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Letter to the editor

Death confirms son's fears

He urged his mother not to visit Texas with a violent ex-boyfriend.

By JONATHAN ABEL, Times Staff Writer
Published November 22, 2007

Murder victim Donna Loher with her sons, clockwise from left, Dylan Loher, Brandon Congleton and Nicholas Congleton.
	[Family photo]

ADVERTISEMENT John Eric Ginn, 44, was booked into jail in Houston awaiting transfer to San Antonio.

Nicholas Congleton was stunned Saturday when he heard his mother was visiting Texas with her ex-boyfriend, who has a history of violence.

"What do you expect?" Congleton told her. "He hits you here. Who's to say he's not going to murder you there and leave you on the side of the road?"

Within 24 hours, Congleton's worst fears were realized - but it would be a few days before anyone knew what happened to Donna Loher.

On Monday, the 47-year-old Pinellas County woman's body was found decomposing in a San Antonio hotel room. Her ex-boyfriend, John Eric Ginn, 44, also of Pinellas, was arrested Tuesday night on a murder charge.

Family members sensed something was wrong long before authorities.

Loher, a mother of three, was due back from her business trip Sunday to take care of her 15-year-old son.

She never returned to her home on Birch Avenue south of Largo and did not show up at her travel consulting business Monday.

Congleton, 25, of Clearwater, reported his mother missing in Pinellas and in Texas. When he didn't get an immediate response from authorities, he said he hired a team of private investigators.

One investigator staked out Ginn's car at Tampa International Airport. Another followed Loher's credit card charges to Texas. One of the last charges came Saturday at the Hard Rock Cafe in San Antonio, Congleton said.

Loher's family called lodgings across the city until they found her checked into the Hotel Valencia, a luxury hotel in downtown San Antonio.

At 12:01 a.m. Monday, Congleton called San Antonio police and told them his mother was staying in Room 302 with her abusive boyfriend and might be in danger. He asked them to check and call him back.

Two officers went to the hotel room, where they were greeted by an overpowering odor, according to a police report. They saw a red "Do Not Disturb: sign on the doorknob and heard the television blaring. Inside, they found a woman's body, lying face up on the right side of the bed, the police report said.

She "appeared to have been deceased for quite some time," the report said.

The room looked disheveled. Crack and heroin paraphernalia littered the bathroom. The officers radioed in their discovery and an investigation began, but no one told Congleton.

At home in Pinellas, Congleton fell asleep waiting for the police to return his call. Early that morning - 5 or 6 a.m. - he called the police again. No one would tell him about his mother. He kept trying.

Finally, he got an answer:

"We don't normally say this over the phone. However, we did find a woman's body in there," he remembered an officer saying.

Publicly, police have not confirmed the identity of the victim. But after Congleton recognized scars and jewelry on the woman, he said police confirmed it was his mother.

The coroner told him his mother was strangled late Saturday or early Sunday, the same night she checked into the hotel. Police also told Congleton that Ginn stayed in the room for two days smoking crack and doing heroin.

An arrest warrant was issued for Ginn.

Late Tuesday night, Ginn showed up at a Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston looking for a room, according to Houston police. When he couldn't get one, he caused a disturbance. The police took his name and discovered he was wanted for murder. He was booked into the county jail, where he awaits transfer to San Antonio.

"He is a violent person," Congleton said. "My mother tried to help him. She's actually called the police to save his life and take him to the hospital."

Loher may have stood up for Ginn, but her family didn't trust him.

Ginn is a nomad. A public record search found addresses for him in North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Alabama, Tennessee, Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina, as well as Pinellas County.

In December 2005, Ginn was arrested for hitting Congleton with a stick, though the charge was dropped. Congleton said his mother was afraid of what the 200-plus-pound, former boxer would do - so afraid she did not report Ginn's abuse.

As recently as this month, Congleton said, he called authorities to report that Ginn was holding Loher against her will, but Loher wouldn't file a police report.

Congleton said the loss is heart-dropping.

"I've run out of tears," he said. "... You want to accept it, then you don't want to accept it."

Jonathan Abel can be reached at jabel@sptimes.com or 727 445-4157.

[Last modified November 21, 2007, 22:41:59]