Cold case suspect accused of stomping on, trying to kill other inmate at NKY jail

A man charged in a 2006 cold case killing is now accused of trying to kill a fellow Kenton County Detention Center inmate who was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to murder in a similar attack.

Timothy Delehanty, 37, assaulted Johnathan Maskiell while the two were enclosed in an outdoor recreation area at the jail April 16, investigators said.

Security camera video shows Delehanty approach Maskiell from behind, place him in a chokehold for nearly a minute and throw Maskiell’s unconscious body to the ground, according to a criminal complaint.

After checking to see if anyone was coming, investigators said, Delehanty returned to Maskiell and stomped on his head seven times before a deputy jailer intervened.

Maskiell, 33, was left bleeding from the head and rushed to a local hospital for treatment.

Delehanty is facing charges including attempted murder, assault and strangulation. Court records show he was arraigned Monday morning in Kenton County District Court.

The Enquirer has reached out to his attorney seeking comment.

Less than a week before the attack, Maskiell entered a guilty but mentally ill plea in Kenton County Circuit Court, where felonies are tried, to murder and a persistent felony offender charge.

Maskiell admitted in court to killing his cellmate last year at the Kenton County jail by repeatedly stomping on the man’s head.

Prosecutors recommended Maskiell serve a 25-year prison term. He is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing in June.

Delehanty is also being housed at the jail on a murder charge. Prosecutors and the police say he confessed in January to the 2006 stabbing of 61-year-old Paul Clayton in Elsmere, but he entered a plea of not guilty.

Clayton was found dead at his Eagle Drive home in December 2006 after his coworkers went to check on him because he had not been seen for several days, prosecutors said.

Investigators say Delehanty, then 19, lived at a trailer park with his mother just a few doors down from Clayton.

Police at the time quickly narrowed in on Delehanty as a person of interest in Clayton’s killing, though it would take nearly two decades for charges to be filed.

At least one witness told police that Delehanty had been driving around in the slain man's 1996 Ford Thunderbird, according to earlier Enquirer reporting.

Police at the time said Delehanty "rented" the car to a 16-year-old, who was later found in Covington asleep inside the vehicle.

Delehanty was identified in a lineup and arrested on a charge of receiving stolen property less than a week after Clayton's body was discovered.

He told police early this year that he stabbed Clayton as many as 60 times, Detective Nick Klaiss testified at a January hearing. An autopsy report showed Clayton was stabbed at least 43 times.

When asked about why he stabbed Clayton, Delehanty responded that he had “this overwhelming desire to go kill him," Klaiss said.

Jail records show Delehanty is still being held at the Kenton County Detention Center awaiting trial. A judge is expected to decide April 30 whether there's enough probable cause to send his most recent case to a grand jury.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Police: Cold case suspect tried to kill fellow inmate at NKY jail