Grand jury to consider charges in shooting, body dumping case
UHRICHSVILLE (WJER) (May 25, 2022) – The cases against three Uhrichsville men charged in connection with the discovery of a Belmont man’s body in the backseat of his car the Sunday before last are heading to the grand jury.
37-year-old Michael P. Reynolds and his nephew, 26-year-old Dominic Reynolds, remain free on their own recognizance after declining to present evidence during their preliminary hearings in Southern District Court Wednesday afternoon. The two are charged with gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, as is 36-year-old Dalbert “Dale” Sanders, whom authorities believe accidentally shot and killed John Q. Bashline of Powhatan Point during a birthday party at a Mill Township home. The public defender representing Sanders requested his release from the county jail under the same conditions as the other two men (so he could be present for the birth of his child at the end of June).
“He did cooperate with the sheriff’s office with the investigation. His significant other is here. I have a medical report that states she has a due date of June 29, 2022. I do not believe this was an intentional act of killing the victim in this case. It is my understanding that they were actually friends.”
Judge Brad Hillyer instead continued Sanders’ $110,000 bond at the request of Tuscarawas County Prosecutor Ryan Styer. He told the judge that, unlike the other two men, Sanders has a lengthy criminal history including convictions for carrying concealed weapons, theft, OVI, and aggravated menacing.
“The charges that he is facing now, he has fully admitted to the facts underlying those charges, that justify those charges, and they include a mandatory three-year prison sentence at minimum, so given that I would say that the bail is justified.”
Sanders is also charged in the case with involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, and using a firearm while intoxicated. A deputy discovered Bashline’s while responding to a call about an unconscious male in a car parked along McKee Road in Dennison.