Columbus man facing death penalty in murders of girlfriend and son to take plea deal, DA says
The man charged in a pending Columbus death-penalty case will plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life without parole.
In a text Monday to the Ledger-Enquirer, District Attorney Mark Jones wrote that Brandon David Conner will plead guilty April 30.
Conner is charged in the deaths of girlfriend Rosella “Mandy” Mitchell, 32, and their son, 6-month-old Dylan Ethan Conner, whose charred bodies were found Aug. 21, 2014, in their 1324 Winifred Lane home. He is accused of killing both Mitchell and their son before setting the house afire.
Conner was charged with murder and arson after firefighters found the two bodies, and police found blood and other evidence in his car, investigators said.
Jones in his text said the victims’ family has agreed to the plea deal.
One of Conner’s attorneys, Emily Gilbert, wrote in an email that she could not confirm Conner will plead guilty, but Judge William Rumer’s office said a plea hearing has been set for 10 a.m. April 30 in a courtroom on the Government Center’s seventh floor.
The evidence
Authorities in 2014 were called at 12:35 a.m. to the fire at Mitchell’s home. About 30 minutes later, Officer Jason Swails saw Conner’s blue 2001 BMW turn from Wynnton Road onto Cedar Avenue in midtown as Conner parked near Davis Broadcasting, where he worked. Conner then sat in the car for 10 minutes, the officer said.
Finding that suspicious, Swails questioned Conner, who was shaking and sweating, and told the officer he had just left work. Swails didn’t believe that, because he’d seen Conner turn off Wynnton Road and park. Conner then altered his story, claiming he’d left work to get some food, but changed his mind and returned, Swails said.
Swails arrested Conner for breaking a city law against lying to police. Because officers routinely search suspects being detained, they checked Conner’s pockets, and found a bloody, yellow dishwashing glove, a bloody baby wipe, a cigarette lighter and an extended grill lighter.
Learning of the bodies found on Winifred Lane, police had Conner’s BMW impounded, and got a warrant to search it. Inside they found a bag of bloody clothes, a bottle of bleach and a bent steak knife with blood on the handle, they said.
Arson investigators searched Mitchell’s burned home with a dog that alerted to flammable liquids poured in three places. They also found a gas can stored in a closet. An autopsy revealed Mitchell was stabbed multiple times in the throat and torso.
On April 14, 2015, a grand jury indicted Conner for murder, aggravated battery, first-degree arson and using a knife to commit a crime. Six days later, then-District Attorney Julia Slater filed notice she would seek the death penalty.
Conner’s court case was delayed when he ran out of funds in September 2018 and needed a state-funded capital public defender. Attorneys have been working through pretrial issues in the case in a series of hearings before Judge Rumer.
Though Slater chose to seek the death penalty in Conner’s case, she lost the 2020 election to Jones, who took office in January.
Jones could not immediately be reached for additional comment.
This story was originally published April 26, 2021 at 1:40 PM.