Columbus man pleads guilty, avoiding death penalty in slayings of girlfriend and infant son
Once facing lethal injection if convicted of killing his girlfriend and infant son, Brandon David Conner pleaded guilty Friday in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Conner, 42, was charged in the deaths of 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.
Among those at the plea hearing, on behalf of the victims’ family, were Mitchell’s aunt and two cousins. Conner’s mother and brothers were attending via Zoom videoconferencing.
Mitchell’s relatives asked not to be photographed, during the proceeding.
Conner’s charges included murder, aggravated battery, arson and using a knife to commit a felony.
Abiding by the negotiated plea, Judge William Rumer sentenced Conner to life without parole plus five years, the additional time by law added for the offense of using a knife to commit a crime, which requires a consecutive sentence.
Sitting with his attorneys, Emily Gilbert and Mary Dayton of the state capital public defenders office, Conner answered Rumer’s questions succinctly before replying, “I plead guilty, your honor,” when asked how he pleaded.
Conner was charged after firefighters found the two bodies in the fire-gutted house, and police found blood and other evidence in his car, investigators said.
District Attorney Mark Jones, who inherited the case from his predecessor when he took office in January, said the victims’ family agreed with the plea deal.
“Brandon Conner will never be free again to harm anyone else, ever, period,” Jones said after the hearing. “And so, that’s a victory. That’s definitely how I feel about it: We got him.”
Asked how Mitchell’s family felt, he said: “They’re just reliving the trauma of that night.... I don’t think they’re disappointed. I just think they’re tired, is the sense I got.”
The family
Although Mitchell’s relatives did not speak at Conner’s sentencing, they filed victim-impact statements with the court, for the record.
Mitchell’s aunt, Bonnie McFarland, said she raised Mitchell until her niece graduated high school. Mitchell was among six children in the household, as McFarland had two of her own while fostering four who had been abandoned by their mother, she wrote.
“Rosella was my backbone. She helped me with everything. She was everything to me and the other children. She became their mentor, and they admired her,” she said. “Her death has changed who they are for the rest of their life.”
McFarland said she owned the Winifred Lane home, and was living in Florida when it burned. Mitchell two weeks earlier had asked whether she could move there, “just trying to get her and baby little Dylan shelter until she could move in her own place,” the aunt said.
“Of course I said yes, not knowing what her fate would be,” she wrote. “I blame myself every day.”
She moved back to Columbus to help support her family after losing Mitchell, Dylan and the house.
“Every time I sit down to write, I cry,” she wrote. “I cannot describe the grief I feel when I think about this child who I raised, and her baby. All I can do is pray they are in a better place.”
Nicole Powers, a cousin, said she and Mitchell once spoke daily on the phone, to encourage each other.
“When my phone rings now, it’s a constant reminder that I will never again hear her voice, or see Dylan smile,” she wrote.
“I’ve had horrible migraines and panic attacks and seizures since her death. My children have suffered. My son went through a state of depression; he would cry all day at school; he couldn’t focus on his work,” she added. “My entire family has been emotionally and financially affected by this horrendous act committed against Rose and Dylan.”
She thought the death penalty was justified, in Conner’s case.
“I can’t write this statement saying all is forgiven, when it is not!” she wrote. “Some evils need to DIE! The death penalty is a mercy granted.”
Conner’s attorneys react
Speaking on Conner’s behalf, Gilbert apologized for the loss to the victims’ family.
“We are grateful at least that this process will come to a close today,” she said.
She said Conner declined to address the court himself, for fear his emotions would overwhelm him.
She praised Conner for his patience, since the state public defender’s office took his case in 2018, when Conner no longer could afford private attorneys.
“Despite hearing that his defense investigation had not begun in earnest ... Mr. Conner was endlessly patient, polite and kind with us, and understanding of the time we would need,” she said.
In dozens of interviews with Conner’s family and friends, “every single person remarked about his gentleness of character, his kindness, and that has truly been our experience as well,” she said.
“Finally, as a matter of a personal note here, I wanted to express my gratitude to his mother and his brothers for their kindness and their openness with us, through this process,” she added. “They too have endured unimaginable loss, and my heart goes out to them.”
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.
Later testing found Mitchell’s DNA on the bent knife, police 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 had been stabbed multiple times in the throat and torso, and the infant had been suffocated, before the fire.
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.
Slater lost to Jones in the 2020 election for district attorney.
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.
This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 10:44 AM.