ASHLAND – Murder suspect Shawn M. Grate pleaded not guilty Thursday morning to all 23 felony counts of an indictment that was handed down last week.
Attorneys Bob and Rolf Whitney entered the pleas on Grate’s behalf during Thursday’s arraignment.
Grate, 40, is charged with four counts of aggravated murder, four counts of kidnapping, two counts of gross abuse of a corpse, four counts of rape, four counts of burglary, and one count each of tampering with evidence, aggravate robbery, unauthorized use of a vehicle, robbery and breaking and entering.
Grate appeared again via video from Ashland County Jail, where he is being held on $1 million bond. He sat in silence throughout the 10-minute hearing.
Grate’s attorneys waived reading of the indictment, but Ashland County Common Pleas Judge Ronald Forsthoefel read the four aggravated murder counts contained to Grate, because these counts carry a death penalty specification if Grate is convicted.
Ashland County Common Pleas Judge Ronald Forsthoefel set a pre-trial scheduling conference for Oct. 31 at 11 a.m.
Grate was arrested Sept. 13 after a woman called 911 and said she was being held against her will in a home near East Fourth Street in Ashland. Upon their arrival, police found the woman and Grate. The woman is not being identified because she is a sexual assault victim and the Ashland County Prosecutor does not identify victims of sexual assault.
Grate was taken into custody and police and BCI investigators searched the two homes on Covert Court, near the Fourth Street Laundromat. Two bodies were discovered in one of the homes. The victims were identified as 43-year-old Stacey Stanley of Greenwich and 29-year old Elizabeth Griffith of Ashland.
Grate has also been tied to three other victims. After his arrest, Grate led investigators to a body in a wooded area near a burned-out home on Park Avenue East in Madison Township. Authorities have not yet identified the victim.
Mansfield Police also have re-opened the investigation into the death of Mansfield resident Rebekah Leicy. Leicy was reported missing in February of 2015 and her body was found in rural Ashland County in March 2015. Her death was ruled as a probable drug overdose by the Cuyahoga County Coroners Office as there were no signs of physical trauma.
Grate has also been tied to a 2005 murder in Marion County. He reportedly admitted to authorities that he killed a woman there in 2005. On March 10, 2007, Marion County authorities discovered the remains of a woman who has never been identified.
