Family: ‘Demon’ not the Donald Malone they know
Convicted rapist has problems ‘showing his emotions’
The Marion Star 16 July 2006
By Bevin Peppard The Marion Star
MARION- Friends and family of a Marion man say the jury that convicted him of the April 9 rape of a local woman based their decision on his odd behavior rather than the facts of the case. “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” said Leann Lewis, a longtime family friend of Donald Malone III, 34, a self-proclaimed Satanist. “You have to open it up and read what’s inside.”
Malone, who was found guilty of seven felony charges and sentenced to 25 years to life by a Marion County Common Pleas jury Thursday, testified that he is a priest with the Church of Satan and drinks human blood, along with painting his face to resemble the devil.
“I know that to hear Donald’s story about the devil worshipping, the blood drinking-it’s crazy,” Lewis said. “But that’s not the Donald that everybody knows.” Elizabeth Malone said that her brother’s strange behavior is an attempt to convince people he is tougher than he really is. “He has problems showing his emotions,” Malone said, adding that her brother is borderline mentally retarded and schizophrenic. Since his April 10 arrest, Donald Malone has been held at the Multi-County Correctional Center (MCCC). Officials there said his behavior has caused some problems as he has verbally threatened a number of the guards with physical violence and has at times refused to comply with orders.
“With his beliefs, for whatever reason, he doesn’t seem to like anyone other than white, Anglo-Saxon males,” said Dale Osborn, director of Multi-County Correctional Center. A representative of the Church of Satan, which reportedly does not support racist views, stated that Malone has never been a priest or even a member of their organization.
“Satanists do not condone rape,” High Priest Peter H. Gilmore said through e-mail communication. “We are law and order advocates who believe that the punishment should fit in kind and degree the crime. Consequently, we often feel that many convicts are given far too lenient sentences.”
Gilmore said that the organization does not engage in blood drinking or forms of sacrifice. Lewis, who was present during Malone’s trial, said she looked at the case from an objective point of view and saw so many holes in the victim’s story that she was certain the jury would have reasonable doubt of what occurred. “There are two sides to this and the jury only got to hear one,” Lewis said.
The victim of the rape, who said she was at first reluctant to report the crime, said she made the decision to report the incident to authorities because she was frightened that Malone would kill her as he had threatened. “I was actually scared,” the victim said. “I believed everything he said.”
When she later learned that Malone had served 10 years in an Ohio prison stemming from previous rape allegations, she knew it was the right thing to do. While the process of reporting the crime and testifying at trial were difficult, the victim said law enforcement agents, sexual assault nurses, and victim’s advocates made the process easier.
While the victim may be relieved that her role in the legal process is over, Malone’s family sees a future of legal battles through appeals in hopes that he will be released in time to have the life he wanted. “All Donald could think about was finding someone, settling down, getting married, and having kids,” Lewis said. “For some reason he’s not going to get that chance because not all the story was told.”
