ASHLAND — The trial for a man accused of killing two women in Ashland last year has been pushed back to April 9 after defense experts said they needed more time to work on the case.
Shawn Grate, 41, has been indicted on 23 felony counts, including four counts of aggravated murder.
Grate appeared by video from the Ashland County Jail, where he is being held on $1 million bond. Grate has not appeared at any hearings since March 9.
Ashland County Prosecutor Christopher Tunnell said Monday during the hearing that he was not opposing the defense’s request to continue the trial.
“My review of that request would say that to probably not grant it would cause a review situation at some appellate level and we’d end up doing this all over again,” Tunnell said.
Ashland County Common Pleas Judge Ronald P. Forsthoefel agreed and granted the defense’s motion to continue the case. The trial date was originally slated for Nov. 7.
Defense attorney Rolf Whitney said the mitigation expert’s schedule was clear after early March. Because of the scheduling issues and Easter falling on April 1, the judge and attorneys agreed to the April 9 date.
The final pre-trial hearing will be Feb. 26 at 1 p.m.
The judge also set a date of Jan. 1 for all discovery items to be turned over, with the exception of mitigation evidence, which must be turned in by March 2.
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 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 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 Rebekah Leicy. The Mansfield resident 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 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 last fall in a renewed effort to identify her.
