Daniel Kovarbasich 
Elyria, Ohio— The Ohio Adult Parole Authority has asked Lorain County Common Pleas to rule that convicted killer Daniel Kovarbasich violated the terms of his probation when he and another teenage inmate at the Lorain County Jail allegedly threatened to stab a guard last month. Daniel, 17, is currently being held in isolation at the jail after corrections officers found him guilty of violating jail rules for the Jan. 21 incident. Kovarbasich’s cellmate, Terrell Fennell, 17, also was found guilty of violating jail rules and given isolation. The two teens are accused of threatening to stab a guard with homemade knives after one corrections officer told them to be quiet. Another guard overheard the pair allegedly making the threatening comments using a system that allows corrections officers to overhear what inmates in a cell are saying. Guards also found two homemade knives fashioned from pencils that had been taped together during a search of the area Daniel and Terrell shared. Those allegedly belonged to Terrell, although Daniel reportedly confessed to taping pencils together himself but took them apart before his cell area was searched. Sheriff’s deputies have said that Terrell, who is jailed on heroin, robbery and other charges, and Daniel could face criminal charges over the alleged threats. Burge sentenced Daniel to five years of probation after finding the teen, who was tried as an adult, guilty of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault in the beating and stabbing death of Duane Hurley on Jan. 22, 2010. Hurley is suspected of posssibly sexually abusing Kovarbasich.
I followed this case very closely, as a friend of Hurley for most of his life. I can say unequivocally that Hurley’s friends and family do not believe this murderer’s story of molestation. Kovarbasich has a long history of issues at school, and issues with the law. Two of Daniel’s prior teachers said they knew he would go on to kill someone. Unfortunately, Judge Burge did not allow that testimony; in fact, Judge Burge refused to hear ANY rebuttal testimony. That’s right, shut it down and refused to hear any testimony in a murder trial where a disabled man was stabbed 55 times. Daniel testified that he was groomed by Hurley because Hurley would let him drive his sports cars in exchange for showing him his private parts. Well, I, and about twenty other people can tell you matter of factly that this was impossible because both of Hurley’s sports cars have been in storage for years. In fact, the Corvette he talked about (which he testified that not one person ever saw him driving anyway), had been in storage during the entire time he claimed to have been driving it. Hurley did not even have the keys to this automobile (which the police could have testified to not finding in his home had the judge permitted it; and with whom the keys were with). Daniel didn’t even know where the cars were. He testified they were located in different cities and at storage facilities and didn’t even know one was at a house in a city in the other direction. The only other “evidence” was that Hurley cited a George Carlin dirty joke to him and that, apparently, is considered “grooming”. Yes, there were adult materials found on Hurley’s internet cache on his computer. A handful of those pictures showed younger looking men. But no one knows who was looking at these pictures. There were numerous people on Hurley’s computer. Daniel’s older brother said he was at Hurley’s house three times a day at least on his computer. Daniel testified he was on the computer daily as well. What you didn’t hear is that numerous people were on that computer, other friends of Hurley’s, family members, etc. Not one of those people said they ever saw adult materials on this computer. The point is anyone could have looked at that. Regardless, the police testified that all of the photos were NOT illegal to have on your computer. PERIOD. WOW – an adult man looking at adult photos? There’s a surprise.
I believe the theories out there that Daniel was caught by Hurley doing something and Daniel needed to shut him up before he got in any more trouble with his parents. Rumor around the community is that days before this happened, Daniel had been caught huffing with a younger cousin. My guess is he was fearful of the next punishment. That, or he was using Hurley’s credit cards as alleged at trial and Hurley found out about it.
There are people still out there looking for the TRUTH in this case.
RIP Duane Hurley.
Daniel had been expelled from school twice. On one occassion, he was charged with “inducing panic” because he brought a gun to school and threatened to shoot people. About a week or two prior to even meeting Hurley he was arrested for slicing up tires in the community with, you guessed it, a knife. Then he murders someone, with a knife. Now, he is threatening correction officers with, what else, a knife.
The kids I have talked to in the community said that this guy was a menace and terror at his school for many many years and they don’t even believe Daniel’s story.
It is a shame how this entire case was handled. It is a shame that the prosecutor was in nothing more than a hurry to get out of Burge’s court room and start private practice – he gave his notice to quit about a week before the trial started. We didn’t see much of a prosecution if you ask me.
daniel’s parents should be named as coconspirators in the murder of Duane Hurley.