Kimberly Fulton, 28, right and her son, Daniel Fulton, 17 months, were murdered May 5, 1995. (Photo Provided)

MARIETTA — An arrest has been made in relation to the 29-year-old murder case of Kimberly Fulton and her toddler son Daniel Fulton.

According to Washington County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit Detective Jeff Seevers, a “person of interest” was indicted and arrested in connection to the Fulton case.

That person is Johnny R. Ball from Washington County. Court records list Ball as 62 years old and show his address as a post office box in Beverly.

The bodies of Kimberly Fulton, 28, and her 17-month-old son Daniel Fulton were discovered after a mobile-home fire in Palmer Township on March 5, 1995. An autopsy later revealed the Fultons died before the fire was set and led investigators to believe the fire was started to cover up the murders.

Ball was indicted May 15 on five third-degree felony counts of perjury and one third-degree felony count of obstructing justice, according to Ball’s indictment. Washington County Common Pleas Court records show that a warrant for Ball’s arrest was issued May 15.

Johnny R. Ball

According to a Washington County Sheriff’s Office press release, cold case detectives made contact with Ball Tuesday in the Beverly/Waterford area and he was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Washington County Jail.

Court records show that Ball was arraigned Wednesday morning in front of Judge Mark Kerenyi and was released on a personal recognizance bond. The conditions of Ball’s PR bond are that he maintains contact with his attorney, appears at all future hearings, commits no further criminal acts and signs a waiver of extradition. The waiver of extradition states that Ball waives any right to extradition from any other state if arrested for breach of his PR bond.

Ball’s indictment states he knowingly made a false statement under oath or affirmation or knowingly swore or affirmed the truth of a false statement previously made.

The indictment describes five instances where Ball made false statements that are related to his perjury charges. The indictment said that Ball “stated he was never in the vehicle with Scott Hickman the morning of March 5, 1995.” In relation to Ball’s charge of obstructing justice, the indictment also references Ball’s statement that he was never in the vehicle with Hickman on the morning of March 5, 1995.

It also said that Ball “stated that he was at the scene, drug hoses and helped put the fire out,” that he “stated he found out 2-3 days later someone had died in the fire which had occurred March 5, 1995,” he “could not see the fire from his house because there was a field of corn blocking his view” and that he “testified that he did not see Soctt Hickman the morning of the fire on March 5, 1995.”

The date of all the charges is listed as on or about Sept. 12, 2023.

According to Seevers, Ball was indicted due to lying to the grand jury.

“Probably in the past year our cold case unit started developing information from people in the area concerning (Ball),” Seevers said. “He (kept) giving false info.”

Seevers said he can’t share what witnesses have told the cold case unit about Ball’s involvement in the Fulton murders.

He said the unit is “still investigating (Ball’s) possible involvement” along with the involvement of other people.

According to Seevers, there are people in the area of the murders who have information and they are starting to talk.

“Their assistance is always greatly appreciated,” Seevers said.

Seevers asked that people with information about the Fulton case contact him or Cold Case Unit Detective Bruce Schuck at 740-525-2483 and that the identity of anyone who does will be kept “unknown.”

Ball is only the second person arrested in connection with the Fulton case. In 1998 Scott A. Hickman was arrested in connection with the murders but was released after about three weeks because there was not evidence to convict him at the time, Seevers told The Marietta Times in October 2021.

The case remained cold until 2019, when Seevers and Schuck began investigating it again. Hickman was indicted in October 2021 on four counts of aggravated murder and two counts of murder for his involvement in the death of the Fultons.

A Bill of Particulars that was filed in Hickman’s case in November 2021 stated Hickman picked up a male early the morning of March 5, 1995, and the male had gasoline in a stored item and they drove to the Fultons’ home. It said when the men entered the home where Kimberly Fulton and Daniel Fulton were sleeping in beds on opposite ends of the residence.

The bill stated that the man Hickman picked up smothered Daniel Fulton and Kim Fulton to death with a pillow and/or via strangulation in their beds and then the man poured gasoline in the living room area of the home, set it on fire and they left.

When asked if Ball was the man described in the Bill of Particulars as the one who killed the Fultons, Seevers said “no.”

“There is still a definite suspect,” Seevers said about the person who murdered the Fultons.

He confirmed that the cold case unit doesn’t know the full extent of Ball’s involvement in the murders yet.

“We strongly believe there are two people” who went into the house, Seevers said.

According to Seevers, he and the others investigating the case are not sure if there was a third person acting as a look-out or something else during the murders.

Hickman was scheduled for trial in August 2023, but court records show he was declared incompetent to stand trial due to schizoaffective disorder and was committed to Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare’s Timothy B. Moritz Unit in Columbus. According to a status report filed with the court on March 4, Hickman is still considered not competent to stand trial, though there is a substantial chance with continued treatment he may be made competent to stand trial.

Seevers said Ball’s involvement in the case is still being investigated, along with the involvement of others.

He asked that anyone with information about the case contact him at 740-525-2483. He says the identity of anyone who contacts him about the case will remain “unknown.”

Ball is scheduled for trial at 9 a.m. Aug. 8 with Kerenyi presiding.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Special Prosecution Section, which is acting as the prosecutor on the case, said it could not comment on the case.

Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com