Homeless man pleads guilty in manhole slayings

Criminal Law

A homeless man accused of killing four other homeless men and placing their bodies in manholes in a dispute over scrap metal pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of murder.
 
Daniel J. Sharp entered the plea as part of an agreement with prosecutors that will have him serve his sentences concurrently instead of consecutively.
Sharp, 55, faces 45 to 65 years when he is sentenced Sept. 4 by St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Jane Woodward Miller.

Sharp pleaded guilty to killing Michael S. Nolen Jr., Michael W. Lawson, Brian Talboom and Jason Coates between Dec. 18 and 21 and dumping their bodies in manholes 75 yards apart just south of downtown South Bend.

Autopsies showed the four men died of blunt force trauma to the head. Sharp said he hit two of the men with "blunt objects" and helped another man kill the two others.

Randy Lee Reeder, 51, South Bend, also is charged with four counts of murder. According to the plea agreement, Sharp has agreed to testify against Reeder. Reeder's trial is scheduled for July 12.

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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

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