© HCJC; Cincinnati Police Museum
Liscia D. Willis (left) and her dad, James Lee Dunlap
Liscia D. Willis (left) and her dad, James Lee Dunlap
Liscia D. Willis, 49, allegedly murdered James Lee Dunlap — a retired Cincinnati cop — in the basement of his home in Forest Park and then started hauling her personal items into the 69-year-old man's home, according to court records cited by WXIX.
Willis had planned to take over the mortgage on Dunlap's residence. His body was found Friday, police said in an affidavit.
Willis, who has been charged with aggravated murder, was ordered held on $1 million bond during a court appearance early Monday, WXIX reported.
Dunlap, a US Army vet who joined the service during the Vietnam War, retired from the Cincinnati Police Department in 2002 after 29 years of service to "his country and community," according to his obituary.
Some officers who worked alongside Dunlap — who was affectionately known as "Skip" — said they were dumbfounded by his sudden death.
"Just a nice guy and that's so sad to hear about somebody that passed and passed in this way and passed at this time of the year," Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police president Dan Hils told WXIX. "I was a young policeman. I just remember him as a friendly gentleman who treated even the young police officers with respect and was a kind and easy-going street policeman."
Hils also noted the "very sad set of circumstances" surrounding Dunlap's death.
"You worry most about Skip's family," Hils said.
A grand jury is expected to hear the case against Willis on Dec. 31, WKRC reported.
Had he sexually abused her when she was young, was she diagnosed with a mental illness, did he defraud her of money, was he overly critical of her during her informative years, was he a strict disciplinarian, did he beat his wife in front of her excetera. i.e. was he putting on a great front and just a horrible father, I had a former now deceased brother-in-law that was a cop that fits the description to some degree that I laid out above.
I am not making excuses for murder but the worst of these or a combination of them could be extenuating circumstances; there just seems to be more to this story than we know about.
Sad though in any event.