Published: Apr 11, 2026 – 6:21 p.m.
By D Heckman
PARMA, Ohio — A retired Cuyahoga County detective and a newly compiled investigative report are raising serious questions about the 2012 death of Dawn Pasela, a paralegal who was allegedly set to expose prosecutorial misconduct. The findings challenge the original determination of her death and allege a series of critical failures by initial investigators. Pasela, 26, was a former employee connected to a multi-agency mortgage fraud task force. She was found dead in her Parma apartment on April 28, 2012. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner ruled her death was due to acute alcohol intoxication, with a reported blood alcohol level of 0.56%. The Parma Police Department initially classified the death as a suicide. A 2023 investigative summary alleges Pasela was a whistleblower cooperating with the defense team of Tony Viola, a mortgage broker she had previously helped prosecute. The report claims she was preparing to testify about misconduct involving prosecutors Mark Bennett and Dan Kasaris and possessed sensitive evidence she believed proved they withheld exculpatory evidence. John Morgan, a retired detective with the Cuyahoga…..