Shawn Grate

Shawn Michael Grate was born in Marion, Ohio, on August 8, 1976, to Terry Grate and Theresa McFarland. He was said to have "lived a normal" early life, playing softball and football in his backyard and socializing with neighborhood children. Terry and Theresa married in 1974. That marriage produced two children, one in 1974 and Shawn in 1976.

In school, Grate was said to have had many problems and was held back for kindergarten and the first grade of his education.[3] Despite these problems, he was said to be very charming and amicable, with a former female friend of his stating that "all the girls liked Shawn." Two days before Shawn's 6th birthday, his parents divorced on August 6, 1982.[6]

When Grate was 11, his mother abandoned the family in Ohio to live with a man in Kentucky. Grate was upset with this affair and did not like Theresa's boyfriends, continuing to live with his father for the next four years. Living with his father, he attended River Valley High School, where he excelled as a baseball player but never played again after breaking his arm, which required surgery following the discovery of a tumor. Harboring murderous fantasies toward his mother from a young age, his half-sister would state that "it was a battle in the household, and that was apparent at a young age between the two of them."[3]

According to a high school girlfriend, Grate would lie on the couch "for days" at a time before returning to normal. A court psychiatrist described Grate as "kind of a depressed kid" despite his reputation as a happy youth, stating that his condition hailed from "neglect and emotional detachment" faced in childhood. The custody of Shawn and his brother was transferred to their father, Terry, on June 28, 1994. He was arrested for grabbing his girlfriend's throat on November 24, 1994.[6] After graduating from River Valley High School in 1995,[2] he broke into a house in Marion County with a juvenile accomplice on October 23, 1996, to steal jewelry and money. Grate was given a felony burglary charge in January 1997 and sentenced to four years in prison before being released early in October 1997.

A grand jury indicted Grate on two counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of two women, Stacey Stanley and Elizabeth Griffith, and the kidnapping and multiple sexual assaults of an unidentified woman whose 911 call to Ashland police led to Grate's arrest on September 13, 2016. In court documents, her name has been redacted. She is being referred to as "Jane Doe." Grate was indicted on 23 counts, all first, second, or third-degree felonies; lesser charges include breaking and entering, burglary, and tampering with evidence.[7]

Grate was represented in court by court-appointed attorney Rolf Whitney,[8] who entered a plea of not guilty on all charges on his behalf.[9] In a press interview Grate confessed to five murders.[10] Grate's attorneys later filed a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.[11] His trial date was set for November 6, 2017,[12] and was later delayed to April 9, 2018.[13][14][15]

Ashland County prosecutor Christopher R. Tunnell said that given the "...depraved actions and the gruesome evidence", he would seek the death penalty.[16]

Shawn Grate has also been charged in the deaths of his former girlfriends Candice Cunningham and Rebekah Leicy in neighboring Richland County,[17] and has also been charged in the death of Dana Nicole Lowrey, 23, who died in 2006 and was found in 2007 in Marion County.[18][19] In the second of two letters he sent to Cleveland news station WEWS (News 5 Cleveland) reporter Megan Hickey, Grate attributed his motives to "government assistance", writing that it took his victims' minds. "They were already dead, just their bodies were flopping wherever it can flop but their minds were already dead! The state took their minds. Once they started receiving their monthly checks." Grate claimed he once received a $197 food card and that he "never was able to receive any encouragement, though many bodies received 700".[20]

After Grate gave details of the murders to two news organizations while in custody, attorneys for the defense and prosecution jointly requested and obtained a gag order preventing Grate from communicating any further with the media.[21] On January 6, 2017, a competency hearing determined Grate fit to stand trial.[22] An evaluation released March 6, based on a January 17 assessment to evaluate Grate's claim of insanity, declared that he was not insane at the time the crimes were committed.[23][24] Grate's counsel then withdrew the plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on April 7, 2017.[25][26]

363 Covert Court in Ashland, OH, where Grate was arrested, a public memorial is in front of the house. The house has since been demolished.[27]

In a settlement with the owner, the City of Ashland obtained ownership of the house where Grate was apprehended, two bodies were discovered, and police rescued a kidnapped woman. The city pursued a federal grant intending to demolish the house.[28][29] According to Andrew Bush, assistant law director for the city of Ashland:

"There is a settlement agreement among the parties that essentially obligates the Pump House to transfer all property that is the subject of this action to the city of Ashland and transfer their title thereto, provided that the city pays off the sums owed to the county for delinquent taxes and to the Muskingum Watershed District."[28]

Grate's trial for the Ashland crimes began with two weeks of jury selection on April 9, 2018.[30] The trial began with opening statements on April 23.[31] On May 2, Grate, who showed no remorse pleaded guilty to 15 of the charges against him.[32][33] On May 7, Grate was found guilty of murdering Stacey Stanley and Elizabeth Griffith.[34][35][36] On June 1, Grate was sentenced to death.[37][38] An initial execution date was set upon conviction for September 13, 2018,[37] but the execution was stayed due to a pending appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.[39]

The defense counsel in the trial was Robert Whitney and Rolf Whitney. The prosecution team was Ashland Prosecutor Chris Tunnell, Medina County Assistant Prosecutor Michael McNamara, and Special Prosecutor Mark Weaver.[37]

On March 1, 2019, Grate pleaded guilty to the murders of Rebekah Leicy and Candice Cunningham and was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of Leicy and 17 years to life for the other charges, with the sentences running consecutively.[40]

On September 11, 2019, Grate pleaded guilty to the murder of Dana Lowrey and was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 16 years.[41][42][43]

On December 10, 2020, it was reported that Grate lost his appeal against the death sentence, with the Ohio Supreme Court upholding the sentence by stating there is no mitigation or "reversible error" in Grate's case on the grounds of dismissing the appeal.[44] Grate is scheduled to be executed on March 19, 2025.[45] That date is when he is to be transferred to Lucasville. The method of execution is to be determined; Ohio no longer uses lethal injection as of 2020, but state law does not currently permit any other method.

• List of death row inmates in the United States
• List of people scheduled to be executed in the United States
• List of serial killers in the United States