Persistence may have paid off for investigators who have arrested a suspect in a cold case murder in Columbiana County from thirteen years ago.

Sheriff Brian S. McLaughlin has announced that his office received a secret indictment in connection to the murder of 69-year-old William “Sonny” Young that occurred in 2010 in Wayne Township.

On Friday, Sheriff’s deputies and Beaver Township Police arrested 48-year-old Charles R. Bogart Jr. of Hammonsville, Ohio for Young’s murder.

In late summer of 2010, Sonny Young was shot to death at his farm on Hazel Run Road, according to Columbiana County Prosecutor Vito J. Abruzzino.

Young's remains were found in a wooded area near Highlandtown Lake over a week later after an extensive search by local and federal law enforcement.

At the time, Bogart was convicted of identity theft, fraud, and various offenses of receiving stolen property. Bogart served a short prison sentence in connection with those charges in 2011.

The secret indictment charging Bogart with aggravated murder, murder, and firearms specifications stem from an investigation and new evidence obtained  by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Columbiana County Sheriff’s Office according to Abruzzino who credits years of work by the Columbiana County Cold Case Task Force, the Columbiana County Sheriff’s Office, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal
Investigation, and the Columbiana County Prosecutor’s Office.

 

Charles Bogart Jr.
Charles Bogart Jr.