Heather Bogle, 28, was a single mother who worked the overnight shift at the Whirlpool manufacturing plant in Clyde, Ohio, in Sandusky County. On April 9, 2015, she clocked out of her shift at approximately 6:17 a.m. and disappeared.
Her body was found the next day, April 10, 2015, in the trunk of her car at an apartment complex in Clyde. She had been beaten and shot twice in the back, and investigators found signs that her body had been cleaned in what authorities believed was an attempt to destroy DNA evidence.
The Sandusky County Sheriff's Office investigation was led by Detective Sean O'Connell, who pursued three people who lived or spent time near the apartment complex where Bogle's car was found. None of the three was ever charged. A DNA sample recovered from under Bogle's fingernails did not match any of them, and O'Connell did not disclose that result in the report he submitted seeking an indictment. He was removed from the case after the DNA findings came to light, and the killing went unsolved for nearly two years.
After Chris Hilton became sheriff, the case was reopened. Investigators traced location data from Bogle's phone to a trailer belonging to Daniel Myers, a Whirlpool coworker who had worked the same shift and production line as Bogle. A DNA sample obtained from Myers under warrant matched the profile recovered from Bogle's fingernails, and investigators found that floorboards in his trailer had been replaced within days of the killing. Myers was indicted in June 2017 on charges including aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, and tampering with evidence, with a sexual-motivation specification.
On February 13, 2019, Myers changed his plea to guilty on the murder and kidnapping charges, along with the sexual-motivation and evidence-tampering specifications, avoiding a possible death sentence. He was sentenced the same day to life in prison without the possibility of parole and classified as a sexually violent predator.
O'Connell was separately prosecuted for his conduct during the original investigation. He pleaded guilty to one felony count of tampering with evidence, tied to his omission of the exculpatory DNA results, and was sentenced on September 13, 2018, to 24 months in prison.
The case drew national coverage, including a CBS "48 Hours" episode, for both the killing and the wrongful pursuit of the three uncharged individuals during the original investigation.
Heather Bogle, 28, disappeared after clocking out of an overnight shift at the Whirlpool plant in Clyde, Ohio, at about 6:17 a.m.
2015-04-10
Bogle's body was found in the trunk of her car at an apartment complex in Clyde; she had been beaten and shot twice in the back.
2017-06
Coworker Daniel Myers was indicted on aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, and evidence-tampering charges after DNA evidence linked him to the crime.
2018-09-13
Former lead detective Sean O'Connell, who had pursued three other people without ever securing charges against them, was sentenced to 24 months in prison after pleading guilty to tampering with evidence in the case.
2019-02-13
Daniel Myers pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and kidnapping with a sexual-motivation specification and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Best coverage
Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
VIDEO
48 Hours / 41 min
Good Cop/Bad Cop: Solving the Murder of Heather Bogle | Full Episode
People
Sean O'Connell
CONVICTED
Former lead detective on the case who pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence for omitting DNA results that excluded three people he had pursued as suspects; sentenced to 24 months in prison.
Chris Hilton
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Sandusky County Sheriff who reopened the investigation, leading to the identification and arrest of Daniel Myers.
Daniel Myers
CONVICTED
Whirlpool coworker of Bogle's who pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and kidnapping with a sexual-motivation specification; sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Heather Bogle
VICTIM
28-year-old single mother and Whirlpool plant employee killed in Clyde, Ohio, in April 2015.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
A Whirlpool plant worker in Clyde, Ohio, was abducted and killed in April 2015, and a coworker was convicted of her murder in 2019 after the original lead detective was found to have wrongly pursued three other people.
Where did the murder happen?
Clyde, Ohio.
Who was convicted?
Sean O'Connell (Former lead detective on the case who pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence for omitting DNA results that excluded three people he had pursued as suspects; sentenced to 24 months in prison.) and Daniel Myers (Whirlpool coworker of Bogle's who pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and kidnapping with a sexual-motivation specification; sentenced to life in prison without parole.).
