The trial of a convicted murderer scheduled to start on Monday for the stomping death of a fellow SOCF inmate has been postponed.
Austin Burke, 25, of Trumbull County, is accused of murder in the 2023 death of Ruben Melendez, a 65-year-old fellow inmate at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.
Burke is facing one charge of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, and one count of felonious assault, according to the indictment.
Melendez sustained head trauma in the SOCF incident and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Melendez was also serving a life sentence for a 1976 murder in Maricopa County, Arizona.
He was then sentenced to 17 more years for the 1987 death of a fellow inmate at the Arizona State Prison in Tucson.
Burke is already serving a life sentence at SOCF for the 2017 murder of Kenneth “Brandon” Sample in Trumbull County.
He was also convicted of burglary for an armed robbery the same year, which added 17 years to that sentence.
Burke has also been indicted for an assault in a May 18 incident.
He was indicted on felonious assault and possession of deadly weapons, including a shank and a broom handle fashioned into a spear, according to the indictment filed on July 3.
He is charged with two counts of felonious assault, two counts of possession of a deadly weapon while in detention, intimidation, extortion, and inducing panic.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on the newer charges next week.
Burke’s murder case is before Scioto County Common Pleas Judge Mark Kuhn.
A new trial date has not yet been set.
The murder case is being handled by Scioto County Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Hale.
Burke is being defended by court-appointed local attorney Aaron Triplett.
Burke is also being represented by Powell attorney Edwin M. Bibler and Marion attorney Joel M. Spitzer.
Reach Lori McNelly at [email protected] or at (740) 353-3101 ext. 1928. © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved
