No charges have been filed yet in the deaths in Richland and Marion counties.
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The Ashland Police Department said they did everything they could to locate Elizabeth Griffith and Stacey Stanley.
Charges related to Stanley include aggravated murder (two counts), kidnapping (two counts), rape, aggravated robbery, gross abuse of a corpse and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
“These are some of the most horrific crimes I’ve seen in my fifteen years as a criminal prosecutor”, Prosecutor Christopher R. Tunnell led said after the indictment was released.
Authorities found the body of a woman in 2007 near Marion, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Ashland, and believe based on details Grate provided that she could be one of his victims.
Grate is scheduled to appear in Ashland County Common Pleas Court on September 29 at 8:30 a.m for a video arraignment.
Shawn Grate, 40, remains behind bars at the Ashland County Jail. He is being held on $1 million cash bond.
Tracy Young, who visited a makeshift memorial Wednesday in Ashland where two bodies were found inside an abandoned house, says Grate also invited her inside the house before he was arrested by police. The body of the third woman, who died in June, hasn’t been identified. He pleaded not guilty to all charges in court on Monday.
A fifth body is being investigated in the Mansfield area. That victim has not been identified but is believed to be from the Canton area.
The search of 28 and 32 North Walnut was part of the re-opened investigation into the disappearance and death of 31-year-old Rebekah Leicy. She was deemed by a coroner to have died of a drug overdose with no signs of traumatic injuries.
Grate has also been tied to a 2005 murder in Marion County.
Authorities say the arrested man – who was homeless – later confessed to killing a woman at a house about 20 minutes away in June.
She added that no one agency is taking the lead in the investigation.
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According to the website for the law firm Isaac Wiles where Weaver is a partner, prior to entering private practice, Weaver was the Deputy Attorney General of Ohio. He teaches Criminal Procedure and Constitutional Law to the Ohio Public Safety Leadership Academy and has been a featured speaker to the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association.
