Dean Milo murder occurred on August 11, 1980, when Georgia Tsarnas arrived at the home of millionaire cosmetic mogul Constantine Dean Milo in Bath, Ohio. 

She found Milo’s car parked in the garage, but nobody answered when she rang the doorbell.

She used the key given to her by Milo’s wife and entered the house, only to make a horrifying discovery in the foyer. 

He lay lifeless on the floor, face down in a pool of blood, with a bullet hole in his head and wearing backward jockey shorts. 

Shocked by what she had found, Georgia quickly called Dean’s attorney and informed him of the horrifying scene.

The mystery of the Dean Milo murder 

The Bath Township Police Department was called to investigate Dean Milo’s murder. As the investigation started, it became apparent that the victim had numerous enemies, including some within his own family. 

The police started a lengthy and complicated investigation to find the culprit, exposing scandalous secrets that would rock Bath Township for years.

Dean and the family business

He came from a family of Albanian immigrants who had built a successful cosmetic business in Akron, Ohio. 

A victim and his siblings Fred and Sophie contributed to the expansion of the family business, Milo Barber and Beauty (B&B). 

Dean’s innovative ideas and business awareness led to the company’s remarkable growth, making the Milo family one of the wealthiest in Ohio. 

However, his success and his approach to business created resentment among his competitors in the cosmetic industry.

The evidence at the crime scene

During the Dean Milo murder case investigation, the police discovered evidence suggesting his murder was not a random burglary.

Nothing valuable had been taken from the house, and a victim had been shot multiple times. 

Additionally, investigators found strange items, such as a pair of backwards shorts, cotton in his mouth, a blank telegram, and a tissue paper with traces of semen. 

These perplexing clues added complexity to the case for the investigators.

Milo’s family tensions and suspicions

Frustrated with the slow progress of the official investigation, Dean’s wife hired private investigator William “Bill” Dear to dig deeper into the case. 

Dear discovered that  Milo had enemies within his own family. His control over the family business and his firing of Fred, Sophie, and Lonnie created intense family tensions. 

The victims’ mother, Katina, believed he was pushing family members out of business, further straining their relationship.

Resentment, jealousy, and disputes over the family business had caused rifts among the siblings.

A break in the case

As the investigation went on the Dean Milo murder case, the detectives started looking closely at people who might be responsible for the crime, and one of the suspects was Fred Milo. 

But Fred had evidence to prove that he was not present when the murder happened because he was on a business trip in another state.

A private investigator named Bill Dear worked together with the police and decided to offer more money as a reward, hoping that it would encourage people to come forward with new information.

They received a tip that pointed them toward Terry Lea King, who supposedly had some connection to the murder. 

This tip led them to the arrest of Tom Mitchell, who admitted his involvement and said that King and Barry Boyd, a lawyer and a friend of Fred Milo, were also involved in the crime.

Confessions and implications

When the pressure increased in the Dean Milo murder case, Tom Mitchell confessed to being involved in the murder and implicated Terry Lea King. 

King admitted that Barry Boyd had offered her money to kill him. As a result, Boyd was arrested and admitted his involvement, revealing that Fred Milo had approached him with the request to carry out the murder. 

Another suspect, Tony Riddle, confessed his involvement and called Fred responsible. Ray Sesic, an employee at Capital Beauty Supply, was also arrested. 

The evidence against Fred Milo started to accumulate, but the police still needed to gather more information.