Stephen Allan Vrabel
Encyclopedia
Stephen Allen Vrabel, was a murderer voluntarily executed by lethal injection
at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio
on July 14, 2004. Vrabel was found guilty of the 1989 murder of two white females: Lisa Clemente, 3-years old, and Susan Clemente, 29-years old. Vrabel, who was 32-years old when he committed the capital crime
, was sentenced to death on October 20, 1995.
Vrabel and Susan Clemente were an unmarried couple living together with their daughter, Lisa Clemente, in a Struthers, Ohio
apartment that the family rented from Susan's sister and brother-in-law. On March 3, 1989, Vrabel went into the Miller Rod and Gun Store in Youngstown to purchase a gun. He selected a gun but when asked to produce his driver's license for identification, Vrabel was told he could not make the purchase because his license had expired. Later that afternoon, Vrabel returned to the gun shop with a valid Ohio ID card to purchase a Jennings .22 caliber semiautomatic handgun
and ammunition, later telling police that he always wanted a gun but for no particular reason.
When he returned to the apartment he loaded the gun and put it in the hallway closet. He then began drinking beer heavily and smoking marijuana. Vrabel maintained that without any prior confrontation he retrieved the loaded gun and pointed it at Susan as she was walking to the kitchen. He fired one shot at Susan's head and she fell face down, moaning.
Lisa began "freaking out." Vrabel then thought to himself that he did not want Susan to suffer, so he shot her in the head again as she lay on the kitchen floor. While trying to calm Lisa, Vrabel surmised that since Lisa's mother was dead and her father would now go to prison, Lisa would be better off dead. He fired one shot at Lisa's head and "felt that she died immediately."
Vrabel then left the apartment with the gun and checked into a motel in Liberty Township
where he spent the night. The next morning he drove Susan's 1976 Plymouth
to Wheeling, West Virginia
, and left it there. He then took a Greyhound bus to Columbus, Ohio
and spent the night at a hotel near the Ohio State University
campus.
The following morning Vrabel took a bus back to Wheeling, picked up Susan's car, and drove 90 miles back to his apartment in Struthers. Vrabel poured floor stripper over the bodies because they smelled and slept in the apartment that night.
The next day Vrabel wrapped the bodies in blankets and sheets. He emptied the refrigerator and put Susan's body in the refrigerator and Lisa's body in the freezer compartment. He also put two of Lisa's favorite stuffed animals in the freezer with her. Vrabel then tried to clean the blood off the floor with several household-cleaning agents. He cut out a bloodstained portion of the hallway carpet and disposed of it in the apartment dumpster.
During the rest of March 1989 Vrabel continued to live in the Struthers apartment. Susan's sister, Linda Aey, attempted to visit Susan at the apartment several times in order to collect the March rent. On one occasion Vrabel opened the back window and told Linda that Susan and Lisa were not feeling well. Another time Vrabel told her that Susan and Lisa were at the grocery store. On each occasion Vrabel seemed "fine" to Linda.
On April 4 Vrabel again checked into a motel in Liberty Township. The following night he stayed at a motel in Austintown, Ohio
. Meanwhile Linda's husband, Michael Aey, went to Vrabel's apartment in the early evening of April 5 to collect two months' rent. As he went up the apartment stairs, Michael noticed a smell of cleaning fluids, and when he entered the apartment, he saw that it was "messed up." Before he left he opened the refrigerator and discovered Susan's body. Since there was no telephone in the apartment, Michael went home and then to the police.
On the morning of April 6 Vrabel was driving Susan's car to Parma when he heard on the radio that Susan and Lisa’s bodies had been discovered and that police were looking for him. Vrabel then went to St. Charles Catholic Church in Parma, Ohio
and approached the pastor, Father John T. Carlin. Vrabel told the priest that he had been involved in the homicides of his wife and child and asked if he would accompany him to the Parma police station.
Parma police first informed Struthers police that they had Vrabel in custody
after which they advised Vrabel of his Miranda rights, which he waived. Vrabel gave an oral statement that was then reduced to writing. He admitted shooting Susan and Lisa but claimed he did not know why he had shot Susan. Vrabel stated that the gun used in the shootings was in a gray duffel bag in the back seat of the Plymouth that he had parked outside the station.
Police obtained a search warrant and found the gun where Vrabel said it would be. Struthers police also advised Vrabel of his Miranda rights, which he again waived, before giving a statement. When asked what caused the incident, Vrabel responded, "Sometimes when I drink, things happen."
Following Vrabel’s 1989 indictment
for two counts of aggravated murder, the trial court appointed mental health professionals to evaluate him. Vrabel was found competent to stand trial, after which a Mahoning County jury
found the self-represented Vrabel guilty of two counts of aggravated murder. The Ohio Supreme Court
affirmed his conviction and sentence 4-3. Vrabel did not pursue any federal appeals and did not request clemency. On July 2, 2004, the eight-member Ohio Parole Board
unanimously recommended that Governor
Bob Taft
deny clemency to which the governor complied.
Nancy Huntsman found Vrabel incompetent to stand trial. Vrabel was then committed to the Timothy B. Moritz Forensic Center in 1990 where he remained until 1994.
On August 30, 1994, the Western Reserve Psychiatric Hospital notified the prosecutor that Vrabel had no active mental illness
after which Vrabel was reindicted.
At his initial appearance, after reindictment, Vrabel stated, “As character witnesses I need to go to Korea where many women will testify I never laid a hand on them”. Vrabel also filed a motion “for a change of venue—preferably to the ‘spirit world’ or if not permitted—North Korea, Vietnam, or any anti-American Islamic nation” and listed the “Queen of Hearts” on a list of prospective witnesses.
Following his reindictment, both the State and defense agreed to have Dr. Otto Kausch, a psychiatrist
at Western Reserve Psychiatric Hospital, examine Vrabel to evaluate his competency to stand trial. At a November 3, 1994, competency hearing, Dr. Kausch testified that based upon a reasonable medical and psychiatric certainty, Vrabel possessed the capacity and willingness to assist in his own defense. Dr. Kausch concluded that Vrabel was feigning mental illness and was not mentally ill.
At a February 7, 1995 hearing, the court again declared Vrabel competent to stand trial and Vrabel moved to withdraw his insanity
plea. At a March 21 hearing the court ordered Vrabel’s competency to stand trial reevaluated. At a March 24 hearing the court admitted the report of Dr. Brian Sullivan who concluded that Vrabel was competent to stand trial and found that Vrabel “was able to understand the charges against him and participate meaningfully in his defense.” Also at that hearing Vrabel acknowledged that his motion to change venue to the spirit world was “meant as a joke.”
Subsequently, Vrabel entered another plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Difficulties arose because of Vrabel’s refusal to cooperate with mental health professionals who were appointed to evaluate his state of mind at the time of the crimes. Eventually Vrabel cooperated with two professionals. In his August 24 report Dr. James Giannini stated that Vrabel “is capable of participating meaningfully in his own defense.” In his August 29 report Dr. Douglas Darnall concluded that Vrabel “did not know the wrongfulness of his act” at the time of the murders, but “he is capable of working with his attorney and aiding in his defense, though his cooperation will be erratic.”
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio
Lucasville, Ohio
Lucasville is a census-designated place in Scioto County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,588 at the 2000 census. The village of Lucasville was laid out by Captain John Lucas in June 1819 and recorded August 7, 1819. Captain Lucas built the first tavern in the village and kept it until...
on July 14, 2004. Vrabel was found guilty of the 1989 murder of two white females: Lisa Clemente, 3-years old, and Susan Clemente, 29-years old. Vrabel, who was 32-years old when he committed the capital crime
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
, was sentenced to death on October 20, 1995.
Vrabel and Susan Clemente were an unmarried couple living together with their daughter, Lisa Clemente, in a Struthers, Ohio
Struthers, Ohio
Struthers is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. The population was 12,036 at the 2000 census. Struthers is served by a branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. It is part of the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :John...
apartment that the family rented from Susan's sister and brother-in-law. On March 3, 1989, Vrabel went into the Miller Rod and Gun Store in Youngstown to purchase a gun. He selected a gun but when asked to produce his driver's license for identification, Vrabel was told he could not make the purchase because his license had expired. Later that afternoon, Vrabel returned to the gun shop with a valid Ohio ID card to purchase a Jennings .22 caliber semiautomatic handgun
Handgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....
and ammunition, later telling police that he always wanted a gun but for no particular reason.
When he returned to the apartment he loaded the gun and put it in the hallway closet. He then began drinking beer heavily and smoking marijuana. Vrabel maintained that without any prior confrontation he retrieved the loaded gun and pointed it at Susan as she was walking to the kitchen. He fired one shot at Susan's head and she fell face down, moaning.
Lisa began "freaking out." Vrabel then thought to himself that he did not want Susan to suffer, so he shot her in the head again as she lay on the kitchen floor. While trying to calm Lisa, Vrabel surmised that since Lisa's mother was dead and her father would now go to prison, Lisa would be better off dead. He fired one shot at Lisa's head and "felt that she died immediately."
Vrabel then left the apartment with the gun and checked into a motel in Liberty Township
Liberty Township
-Arkansas:*Liberty Township, Carroll County, Arkansas*Liberty Township, Dallas County, Arkansas*Liberty Township, Independence County, Arkansas*Liberty Township, Lee County, Arkansas*Liberty Township, Marion County, Arkansas...
where he spent the night. The next morning he drove Susan's 1976 Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
to Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, and left it there. He then took a Greyhound bus to Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
and spent the night at a hotel near the Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
campus.
The following morning Vrabel took a bus back to Wheeling, picked up Susan's car, and drove 90 miles back to his apartment in Struthers. Vrabel poured floor stripper over the bodies because they smelled and slept in the apartment that night.
The next day Vrabel wrapped the bodies in blankets and sheets. He emptied the refrigerator and put Susan's body in the refrigerator and Lisa's body in the freezer compartment. He also put two of Lisa's favorite stuffed animals in the freezer with her. Vrabel then tried to clean the blood off the floor with several household-cleaning agents. He cut out a bloodstained portion of the hallway carpet and disposed of it in the apartment dumpster.
During the rest of March 1989 Vrabel continued to live in the Struthers apartment. Susan's sister, Linda Aey, attempted to visit Susan at the apartment several times in order to collect the March rent. On one occasion Vrabel opened the back window and told Linda that Susan and Lisa were not feeling well. Another time Vrabel told her that Susan and Lisa were at the grocery store. On each occasion Vrabel seemed "fine" to Linda.
On April 4 Vrabel again checked into a motel in Liberty Township. The following night he stayed at a motel in Austintown, Ohio
Austintown, Ohio
Austintown is a census-designated place in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 31,627 at the 2000 census...
. Meanwhile Linda's husband, Michael Aey, went to Vrabel's apartment in the early evening of April 5 to collect two months' rent. As he went up the apartment stairs, Michael noticed a smell of cleaning fluids, and when he entered the apartment, he saw that it was "messed up." Before he left he opened the refrigerator and discovered Susan's body. Since there was no telephone in the apartment, Michael went home and then to the police.
On the morning of April 6 Vrabel was driving Susan's car to Parma when he heard on the radio that Susan and Lisa’s bodies had been discovered and that police were looking for him. Vrabel then went to St. Charles Catholic Church in Parma, Ohio
Parma, Ohio
Parma is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is the largest suburb of Cleveland and the seventh largest city in the state of Ohio...
and approached the pastor, Father John T. Carlin. Vrabel told the priest that he had been involved in the homicides of his wife and child and asked if he would accompany him to the Parma police station.
Parma police first informed Struthers police that they had Vrabel in custody
Arrest
An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...
after which they advised Vrabel of his Miranda rights, which he waived. Vrabel gave an oral statement that was then reduced to writing. He admitted shooting Susan and Lisa but claimed he did not know why he had shot Susan. Vrabel stated that the gun used in the shootings was in a gray duffel bag in the back seat of the Plymouth that he had parked outside the station.
Police obtained a search warrant and found the gun where Vrabel said it would be. Struthers police also advised Vrabel of his Miranda rights, which he again waived, before giving a statement. When asked what caused the incident, Vrabel responded, "Sometimes when I drink, things happen."
Following Vrabel’s 1989 indictment
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
for two counts of aggravated murder, the trial court appointed mental health professionals to evaluate him. Vrabel was found competent to stand trial, after which a Mahoning County jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
found the self-represented Vrabel guilty of two counts of aggravated murder. The Ohio Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Ohio
The Supreme Court of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, each serving six-year terms...
affirmed his conviction and sentence 4-3. Vrabel did not pursue any federal appeals and did not request clemency. On July 2, 2004, the eight-member Ohio Parole Board
Parole Board
A parole board is a panel of people who decide whether an offender should be released from prison on parole after serving at least a minimum portion of their sentence as prescribed by the sentencing judge. Parole boards are used in many jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and the United...
unanimously recommended that Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Bob Taft
Bob Taft
Robert Alphonso "Bob" Taft II is an Ohio Republican Party politician. He was elected to two terms of office as the 67th Governor of the U.S. state of Ohio between 1999-2007. After leaving office, Taft started working for the University of Dayton beginning August 15, 2007.-Personal background:Taft...
deny clemency to which the governor complied.
The medical examinations
PsychologistPsychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
Nancy Huntsman found Vrabel incompetent to stand trial. Vrabel was then committed to the Timothy B. Moritz Forensic Center in 1990 where he remained until 1994.
On August 30, 1994, the Western Reserve Psychiatric Hospital notified the prosecutor that Vrabel had no active mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
after which Vrabel was reindicted.
At his initial appearance, after reindictment, Vrabel stated, “As character witnesses I need to go to Korea where many women will testify I never laid a hand on them”. Vrabel also filed a motion “for a change of venue—preferably to the ‘spirit world’ or if not permitted—North Korea, Vietnam, or any anti-American Islamic nation” and listed the “Queen of Hearts” on a list of prospective witnesses.
Following his reindictment, both the State and defense agreed to have Dr. Otto Kausch, a psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
at Western Reserve Psychiatric Hospital, examine Vrabel to evaluate his competency to stand trial. At a November 3, 1994, competency hearing, Dr. Kausch testified that based upon a reasonable medical and psychiatric certainty, Vrabel possessed the capacity and willingness to assist in his own defense. Dr. Kausch concluded that Vrabel was feigning mental illness and was not mentally ill.
At a February 7, 1995 hearing, the court again declared Vrabel competent to stand trial and Vrabel moved to withdraw his insanity
Insanity
Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
plea. At a March 21 hearing the court ordered Vrabel’s competency to stand trial reevaluated. At a March 24 hearing the court admitted the report of Dr. Brian Sullivan who concluded that Vrabel was competent to stand trial and found that Vrabel “was able to understand the charges against him and participate meaningfully in his defense.” Also at that hearing Vrabel acknowledged that his motion to change venue to the spirit world was “meant as a joke.”
Subsequently, Vrabel entered another plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Difficulties arose because of Vrabel’s refusal to cooperate with mental health professionals who were appointed to evaluate his state of mind at the time of the crimes. Eventually Vrabel cooperated with two professionals. In his August 24 report Dr. James Giannini stated that Vrabel “is capable of participating meaningfully in his own defense.” In his August 29 report Dr. Douglas Darnall concluded that Vrabel “did not know the wrongfulness of his act” at the time of the murders, but “he is capable of working with his attorney and aiding in his defense, though his cooperation will be erratic.”
See also
- Capital punishment in Ohio
- Capital punishment in the United StatesCapital punishment in the United StatesCapital punishment in the United States, in practice, applies only for aggravated murder and more rarely for felony murder. Capital punishment was a penalty at common law, for many felonies, and was enforced in all of the American colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence...