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Murders of Renee Bauer, Dakota Bauer, and Sarah Positano

James Earl Trimble and Renee Bauer started dating in October 2003. Soon after, the couple and Bauer’s son from a previous relationship, Dakota, began living together in Brimfield Township, Ohio.

Over time, the relationship started going downhill. Trimble complained to a neighbor that Bauer was “bitchin’ all the time.”

Trimble owned many weapons and was known to fire his guns in the woods near his home.

He eventually turned one of those weapons on Renee and Dakota. On January 21st, 2005, at 7:18 pm, Trimble spoke to his mother Elizabeth. Elizabeth heard her son tell Dakota to give the pizza delivery guy some money.

Trimble ended the call.

When his mother reached out again at 8:10 pm, Trimble told her he shot Renee and Dakota; then he hung up.

Trimble’s mother called her other son, Arthur, and he called the police.

When authorities arrived, Trimble was gone. They found Renee and her son dead. Both were fully dressed and had on coats.

Nearby was a duffel bag filled with clothing for the mother and son. Renee was trying to leave him.

Trimble didn’t stick around, and by 11:18 pm, he got into the home of 22-year-old Sarah Positano. He put a gun in her hand and told police and SWAT, who were outside the house, to back off.

SWAT set up a perimeter outside the Duplex and tried to negotiate with Trimble, but it failed, and between 12:39 am and 2:32 am on January 22nd, Trimble fired multiple shots at the SWAT team.

At 7:30 am, they entered the home and took Trimble into custody. Unfortunately, Positano was dead.

Legal Proceedings

Trimble was convicted of three counts of aggravated murder and several other charges. He was sentenced to death.

He was scheduled to die on March 12th, 2026, but the execution was pushed back to 2029.