NEWS

Sheriff: Grate can't remember Marion victim's name

Spenser Hickey
Reporter

MARION - Marion County Sheriff Tim Bailey says accused serial killer Shawn Grate has given investigators more information about his apparent first murder in Marion County, but he doesn't remember the victim's identity other than a possible first name.

A week after a news conference on Sept. 19, the Marion County Sheriff's Office is still working to identify a woman Sheriff Tim Bailey said was killed by Shawn Grate.

Grate, 40, who grew up in Marion County and later moved to Crawford, Richland and Ashland counties, is suspected in the deaths of at least five women, including one found in Marion County.

On Sept. 22, Grate was indicted in Ashland County on 23 felony counts, including two charges of aggravated murder. Prosecutor Chris Tunnell said that if Grate is convicted there, he would be "strongly recommending" the death penalty. Charges have not been filed in Richland or Marion counties.

In Marion County, an unidentified woman's remains were found March 10, 2007, at a dumping site off of Victory Road, and her death was a mystery until two weeks ago when Grate reportedly confessed to killing her. After meeting with other agencies investigating Grate and interviewing him twice, Bailey said investigators believe she was killed in 2005.

Sheriff: Grate confessed to Marion County killing

"This was his first murder, and he's having trouble remembering some of the details of it," Bailey said Monday.

He first announced that Grate was suspected of killing the woman at a Sept. 19 news conference that he hoped would lead to identification of the victim.

The woman, who Grate reportedly said was 26, was selling magazine subscriptions in Marion County, and Grate's mother purchased one from her but didn't get the copies, Bailey said. Grate claims he saw her walking on South Prospect Street months later and got her into his vehicle by offering to buy a subscription.

Bailey said Grate then drove her back to his residence in the county, got her into the basement and stabbed her with a knife, killing her. He took her body to the site off of Victory Road two days later but kept an ID card belonging to the victim, Bailey said.

"She had some form of identification, either an Ohio identification card or an Ohio driver's license," he said. "(Grate) said her name was Dana or Diane or something like that. He since got rid of it."

Bailey also said investigators were told by Grate that the woman likely lived in Ohio but not Marion County.

Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles spokeswoman Lindsey Bohrer said the state-issued identification would mean the victim was a legal resident of the United States, but there is not an available database listing everyone whose license has expired.

Bailey said Grate may have been keeping the license as a kind of trophy, and that many of the details of her death come from Grate. While he was charged with two counts of rape in the Sept. 22 indictment, Grate reportedly told investigators he didn't sexually assault the woman in Marion County.

Bailey said there's no way to confirm that.

"You can take that (statement) for what it's worth," he said. "We don't have anything else to go on."

Around a year after the killing, Bailey said Grate returned to where the body was and started a fire to destroy any evidence there.

Officials did not disclose the presence of burned leaves and other signs of fire when publicizing the discovery, and that was one of the things that led Bailey to deem Grate's alleged confession "credible."

While Bailey hoped the Sept. 19 announcement could lead someone who knew the victim to contact his office, investigators also are working to find anyone who she worked with or the company that employed her. Identifying her is the "primary goal" of the investigation at this time, since Grate is being held pending trial in Ashland County.

Bailey said people conducting door-to-door sales are only required to register in Marion city, not in the surrounding county, and the city records only go back to 2007 because of records retention policies.

Ex-neighbor: Grate 'lived a normal life'

shickey@marionstar.com

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Twitter: @SpenserHickey