ASHLAND, Ohio — Tonight at 9 p.m., 20/20 will air an episode detailing how convicted killer Sean Grate was brought to justice. News 5's Bob Jones, who covered the case, will be featured in the show.
Jones had a report that looked back on the case and ahead to the 20/20 episode tonight on News 5 at 6 and 7. The episode is named Meet the Other Me. John Quinones is the correspondent.
"This is such a compelling story, one of the most spellbinding cases I've ever covered," Quinones said.
The investigation began in 2016 when a woman called 911 to say that she had been kidnapped and was being held captive— a call that led police to an abandoned house in Ashland. He ultimately confessed to the murders of five women.
When police responded to the house, they made a horrifying discovery. Inside, investigators located the decomposing body of a woman in the basement on the cold concrete floor, buried under a pile of trash and debris. The woman was naked from the waist down and had a cloth tied around her neck.
Upstairs, authorities made another grisly discovery — a closet covered in duct tape with a "deplorable smell" emanating from it. Inside was another body, hidden under a pile of clothing. Both women had been tied up.
The women were later identified as Stacey Stanley Hicks and Liz Griffith. According to authorities, both Griffith and Hicks had been strangled to death.
Grate is now behind bars and on death row, having been convicted in 2018. He also admitted to Rebecca Leicy in Ashland County and Candace Cunningham in Richland County.
RELATED: Jury recommends death for convicted killer Shawn Grate
In 2019 a Jane Doe found dead in Marion County in 2007 was connected to Grate, and police confirmed she was another one of his victims. She was later identified as 23-year-old Dana Nicole Lowrey. Police said she killed in 2006.
RELATED: Marion County 'Jane Doe' identified; convicted killer Shawn Grate confessed to her murder
Much of the 20/20 episode will focus on the work of Ashland Detective Kim Mager. She has written a book called A Hunger to Kill about the case.
Mager, who is now retired, is credited with forming a bond with Grate and getting him to confess to the murders.
"She's been compared to Clarice Starling, the character played by Jodie Foster in that movie The Silence of the Lambs," Quinones said.
