'48 Hours' segment details Bogle murder probe, Register's investigative reporting

SANDUSKY — A documentary that aired Saturday night on the CBS news show "48 Hours" tells the dramatic story of the Heather Bogle murder investigation in Sandusky County and the Sandusky Register's role in uncovering the truth.The episode, available on the show's website for viewers who missed the broadcast, is the second national news show to focus on the Bogle case. NBC's "Dateline" aired a segment about the show earlier this year, in March. But unlike the "Dateline" story, the "48 Hours" segment highlights the Register's efforts to raise questions about the investigation conducted by disgraced Sandusky County Sheriff's Office detective Sean O'Connell, who targeted three suspects ultimately cleared by further investigation.The show features interviews with Matt Westerhold, the Register's managing editor, by "48 Hours" correspondent Jim Axelrod, and exterior and interior shots of the Register's downtown Sandusky building and newsroom.Westerhold said people intimately familiar with the case, including Bogle's brother, sent him text messages while the program was airing."There was a lot of reaction. It was good to hear from them while they were also watching it," he said.Westerhold said CBS did a good job."They brought so many parts together and told the story in a powerful and genuine way," he said.The show details O'Connell's botched investigation into the murder of Bogle, 28, found dead in the trunk of her car on April 10, 2015, and the successful investigation by Sandusky County's current sheriff, Chris Hilton, and his team, who cracked the case just five months after Hilton replaced Kyle Overmyer as sheriff.Hilton's investigators and an investigator from the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation tracked down suspect Daniel Myers, who pleaded guilty to murdering Bogle and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Cellphone tracking records showed Bogle had gone to Myers' home, and DNA found underneath her fingernails matched Myers' DNA.O'Connell went to prison for two years for falsifying evidence after he concealed the fact that the DNA found with Bogle did not match any of the three suspects he targeted. Overmyer also went to prison in 2016 on felony drug and theft charges, clearing the way for Hilton to take over and restore professionalism to the sheriff's office.The segment shows Axelrod confronting a defiant O'Connell, asking the detective if he shouldn't apologize to the three people he accused of murder."Why would I apologize?" O'Connell said."Because they didn't do it," Axelrod points out. The show highlighted the Register's repeated articles questioning the probe into Bogle's death being carried out by O'Connell and shows one of O'Connell's suspects appearing with Westerhold on the Register's public affairs show "Between the Lines."That was a first, Westerhold told Axelrod."I've never had a criminal suspect come to me and say, 'Hey I'm being targeted by police for a murder I didn't commit.' That's never happened," he said."48 Hours" raises the possibility Myers is a serial killer who also killed Leigh Ann Sluder on March 1, 2009. Sluder's death by a gunshot wound from a rifle was quickly ruled a suicide, but the Register raised questions in 2017 about the thoroughness of the probe, noting no test was made for gunshot residue on Sluder's or Myers' hands.The "48 Hours" episode features an interview with Sluder's sister, Loriann Haley, who believes Myers murdered Sluder."Leigh Ann Sluder's suicide, in my opinion, was not a properly processed crime scene in the sense that it was not photographed well, evidence wasn't collected. It wasn't done correctly," Prosecutor Tim Braun told CBS.The show notes, however, that investigators took a second look at Sluder's death and ruled it a suicide after finding a letter from Sluder among Myers' possessions that read like a suicide note. Braun told the show he worries Myers may have killed more than once."Danny Myers rationally and meticulously attempted to cover this case up. That usually takes experience," Braun said.The segment ends with another twist, noting that Braun is now under investigation himself after sexual harassment complaints by four different women in a case being pursued by a special prosecutor. Heather Bogle, highlighted at right, was last seen on security video as she left her overnight shift at the Whirlpool plant in Clyde. She clocked out at approximately 6:17 a.m. that morning.Sandusky Register managing editor Matt Westerhold on "48 Hours."Daniel Myers listens to statements from the victim's family during a hearing at the Sandusky County Courthouse in Fremont on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019. Myers pleaded guilty to the murder of Heather Bogle, among other charges.Leigh Ann Sluder