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Warren judge likely died from overdose

Provided/Marie Rossiter James Heath in a photo taken April 2009. Contributed photo.

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By Denise G. Callahan, Staff Writer Updated 5:51 PM Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Preliminary autopsy results show Warren County Judge James Heath likely died Sunday from a drug overdose.

Warren County Coroner Russell Uptegrove said there were no pills littering Heath’s bedroom, but said an autopsy today, May 26, points towards an overdose. Uptegrove estimated Heath, 47, died several hours before paramedics arrived around 2:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon, May 24.

Heath’s estranged wife, Bethany Heath, found him on the floor of their master bedroom after she couldn’t reach him on the phone Sunday, a day after the judge was arrested on operating under the influence charges for the second time in seven months.

Uptegrove said there were prescription bottles in the home, as you’d find in most medicine cabinets, but they were older prescriptions.

“A lot of times there are empty bottles laying around that had nothing to do with why someone is deceased,” he said. “Obviously it’s something you make note of, but you can’t automatically assume.”

Toxicology test results will be returned in four to six weeks, according to Uptegrove.

On her 9-1-1 call, an emotional Bethany Heath said she had tried to get a hold of Heath most of the day and had found his body cold when she visited the house. She told the dispatcher she and her children had moved out of the couple’s Hamilton Twp. home.

Flags were hanging at half staff and the mood was somber at the Warren County Common Pleas Court Tuesday morning, May 26, as co-workers struggled with Heath’s death.

“It’s certainly a terrible day to be working here,” said Judge James Flannery. “We’re all in shock. You work with people and don’t know what’s going on in their personal lives. On Friday, he was his usual self. He always had a smile.”

Court Administrator Scott McVey agreed there were no outward signs that Heath was troubled or would have committed suicide.

“He was always in the same mood, he always came to work happy and jovial,” McVey said. “There was never any indication that things were really this bad.”

While some have said Heath may have been depressed over marital problems and a return of stomach cancer, Uptegrove said he found no traces of malignancy in the judge’s stomach during the autopsy.

The judge has been in remission from stomach cancer since 2008, according to friends.

Heath was arrested at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 23, on Ohio 48 near Lebanon, according to Sgt. Karla Taulbee, spokeswoman for the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Transported to the Lebanon patrol post, Heath refused a breathalyzer test, Taulbee said. He was charged with operating a vehicle while impaired and a marked lanes violation and released to his wife, she said.

Heath was arrested last October in Clinton County on the same charge. He pleaded guilty in December to the lesser charge of reckless operation of a motor vehicle.

As a result of the plea, Heath was found not guilty of the original charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Word quickly spread through the Warren County legal community over the weekend about Heath’s death.

McVey held a staff meeting for anyone who wanted to attend and a grief counselor was on hand. McVey said the judge’s staff was particularly hard hit because “they were a part of his family.” His secretary has worked for him since she was 16 years old.

“Judge Heath, he was one of the more popular men I’ve ever met,” McVey said. “He really was involved with different organizations and projects we would work on here at the court that involved other departments... A lot of people were very close to him. He was my boss, but I considered him a friend. He treated me like a friend.”

Tentative visitation hours and funeral services for Heath have been scheduled for Friday and Saturday, according to Fr. Jan Schmidt of St. Margaret of York Catholic Church in Loveland.

Schmidt said all visitation hours and the funeral mass would be open to the public.

“It’s a great tragedy and has affected many people here in our parish,” Schmidt said. “It’s a very sad situation.”

Schmidt recalled meeting Heath last July when he started as the parish pastor.

“Jim was one of the first people I met when I came here,” Schmidt said. “At that time, I found him to be very open and engaging. A kind and humorous man. Nice to be around.”

Schmidt said Heath had been active in the church, serving on the parish council and a retreat leader.

But, in recent months, Schmidt said he didn’t see much of Heath. He wouldn’t speculate as to what the reasons were. He said Heath withdrew from the community, but didn’t know if he stopped attending church.

“When you preside over such a large parish, you don’t know who is there every week,” Schmidt said.

St. Margaret of York has approximately 7,000 parishioners, according to Schmidt.

Heath’s docket will be split between judges James Flannery and Neal Bronson this week and they will find a visiting judge to come in next week and thereafter, until Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland picks a replacement. McVey said that could take a month.

Heath, a graduate of Miami University, first took the bench in Warren County in December 1994. He is survived by his wife and three children.

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