Shawn Michael Grate (born August 8, 1976[4]) is an American serial killer and rapist who was sentenced to death for the murders of five young women in and around northern Ohio from 2006 to 2016.[5] Grate was convicted on two counts of aggravatedmurder on May 7, 2018, in Ashland County, pleaded guilty to two additional murders on March 1, 2019, in Richland County, and pleaded guilty to an additional murder on September 11, 2019, in Marion County.
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.
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.
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.[clarification needed][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.
Victims
Kidnapping victim
While Grate slept, the victim identified by the indictment only as "Jane Doe"[4] called 911 from the Ashland house where Grate had bound her to a bed and held her for three days, during which time he sexually assaulted her.[46] She was safely rescued by the Ashland police. Because she was the victim of a sexual assault, police declined to reveal her identity.[47] Grate claims he did not plan to kill her and that they were going to get married.[10]
Having seen Shawn as something of an "older brother," the 38-year-old Doe had first met Grate in the summer of 2016 at the Ashland Salvation Army Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center. There they would share lunch and go on long walks, frequently discussing the Bible and occasionally playing tennis at Brookside Park in Ashland. Despite Grate's attempts to sexually engage her, her relationship with him was described as completely platonic, refusing to exchange phone numbers.
On Sept. 11, 2016, Grate persuaded Doe to walk with him to the Ashland house on 363 Covert Court to receive some clothes he had in his possession. As Doe read the Bible in Grate's room, his friendly demeanor changed as he returned from the house's kitchen; Grate pulled the Bible out of her hand, telling her that she was not "going anywhere." Doe resisted Grate, to which he beat and strangled her.
Grate then proceeded to bind her in various "weird positions," including one that would allegedly strangle her to death as she attempted to break free. During the three-day assault, she had sustained head, bruise, and sexual orifice traumas as well as vaginal bleeding from the ordeal, claiming she'd been sexually assaulted by Grate in "every way imaginable." During the assault, Grate was also noted to have shaved a heart shape into her pubic hair, which was removed following an examination by a sexual assault forensic examiner.[48]
Stacey Stanley a.k.a. Stacey Hicks
Stanley's family had reported her missing the week before Grate was arrested. Her body was found at the Ashland house where Grate was arrested.[49] She is also known as Stacy Hicks. An autopsy concluded she was strangled to death.[50]
Elizabeth Griffith
Elizabeth Griffith had been missing for about a month before Grate was arrested. Her body was found at the Yellow Ashland house where Grate was arrested.[49] An autopsy concluded she was strangled to death.[50]
Candice Cunningham
Grate led police to what he claimed was Cunningham's body in neighboring Richland County on the day of his arrest.[51] Police found the body behind a house that had previously burned down. The Richland County Sheriff's office officially confirmed that the body found was Cunningham's on November 1, 2016.[52]
Rebekah Leicy
Based on information supplied by Grate, police have reopened the investigation into Leicy's death. Her body was found in March 2015, and her death was originally ruled a drug overdose.[53] Grate says he strangled her after she stole $4 from him in his place of work.[10]
Dana Lowrey
Grate claims to have killed another woman who was found dead in Marion County, Ohio in 2006 and remained unidentified for 13 years.[54] Grate has stated he believes her name was Dana.[10] In January 2018, isotope analysis indicated she was likely from the Southern United States.[55] The victim was identified in June 2019 by the DNA Doe Project as Dana Nicole Lowrey, 23, of Minden, Louisiana.[56] Lowrey had two daughters aged 1 and 5 at the time of her death and was separated from her daughters’ father.[57]
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