The Observation Deck

one reason why problems with neighbors can't be dealt with like they were in 1950 in Mayberry

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Homicide victim was CSU professor and renowned photographer


11:30 a.m.



Masumi Hayashi, 60, has won a Cleveland Arts Prize, three Ohio Arts Council awards and a Fulbright fellowship. (Joshua Gunter/The Plain Dealer)



One of the victims of last night's double homicide at an apartment building on Cleveland's West Side was a world-renowned photographer who had taught art at Cleveland State University for 24 years.

Masumi Hayashi, 60, has won a Cleveland Arts Prize, three Ohio Arts Council awards and a Fulbright fellowship. Her work has been shown in New York, Los Angeles, London and Tokyo.

The other victim, John Jackson, 51, was also an artist. He was a sculptor who lived in the building.

*****************************The shooting deaths followed a complaint about loud music.************************

Police believe Hayashi called her neighbor in the apartment building in the 1400 block of West 75th Street, 29-year-old Jacob Cifelli, to complain about his loud music, said Nancy Dominik, police spokeswoman.

A short time later, another resident came home to find a gun in the hallway and that Jackson had been shot.

The resident went to the third floor to call police but before getting to the phone found Hayashi. She and Jackson were both dead when police arrived, Dominik said.

Cifelli, who was on probation for an unrelated weapons offense, was arrested shortly after police arrived. He is suspected in the killings, police said.

According to police reports, he was also arrested on Nov. 29 after police found him carrying a sword with a 30-inch blade.

Asked why he was carrying the weapon, Cifelli said he thought it was cool, according to the report.

Cifelli pleaded no contest on Feb. 22 in Cleveland Municipal Court to failure to secure a dangerous ordinance. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail and fined $750 plus court costs for the first-degree misdemeanor. But the jail time was suspended and he was put on six months probation, said Ronald Tabor, director of the court's criminal division.

Although $600 of his fine had been suspended, too, he failed to pay the remainder by the deadline of Aug. 15, Tabor said.

A warrant was issued for his arrest Thursday, hours before the shooting, Tabor said.

The year before the weapons charge, Cifelli, 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds, was a victim of a robbery.

He told police on April 18, 2004, that he called a number he found in Scene magazine for a private "show" with a woman named Amy, according to police reports.

She invited him to the 7400 block of Clement. As he was leaving this place, he was approached by two men impersonating Cleveland police officers. They told him they were seizing his 1991 light blue Chevy S10 truck, according to police reports.

It was not immediately clear Friday if the truck was recovered or if the suspects were caught.

The two deaths bring the total number of murders since July 1 to eight in the First District on Cleveland's West Side. They are the third and fourth murders since Monday.

Police said that last night's deaths are not related to the previous murders. But the area has a history of street level crime and drug dealing, said Lt. Douglas Dvorak, acting commander of the First District.

For more information on crime statistics in the First District and throughout Cleveland go to: http://www.cleveland.com/pdgraphics/interactive/crime/
By Gabriel Baird, gbaird@plaind.com

I wonder if the Killer was listening to Lyle Lovett music

ryan costa wrote:I wonder if the Killer was listening to Lyle Lovett music

Ryan

Thanks for the desperate attmept to make this a Lakewood thread in the Lakewood section. Let me finish it for you.

... and Lyle Lovett had played Lakewood Civic Auditorium just a couple years previously.

Doug

Today we were talking about many things, and one was the tenseness that has been extreme since 9/11. With the economy tanking, taxes rising, and all of us getting less and less for our money, there seems to be a billion reasons to raise walls.

This sort of murderous BS then happens when one or more walls are attacked or brought down. Especially if the King of that castle is a tad loose. We have to find a way to ratchet the terror inflicted by our government down to a managable level.

The facts though make it even harder. You are still more likely to be involved in a violent crime in the country than the city. I believe it is like 300% more. When we throw in "random" acts of violence I think it climbs to 500% more. Of course much of this can be marked down to population and density.

.

I suspect it is some consequence of our consumerist culture. stereos and travel is so cheap even the dumbest or most maladapted people can afford to be very loud. So....I suspect he was not listening to Lyle Lovett.

You make a good point about rural crime. If I wanted to rob someone I would do it in the sticks. They aren't expecting it and there are fewer witnesses, especially for the escape routes. Mostly I fantasize about stealing a few sackfuls of coal from rail road cars though.

Ryan:

Thanks for sharing your fantasy.

I take it Santa never put coal in your Christmas stocking.

Now I understand the inversely traumatic roots for your take on the Long Emergency.

Cheers,

Kenneth Warren

I have some anecdotal proof, which may even be converted to statistics. Every single person I encounter in Cleveland blasting their stereos is not listening to Lyle Lovett.

ryan costa wrote:Every single person I encounter in Cleveland blasting their stereos is not listening to Lyle Lovett.

But they should be, and I should be back in Lakewood, New York, minutes away from seeing Lyle performing tonight at the Chautauqua Institution.

Those shows Lovett did with his Large Band at the Lakewood Civic Auditorium were wonderful. It was a fabulous venue for him.