Fred Greist, a 52-year-old mill worker from Warren, Ohio, was tragically shot and killed on July 24, 1934. He was sitting in his parked car in front of a movie theater when he was approached by a young man who demanded that he get out of the car. When Greist exited the vehicle, he was shot in the heart and died instantly.
In the subsequent investigation, police officers arrested a man named Ernest Baugh, who claimed that the killer had been Leroy Keith, a local man with previous
convictions for auto theft and burglary. Keith had planned to rob a local store and needed a car when he came across Greist. Keith was captured by police officers after they saw him in a car which had been reported stolen in Akron. He was brought to trial and sentenced to death by Justice Lynn B. Griffith. Keith's lawyers submitted an appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, and managed to have his conviction reduced to second-degree murder, changing his sentence to life imprisonment.
Keith, who was also known as "Cut" due to his frequent attacks on fellow inmates with razor blades, served his sentence at the Ohio State Penitentiary. Despite his dangerous reputation, Keith was considered for parole multiple times but was denied each time. He was eventually released on parole in 1956, only to be arrested again in 1959 for additional murders in New York.
The case of Fred Greist's death remains a significant part of Warren, Ohio's history, highlighting the impact of crime and the complexities of the justice system during that era.
