The Ashland County man on trial in the slayings of two women has pleaded guilty to 15 counts including rape and abuse of a corpse, but not not aggravated murder and kidnapping.
The trial of 41-year-old Shawn Grate continues on potential death penalty charges in the 2016 strangulation deaths of 29-year-old Elizabeth Griffith and 43-year-old Stacey Stanley. Grate also faces a kidnapping charge for abducting a third woman. Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Monday. Grate is also suspected of but not charged with killing two women in Marion and Richland Counties.
