they said matched Jones’ radio, and an infected wound on Jones’ hand that an expert testified likely came from striking someone in the mouth.

Jones' case received widespread attention after The Enquirer's Accused podcast reexamined it and the evidence against him.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich dropped the murder case against Jones on Dec. 12, saying she does not believe he committed the crime that sent him to prison for almost three decades.

The Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office could not be reached for comment regarding his arrest.

In a statement to The Enquirer, Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police President Ken Kober said, "It’s disgusting that someone who was recently let out of prison after serving nearly 30 years for murder would immediately be endangering the community."

"Unfortunately, the justice system in Hamilton County has created an atmosphere where visitors and residents continue to put in danger due to poor decisions by a system that should be protecting us," Kober continued in the statement.

Coroner's office makes wrong statement on lab test in Jones' case

About a week after Pillich said she would not pursue a new case, Hamilton County Coroner issued a Dec. 22 news release mistakenly saying a hepatitis B test conducted on Nathan was negative. If true, this would have contradicted a key piece of evidence used to overturn Jones’ conviction.The mistake prompted Pillich to demand a retraction and apology from Sammarco “for the chaos she caused.”Sammarco walked back her statement a day after issuing it.

Enquirer media partner Fox19 contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Elwood Jones arrested days after murder case against him dropped

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