MANSFIELD — Richland County Common Pleas Court Judge Brent Robinson sentenced Shawn Grate to life without parole Friday after he changed his “not guilty” plea to “guilty” for four charges related to the murders of two Mansfield women.
Grate, who has now been convicted of killing four women, pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and gross abuse of a corpse related to the death of Rebekah Leicy; and to murder and gross abuse of a corpse in the death of Candace Cunningham.
In the Cunningham case, the charge for aggravated murder was lowered to murder and the other charges were dropped, in an agreement between Prosecutor Gary Bishop and Grate’s defense attorney Terry Hitchman.
“In his confessions, he did allude to the fact that he felt himself to be a ‘premeditator,’ and that he had thoughts about murdering her. However, he did not specifically say I planned to kill her on that day,” Bishop said. “Had we gone to trial, would we have pursued that? Absolutely.
“But this was a way to bring resolution in a way that I think shows respect for the families and allows closure.”
In total, Grate was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for the one count of aggravated murder, 15 years to life for the one count of murder, and 1 year apiece for each count of gross abuse of a corpse. The sentences were ordered to be served consecutively.
“There’s certainly nothing happy about this case, but we take some measure of satisfaction knowing that justice is being served on behalf of these young women,” Bishop said. “In conjunction to the Ashland County case, this was an appropriate way to get both closure for the families and justice and to insulate each county’s case.”
In Ashland, Grate was sentenced to death by lethal injection and a minimum of 90 years to life in prison for the murders of Stacey Stanley and Elizabeth Griffith. Judge Ronald Forsthoefel symbolically ordered the lethal injections take place Sept. 13, exactly two years after Grate was arrested. An automatic, direct appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court is triggered in the wake of any death sentence.
Hitchman was also pleased with the outcome.
“I think the outcome is as good as we can expect. One of the things we were concerned about was the issue of restitution,” Hitchman said.
He was surprised to find that neither family has asked for restitution. As a result, Judge Robinson didn’t order Grate to pay any. Hitchman had initially come to the courtroom saying Grate offered to give $4 per month.
“It was a pleasant surprise for Shawn’s future and what little he can earn as income in the prison,” Hitchman said.
He believes his client is remorseful.
“He’s wondering how did his life take these turns to get him to this point? It’s one of the things that I know he struggles with,” Hitchman said.
Grate sat quietly beside Hitchman while in the courtroom. He answered the judge’s questions with one-word responses, but did stand once to apologize to the affected families.
“I know it’s going to be hard to forgive me, but I apologize for my actions … Can’t change nothing, just have to move on,” he said.
Evidence shows both Mansfield women were strangled by Grate, Bishop said.
Cunningham’s body was found Sept. 13, 2016, behind a burned down house on Park Avenue East in Madison Township. Grate led police there after arrested in Ashland County.
Bishop said that on or about June 6, 2016, Grate killed Cunningham and put her body in a creek somewhere behind a Mansfield residence.
In this murder, Grate was initially charged with aggravated murder, arson, aggravated arson, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse.
Bishop believes Cunningham was his live-in companion for a number of months prior to the murder.
Leicy’s body was 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.
The prosecutor alleged Grate killed Leicy sometime between Jan. 1, 2015 and Feb. 6, 2015 “by committing another felony.” It’s believed that the murder happened at 32 N. Walnut St., and her body was later moved.
Initially Grate was charged with aggravated murder, murder, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse, all related to Leicy’s death. She was an acquaintance to Grate, Bishop said.
Bishop presented the judge with a letter from Leicy’s father, expressing a belief that Leicy was not murdered by Grate. The letter was not read aloud, as Bishop said only a small portion related to the case. Other comments in the letter were criticism of himself and other officials.
He later said the letter, “flies in the face” of some forensic analysis and other evidence linking Grate to the murder.
Hitchman declined to comment on the person who wrote the letter, but did respond to it’s message.
“I can tell you I’m quite certain Shawn was involved in that act, committed that act and admitted to the act,” he said.
None of Leicy’s family or friends addressed Robinson Friday in the courtroom.
Candace Cunningham’s family speaks
Around Dianna Gardner’s neck was a small heart necklace, containing her daughter’s ashes.
She reached up to hold the heart between her fingers while a victim’s advocate read her letter aloud in the courtroom and again later when she spoke to the media about her middle child.
“She wasn’t perfect, but she was perfect in my eyes,” Gardner said.
Throughout the sentencing, she struggled to even look at Grate.
“It was very difficult. I was nauseated, thought I’d throw up, pass out,” she said.
In her letter, she called Grate “heartless” and said he “deserves to die a cruel death.”
“I have spent many sleepless nights wondering how someone who knew right from wrong could do something like you did,” Gardner said in her letter. “A real man could not have done what you did to Candace. Only a monster could have taken a life and thrown her in the woods like a bag of trash.”
Cunningham’s sister also refuses to forgive Grate.
“I will never forgive him, not once will I ever forgive him,” said Ashley Fowler. “I will move on with life, it will be hard, and I will carry her memories, her photos, her herself — her ashes — with me every day, as I explain to my kids why their aunt isn’t here anymore.”
She held up her wrist. She wears a charm bracelet with her sister’s ashes.
However, Cunningham’s grandmother has forgiven Grate, according to a letter read aloud Friday. She said her forgiveness was to set herself free and urged Grate to turn to God.
An aunt, Rose Forrester, said Grate was “worthless” to her.
“I don’t want to make him famous. I don’t want him to think he accomplished anything. All he did was take a life that wasn’t his,” she said.
