CLEVELAND — A Mahoning County man convicted of killing a Parma Heights couple in 2017 was sentenced to death Wednesday by Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Deena Calabrese.
Thomas E. Knuff, 42, was found guilty of multiple charges including aggravated murder and kidnapping for the deaths of John Mann Jr. and Regina Capobianco. A jury recommended the death sentence last month.
Knuff was released from prison a month prior to the slayings. He served 15-and-half years in prison for armed robbery. According to investigators, Capobianco and Knuff were long-time pen pals while he was in prison.
He fatally stabbed the couple on May 11, 2017. Their bodies were found a few weeks later on June 21, 2017 inside a home on Nelwood Road in Parma Heights. Police said Knuff left the bodies to rot while he committed other crimes in the area.
Knuff was eventually picked up in Brunswick Hills by investigators who wanted to question him about Capobianco's missing person report.
At the time of his arrest, he had warrants out with agencies in Medina and Richland County for drug-related charges as well as in Parma Heights for burglarizing two businesses about a week after the murders took place.
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