1/19/11 Grand jury to hear charges against Stutzman

  • By Nick Sabo
  • January 19, 2011
  • 291
                        
Additional charges may be filed by the grand jury against a Navarre man charged with murdering his parents. Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Lutz said Wednesday/Jan. 19 his office and the Wayne County sheriff will meet before presenting charges to the grand jury against Rodney Stutzman, 32, 17559 Harrison Road. Charges of aggravated murder and aggravated burglary have been filed against Stutzman in municipal court. “We’re going to meet and make sure all the ‘i’s are dotted, the ‘t’s crossed,” Lutz said. Lutz said the burglary charge and two counts of aggravated murder were arrived at through preliminary investigation. The charges were filed the day after Wayne County Sheriff’s deputies entered the Harrisson Road home of Stutzman’s parents, Melvin and Viola Stutzman, and found the couple murdered in the basement. Stutzman was arrested that night without incident while traveling through West Virginia. Stutzman is currently incarcerated at the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, W. Va. Lutz said an extradition hearing is scheduled for “Friday or Wednesday”, based on the schedule of the circuit judge serving the West Virginia courts. Stutzman is charged with killing his parents, Mervin and Viola Stutzman, also of 17559 Harrison Road. Lutz said Stutzman was living at the Harrison Road residence but had moved out prior to Jan. 9. Stutzman is believed to have been on leave from the U.S. Army since December at the time of the murders. According to Wayne County Coroner Amy Jolliff, Stutzman’s parents died as a result of shotgun wounds to the head. Mervin Stutzman was decapitated after being shot, Joliff said. Joliff placed the time of death as Jan. 9, the last day the Stutzman’s were seen alive. The Stutzmans were discovered in the basement but an upstairs room in the house is also being treated as a crime scene, Jolliff said. Deputies discovered Mervin and Viola after being asked to check the house by Larry Stutzman, a son who lives out of state. In a video clip dated Jan. 14 by West Virginia TV station WVVA, Stutzman says he feels “kind of out of things” and doesn’t seem to understand questions as they are presented to him. “This is kind of a dumb question, but what does it really matter...I don’t really understand what’s going on,” Stutzman said, as a man’s voice off camera states ‘I’m trying to make this clear as possible’. Stutzman continues to say, “I’m kind of out of things right now.” The video appears to be a court hearing, with Stutzman appearing via video. He is dressed in an orange jumpsuit and is wearing glasses. The video says Stutzman was picked up in Beckley, W. Va., which is located in Raleigh County near the Virginia State line. The town is located off I-77, where the FBI was able to pinpoint Stutzman’s direction of travel Jan. 14 by tracking his cell phone. Lutz said he is unsure when Stutzman will be handed over to Wayne County authorities. Stutzman has a right to an extradition hearing, and the county may have to seek a governor’s warrant to convey Stutzman to Ohio. If Stutzman waives the hearing, a governor’s warrant will not be necessary. “He is being held and will continue to be held until he either waives extradition or we have to go through the process of extradition if he does not waive,” Lutz said.


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