ASHLAND – A doctor from the Mansfield Forensic Diagnostic Center said that accused serial killer Shawn Grate was sane at the time he allegedly committed two murders.
However, a ruling on if Grate can plead not guilty by reason of insanity will have to wait a little while longer.
Grate’s attorneys, Rolf and Robert Whitney, reported Monday morning during a status hearing in Ashland County Common Pleas Court that the defense expert, Dr. John Fabian, has not had time to finish his evaluation of Grate and may need more time to interview him again.
Ashland County Common Pleas Judge Ronald Forsthoefel scheduled another status hearing for Friday, April 7 at 11:30 a.m. to give Dr. Fabian more time to evaluate Grate.
Grate appeared from Ashland County Jail via Skype as he has for all of his court proceedings. He sat silently during Monday’s hearing.
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 Stanley of Greenwich and 29-year old Griffith of Ashland.
Grate, 40, has been indicted on 23 felony counts and could face the death penalty if found guilty. He is being held in Ashland County Jail on $1 million bond.
Grate pleaded not guilty to all 23 counts but also admitted to the killings in several interviews with Cleveland news stations before a gag order was imposed on all parties involved in the case.
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 identified the body in November as 29-year-old Candace Cunningham of Canton, who reportedly was in a relationship with Grate.
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 Coroner’s 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. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office released a new sketch of the woman in October in a renewed effort to identify her.
