MANSFIELD — Alleged serial killer Shawn Grate has agreed to change his not guilty plea and will be sentenced 11:30 a.m. Friday, March 1, Richland County Common Pleas Court Judge Brent Robinson’s office confirmed Monday afternoon.
Grate has been accused of two murders in Richland County, one more in Marion County, and found guilty of two murders in Ashland County, where he was sentenced to death. Grate was set to go to trial in Mansfield on Monday, March 4.
Prosecutor Gary Bishop declined to comment Monday but previously stated he was seeking justice for the Richland County victims. However, he agreed to wait until the Ashland County case concluded before pursuing any charges.
Grate’s defense attorney, Terry Hitchman was not immediately available for comment.
Grate has been indicted on 14 felony offenses related to the deaths of Rebekah Leicy and Candace Cunningham. Included in the charges are counts of aggravated murder, murder, kidnapping (2), tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse, all stemming from Grate’s alleged murder of Leicy In the Cunningham case, charges include aggravated murder (2), arson, aggravated arson, kidnapping, tampering with evidence (2) and gross abuse of a corpse.
Leicy’s body was found on Ashland County Road 1908 in March 2015 about a month after she was reported missing in Richland County. Her death was initially ruled a drug overdose, but officials reopened the case following Grate’s arrest, as the defendant began confessing to crimes in Ashland, Richland and Marion counties.
Cunningham’s body was found Sept. 13, 2016, behind a burned down house on Park Avenue East in Madison Township. That was the same day Grate was arrested in Ashland County.
In May, when Grate stood trial in Ashland County, a jury found him guilty of multiple counts of aggravated murder, three counts of kidnapping and one count of aggravated robbery, relating to the death of 43-year-old Stacey Stanley, of Greenwich, and 29-year old Elizabeth Griffith, of Ashland.
He also pleaded guilty during the trial to each of 15 other counts in the 23-count indictment, including four counts of rape, two counts of gross abuse of a corpse, four counts of burglary, tampering with evidence, unauthorized use of a vehicle, one of the kidnapping counts, robbery and breaking and entering.
Through those guilty pleas, Grate admitted to kidnapping and raping an Ashland woman who was able to escape the house where Grate was holding her. She called 911, leading to Grate’s arrest.
In addition to the two murders for which he has already been convicted and the two alleged murders for which he plans to plead in Richland County, Grate is accused of a fifth murder in Marion County. The victim there has not been identified.
Grate’s trial in Richland County was initially scheduled to begin in December, but his defense council motioned for a delay, saying they were “still awaiting discovery information from the Ashland County case.” Further, it stated, the continuance was not meant to “delay, but to fully explore any possible defenses on behalf of the defendant.”
