Sept. 13, 2016.
I was 25 and only about a year into my full-time job as a reporter when the news about Shawn Grate broke out of Ashland.
At the time, the story was about a Jane Doe who had been allegedly kidnapped and tortured physically and sexually in an abandoned house.
But we all know now that was only part of the story. Shawn Grate hadn’t yet admitted to killing five other women between 2006 and 2016.
I just finished reading the book written by the woman who skillfully pulled those confessions out of him. A Hunger to Kill, published in July 2024, chronicles Kim Mager’s interviews with Grate. Her interviews spanned 33 hours over multiple days.
I’ll admit something: I thought I knew a lot about the case already. I followed it pretty heavily in those first weeks and months as new information came to light.
By January 2017, however, my job as a reporter in Pittsburgh. I watched from afar as Grate went to trial in 2018, so my knowledge of the case waned.
But my curiosity never diminished.
Grate’s stain
And fate so had it that I returned to Richland County in 2021, covering Ashland as a reporter.
I learned quickly that Grate’s case, though long since closed, will continue to bubble to the surface.
Grate left a mark — no, a stain — on Ashland.
In 2022 Grate’s name appeared in headlines when former Ashland County Common Pleas Court Judge Ron Forsthoefel denied the killer’s post-conviction petition.
In 2024, ABC’s “20/20 True Crime” series aired a special edition documentary on the case.
Grate’s execution was initially scheduled for 2025. But executions under Gov. Mike DeWine have stalled since 2018.
Last month, Grate appealed his murder convictions in federal court.
Despite the city’s best effort to blot out the stain Grate left behind, it cannot. The residents, and certainly the families of the victims, are forced to relive this tragedy as he continues to try and change his Earthly fate.
A number of unknown-to-me details surrounding this case emerged after reading Mager’s book.
First, I was struck by Mager’s trauma-informed approach, which allowed her to grow personally close to Grate. He responded to Mager’s soft and warm personality.
Of course, the investigation was a team effort, but Ashland is truly fortunate to have had Mager involved with this one.
Who knows? Without her, we may have never known the extent of Grate’s crimes.
Geographical points of interest
I’ve only covered Ashland since 2021. The city, and county, has a rich history and vibrant people. I’m still learning about Ashland.
As I read Mager’s account, told from her perspective, I got chills hearing about how integrated Grate was in Ashland.
For example, he frequented the Kroc Center — where children regularly play and where less-fortunate people frequent. He built forts in places like Charles Mill and the Siler property — a swath of land in Ashland in which the Jamison Creek Nature Preserve is located.
He took walks in Brookside Park. He worked at Save-A-Lot, a grocery store on Center Street in downtown Ashland and adjacent to the Essex House.
He even lived in Mansfield for a time, in a house on Second Street — a stone-throw away from the preschool my kids attended.
I’m glad he’s nowhere near these places any longer.
Surprising moments
There were also some surprising moments in the book.
At one point, still early in the police investigation, Mager learned that Grate had confided to an inmate that he planned on killing her.
“Grate was convinced that killing me — the female detective who interviewed him — would be the ‘ultimate’ crime and admitted to his jailhouse buddy that he’d been trying to get close to me, hoping he could get hold of my gun.”
He also admitted to Mager that he thought about killing other cellmates. Even corrections officers.
Mager credited her eldest son, Corbin, with helping her figure out Grate’s murder of Rebekah Leicy, his fifth victim. Authorities, at the time of her body’s discovery, concluded she had overdosed and someone had dumped her body.
What they didn’t know was that Grate had a fort nearby, and that Leicy’s murder fit the other modus operandi. Mager didn’t even mention her name before he blurted it out when she asked him about it.
“I told him that there was an unsolved case in Ashland County.
‘We are here to learn if you had something to do with it,’ I said.
Without further prompting, Grate stared at me, nodded slowly, and stated, ‘Rebekah Leicy?’”
Are there more victims?
Grate’s mention of Leicy led to a detailed confession of that murder. It was a rewarding moment for Mager. But it also haunts her.
That confession was the fifth and last — and it came after his insisting that his fourth victim was the last. So does he continue to hold additional secrets?
Mager hinted at possibilities in the book, including two cold cases out of Delaware County and an older unidentified woman seen in footage from Grate’s cell phone.
“The fear of finding more victims, whether they were alive or dead, is what haunted me throughout the case. And, if I’m being honest, that fear continues to weigh on me,” wrote Mager.
We may never know.
But one thing did become clear for me in reading A Hunger to Kill.
Grate divulged countless incriminating details while in custody, which led to innumerable pieces of evidence and an airtight case.
It’s something that Ashland County Prosecutor Chris Tunnell assured me of when I reported on Grate’s appeal in federal court.
After reading Mager’s book, I believe him. It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Grate’s murder convictions are overturned.
A challenge
But whether Grate remains imprisoned for life or whether he is ultimately put to death, the temptation to forget him — to remove his stain forever — will persist.
However, Mager offers a challenging alternative.
“… although we want to forget these atrocities, we have to analyze every facet of Shawn Grate and the heinous dynamics of the crimes he perpetrated. …those involved in this situation or any like situation must scrutinize the systems, processes, and the case as a whole.
“If we don’t learn anything, then what is our purpose? Why are we here? How can we stop future Shawn Grates from committing the same horrific crimes?”