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Roena Lee Ashing


Inmate Name: Roena Ashing Charge: Murder Sentence: 40 Years reduced to 20 Years Prison: Dwight Correctional Center, Chicago Roena Ashing was born in Granite City, Illinois. In a household of five children, Roena says she was one of her father's favorites, which, she claims, made her mother behave abusively towards her. She dreamed of going into the military but in 1973, she gave birth to her daughter Loretta, and her military ambitions were thwarted. Leaving Loretta with her grandfather, Rowena took off to Louisiana and met Tom Ashing, whom she married in 1974. Tom and Roena took Loretta, and eventually had two more children. To support the family, Tom drove trucks and took on seasonal work on oilrigs while Roena worked odd jobs. But in 1991, after 17 years of marriage the couple filed for divorce. Rowena, landing a job as a cab driver, rented an apartment in Granite City with her two younger children. She met a fellow cab driver, Jeff Ramsey, who quit his job at the cabstand and moved in with Roena. According to Roena, Jeff relied on her to pay the bills, and had an entourage of young men who looked up to him. On August 9, 1992, Roena revealed to Jeff that one of her most loyal customers, 57-year-old Tom Bauer, had accused her of stealing $500. Tom was largely confined to a wheelchair and relied on the cab company to pick things up for him and take him places. The next day, Tom's house was engulfed in flames and Tom was found dead. Police brought Roena in for questioning, first asking her about the theft and then the homicide. Failing a lie detector test about the theft, Roena was arrested and charged with theft, but with still no information on the murder of Bauer, police turned to her boyfriend, 25 year old Jeff Ramsey. Jeff denied knowing anything about the murder but his 23-year-old brother, suspicious that Jeff was involved, came forward to police. Then, another member of Jeff's group told police that Roena had asked Jeff to take Bauer out to stop him from going to the police about the alleged stolen money. Two of Jeff's friends confessed, saying that Roena masterminded the plan promising them the spoils from Tom's house. Roena maintained her innocence. Nonetheless, on August 17th, 1992 Roena was charged, along with her boyfriend Jeff and two of his friends, for the murder of Tom Bauer. According to police, the evidence against Roena was overwhelming. Fearing the death penalty, Roena pled guilty and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Subsequently her sentence has been reduced to 20 years and she is expected to be released in 2012.