12-year-old murder case bound over to grand jury

By STACY MILLBERG - Staff Writer - smillberg@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon

October 31, 2008 11:31 pm

— JEFFERSON — The cases of two men arrested last week in the 12-year-old murder of Leonard “Black Jack” Estes has been bound over to an Ashtabula County grand jury.
Danny Bump, 33, of Pittsburgh, was scheduled to appear in court Friday for a preliminary hearing, but officials decided to take the case directly to a grand jury, said Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Department Detective Joe Neimi.
A second suspect, a 42-year-old whose name has not yet been released, is an inmate at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut. Officials will release his name once he is indicted, said Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Van Robison.
The two men were arrested Oct. 22 after information on the case recently surfaced, allowing Robison and Neimi to revive the case. Bump was found in Cleveland and brought back to Jefferson.
Estes, 66, was shot and stabbed repeatedly inside his Griggs Road business, One-Eyed Jack’s Western Trading Co., on Nov. 20, 1996. Estes operated the store, which sold guns, outdoor equipment, gems and Native American merchandise, according to reports at the time.
Bump has been charged with aggravated murder and aggravated burglary. He is being held in Ashtabula County Jail on a $2 million bond.