Madden, 49, was indicted by a Butler County grand jury for murder and felonious assault in December for the Oct. 11, 2022, slaying of Rachelle Brewsaugh. He is being held in the Butler County Jail in lieu of a $1 million bond.
Brewsaugh, 50, was found dead inside the home in the 1200 block of Parrish Avenue. She suffered stab wounds, according to the Butler County Coroner’s Office.
Madden was booked into the Butler County Jail on a drug charge just hours after Brewsaugh was found and has remained behind bars in lieu of a $150,000 bond on the drug charge. The drug case pending before Butler County Common Pleas Judge Greg Stephens accuses Madden of being in possession of methamphetamine about a month before the fatal stabbing.
In recent months, Madden has taken issue with two defense attorneys, one he hired and the other court appointed. He protested both in hand-written letters to Butler County Common Pleas Judge Jennifer McElfresh.
Both attorneys were permitted to withdraw and Washington was appointed last month.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
The motion for a second autopsy was filed last week. Washington said he could not comment on why the request was made but said his client is “adamant” about it.
“We maintain his not-guilty plea and this is a request specifically he has made,” Washington said.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said the request will require some solid legal reasons.
“You can’t just blindly say, ‘Oh, by the way I want this body exhumed.’ You have to say more than just a belief in something will turn up,” Gmoser said. “You have some basis for a request like this, especially as unusual as it is. If there is something he has to offer, let’s hear it.”
Gmoser said there has to be an affirmative showing of need or value to what the issue is all all about.
There are no details attached to the motion, but one of Madden’s previous attorneys previously requested funds to pay for a pathologist to review autopsy and assist the defense in preparation of the case.
Madden is scheduled to be back in court for a pretrial motion on Thursday.
Brewsaugh was on the floor when Hamilton Police officers arrived at the home the day of the incident.
Neighbors and family members said Brewsaugh and Madden had recently moved into the house.
A next-door neighbor called 911, and the woman told the dispatchers a man came running out of his house screaming and said he thought his partner was dead in bed.
“He’s screaming hysterically,” she said in the call.
The man could be heard in the background saying, “Oh God, oh God, oh God,” at the time of the 911 call.
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