Man Won't Stand Trial in Fish Kill

A Grafton man accused of dumping cyanide into the Rocky River last year, resulting in a massive fish kill, won't be tried for the crime.

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed charges against Renato Montorsi, 79, saying a psychiatrist found he was not competent to assist in his defense due to dementia.  

His wife, Teresina, 74, will still be tried in connection with  last April, and charges will also stand against their company, Kennedy Mint in Strongsville.

Renato Montorsi, 79, was accused of draining a barrel of liquid cyanide into a storm sewer near his Strongsville business. The toxin allegedly flowed into the Rocky River and killed some 30,000 fish along a 3-mile stretch, from around Bonnie Park in Strongsville through Berea and Middleburg Heights.

The couple have been indicted on charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Renato Montorsi also was accused of violating the Clean Water Act.

Montorsi owns Kennedy Mint Inc., a collectible coin business at 12102 Pearl Rd. in Strongsville, but previously conducted metal plating and printing operations at the location, the indictment says. 

The East Branch of the Rocky River is near the Kennedy Mint facility and storm water from that location’s parking lot flows into the East Branch of the Rocky River, according to the indictment.

U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach has said Renato Montorsi tried to dispose of a 55-gallon drum of cyanide in a municipal trash receptacle, but the garbage collectors refused to take the barrel, which was marked as a hazardous chemical. 

Federal law requires special disposal of hazardous chemicals.

Instead, Dettelbach said Montorsi "figured out his own way of disposing of the chemical" -- he rolled the drum to a storm sewer, used a spike to punch a hole in the side and let it drain into the sewer.

The sewer carried the liquid poison to the Rocky River.

Teresina Montorsi allegedly participated in the cover-up by helping hide the barrel. The couple lives in Grafton.