OH - Shawn Michael GRATE: 3 bodies found, Ashland/Madison, Sept 2016

[Owutatangledweb]

This is so interesting to read. A woman who knew two of the victims and said she gets upset every time she talks about it was dismissed. Many were dismissed for work or school reasons and one self-described "anarchist" was dismissed-- that one really gave me a laugh. Who knew it was so easy to get out of jury duty? Just say you are biased against the government! In all seriousness, I really hope they have a full jury by the end of tomorrow.

I have NEVER seen such difficulty in seating a jury. Thus is a very poor community. All farmers and college students. Very conservative.....call it like they see it.

[Owutatangledweb]

Jury selection updates

https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com...ate/528420002/

https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com...ors/524245002/

[Gardener1850]

Jury selection updates

https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com...ate/528420002/

https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com...ors/524245002/

A quote from the first article:

ASHLAND - A potential juror in the case of suspected serial killer Shawn Grate said he asked her for a date.

"I was at Hawkins grocery store," the older woman said Wednesday during jury selection. "He was sitting on a bench. He walked up to me and said, 'You're such a beautiful lady. Would you consider going out with me?' "

The woman said she turned Grate down, and he offered to carry her groceries. She again said no, and he asked her if she would have coffee with him. She rejected him again.

"If I'd accepted that, I would have probably been a victim," she said.

Ashland County Common Pleas Judge Ron Forsthoefel excused the woman from further consideration for the jury.

"It's a little too close to home for you," the judge said.

Ummmm... Good call judge.

[Gardener1850]

Jury selection updates

https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com...ate/528420002/

https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com...ors/524245002/

From the 2nd article it sounds like they found 3 jurors-- 2 men who were unsure of the definition of a capital murder case and a woman who said her son plays football with Grate's son and she had discussed the case previously with her family and thought Grate was guilty but she said she would follow the law-- I'm surprised the Judge kept her in (she also said her husband has cancer and other jurors were excused for having serious illnesses in the family).

[JerseyGirl]

Opening statements to begin in trial of accused serial killer Shawn Grate

http://fox8.com/2018/04/23/opening-s...r-shawn-grate/

[Owutatangledweb]

Opening statements.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/...ing-statements

[Owutatangledweb]

Full opening statements are on you tube. Defense waived openings.

[Owutatangledweb]

How to watch the trial.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/...wn-grate-trial

[Gardener1850]

Opening statements.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/...ing-statements

Bringing over some quotes:

Prosecutor's opening statement
With the courtroom silent, prosecutor Chris Tunnell started the trial by saying, "This isn't a who done it case. This is a he done it case." He recalled the details: On Sept. 13, 2016, a woman called 911 saying she had been abducted. She was able to free herself from being tied up to a bed while Grate was asleep naked.


Grate was living in a two-story abandoned home on an isolated street, the same house where Grate allegedly raped and killed two other women. When police arrived at the house on Covert Court, they noticed what the prosecutor said was “a smell that was unmistakable” as they walked through a home filled with trash. The smell would later point them in the direction of two decomposed bodies.

When evidence technicians arrived at the home where Grate allegedly committed these heinous crimes, they found a pile of clothes and stuffed animals in a room that nearly reached the ceiling. While examining the room and its furnishings, BCI found restraints on the bed and a pole propped up against the wall with a sock and a layer of condoms wrapped around it.


A swarm of fly larva surrounded a pile of clothes. Underneath the clothes, was a closet door taped shut. When they opened the door, another pile was discovered. Underneath the pile of clothes, the body of Elizabeth Griffith was found.

Her decomposed body was naked, with her hands bound and ankles restrained. One restraint was attached to her neck to prevent her from moving, the prosecutor said.

The body of the second victim, Stacey Stanley, was found covered in a pile of clothes in the basement.

[Gardener1850]

The prosecutor said Grate videotaped the rape of Stanley, as well as the woman who managed to escape after being raped repeatedly over the course of three days in September 2016.


Grate admitted to police that he kidnapped, raped and killed Griffith and Stanley. The prosecutor said Grate demonstrated on video with police how he strangled the two women.


“You’ll see the grin as he demonstrates the killing,” the prosecutor told the jury.


After the opening statements, the chilling 911 call of the woman who escaped pleading for help was played in the courtroom.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/...tements?page=2