MARION — As many as five deaths may be linked to suspected serial killer Shawn Grate, according to authorities in three north central Ohio counties, and at least one lawn enforcement officer believes there could be more.
Marion County Sheriff Tim Bailey announced at a Monday press conference that an unidentified woman has been linked to the Grate murders.
“Last week, he told Ashland Police he killed someone,” Bailey said.
The sheriff noted that Marion only had one unsolved murder case — the one that led detectives to Victory Road on March 10, 2007. When the body was found, it was evident it had been burned and that it belonged to a woman, Bailey said, details the public did not know.
But Grate did.
“He told us he stabbed her and hid her in the basement,” Bailey said. “Then a year later, he said he was concerned with the DNA so he burned the body and dumped her on Victory Road.”
Mansfield Police Chief Ken Coontz confirmed Monday police believe the 2015 death of Rebekah Leicy could be another Grate victim. MPD detectives reopened that case over the weekend.
“New information came forward in relation to the Grate case,” Coontz said. “So we’re following up on new leads we didn’t have before for the Leicy case.”
He declined to comment on the source of the new information.
Leicy was reported missing in February of 2015 and her body was found in rural Ashland County on March 16, 2015. Her death was ruled a drug overdose at that time after an investigation by the Cuyahoga County Coroner.
Coontz said detectives followed up on leads related to the case and added that he would meet with Richland County Prosecutor Bambi Couch Page later Monday.
Richland County Sheriff Maj. Joe Masi said Monday that office is waiting for Mercyhurst University to complete a forensic analysis on the body found last Wednesday behind a charred house on Park Avenue East. He said the remains found in the woods were not buried, but were badly decomposed.
“They (remains) had been in the woods since June. So …” Masi said, leaving his comment unfinished.
He declined to offer any specifics on the condition of the remains.
Dr. Dennis Dirkmaat and his team of Forensic and Biological Anthropology Master’s students began collecting evidence near and around the remains Wednesday morning. The Richland County Coroner said Dirkmaat will help identify the body but that an official cause of death will be his call.
Grate, 40, is being held at Ashland County Jail on a $1 million bond based on two murder counts and one count of kidnapping.
The charges came after police discovered two bodies in an Ashland house on Covert Court last Tuesday, following a 911 call from an unidentified woman claiming she was abducted by Grate.
Grate entered a plea of not guilty during his arraignment Monday morning in Ashland County Common Pleas Court. His case was bound over to an Ashland County grand jury.
His next court appearance is set for Thursday, Sept. 29 at 8 a.m. No charges have been filed in Richland County and Marion County.
