Shawn Michael Grate: Ohio Serial Killer
Shawn Michael Grate is an American serial killer and rapist whose crimes took place in several counties in northern and central Ohio. His known murders stretched from 2006 through 2016 and involved five women. Grate often targeted women he knew casually or encountered while drifting between residences. His crimes remained largely disconnected until September 13, 2016, when a woman he was holding captive in Ashland secretly called 911 while he slept. Police rescued her, arrested Grate, and discovered two murdered women inside the vacant house where he had been staying. His subsequent confessions led investigators to additional victims and helped solve cases that had remained unexplained for years.
The Victims
- Dana Nicole Lowrey, 23 — May 2006, Marion, Ohio: Lowrey was originally from Louisiana and was traveling through Ohio selling magazines door to door. She was last known alive in Marion County in May 2006. Grate later admitted that he encountered Lowrey after she had previously sold magazines to his mother. According to investigators and prosecutors, Grate persuaded Lowrey to enter his vehicle, took her to his residence in Marion, strangled her until she lost consciousness, and then killed her by stabbing her in the neck. He disposed of her body along Victory Road in Marion County and attempted to destroy evidence by fire. Her skeletal remains were discovered on March 10, 2007, but remained unidentified for more than twelve years. Genetic genealogy finally identified her as Dana Lowrey in 2019. Grate pleaded guilty to her aggravated murder on September 11, 2019. Because authorities could establish the killing only as occurring during May 2006 rather than on a conclusively documented day, the month and year are the most firmly established death period.
- Rebekah Lynn Leicy, 31 — between January 1 and February 6, 2015, Mansfield area, Ohio: Leicy was an acquaintance of Grate. Prosecutors alleged that he killed her sometime between January 1 and February 6, 2015, with the killing believed to have taken place at a residence at 32 North Walnut Street in Mansfield. Grate told investigators that he became angry after believing Leicy had taken money from him. He admitted strangling her and keeping her body concealed for several days before transporting it away from the residence. Her body was discovered by a utility worker on March 16, 2015, near Ashland County Road 1908 in Mifflin Township. Her death was initially treated as involving drug intoxication, but the case was reopened after Grate's 2016 arrest and confessions. He ultimately pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and gross abuse of a corpse in connection with Leicy's death on March 1, 2019.
- Candice Marie Cunningham, 29 — on or about June 6, 2016, Madison Township near Mansfield, Ohio: Cunningham had been Grate's live-in companion before her death. Richland County prosecutors stated that Grate killed her on or about June 6, 2016, although some memorial records list June 12, 2016 as her date of death. The prosecution's date was the one used when describing the homicide in court. Grate strangled Cunningham and disposed of her body in a wooded ravine or creek area behind a residence on Park Avenue East in Madison Township. The nearby house was later destroyed by fire. After his arrest in Ashland, Grate provided information that led investigators to Cunningham's remains on September 13, 2016. He pleaded guilty to murder and gross abuse of a corpse on March 1, 2019.
- Elizabeth Griffith, 29 — August 16, 2016, Ashland, Ohio: Griffith was last seen alive on August 16 while walking in Ashland. She knew Grate through a mutual acquaintance. Grate later told investigators that he spent time with Griffith that evening and eventually accompanied her to the vacant house at 363 Covert Court where he had been living. According to his confession, he strangled Griffith in an upstairs bedroom. He then bound her body and concealed it in an upstairs closet beneath clothing, bedding, and other objects. Her remains were not discovered until September 13, when police searched the house after rescuing Grate's surviving captive. An autopsy determined that Griffith died from asphyxia caused by compression of major blood vessels in her neck. The circumstances of Grate's confession and Griffith's disappearance establish August 16, 2016 as the date of the killing.
- Stacey J. Stanley, also known as Stacey Hicks, 43 — September 8, 2016, Ashland, Ohio: Stanley drove from Greenwich to Ashland on September 8 and developed a flat tire at a BP station. Grate happened to be at the station and spoke with her while an acquaintance helped change the tire. Stanley bought Grate a cup of coffee, and the two left the station together. Grate later admitted taking Stanley to the Covert Court house. There he sexually assaulted her. During the attack Stanley attempted to defend herself with mace, after which Grate strangled her. He then moved her body into the basement and concealed it beneath trash. Grate also stole money from her purse and later drove her vehicle. Police found Stanley's body in the basement on September 13, 2016. Her autopsy determined that she died from cervical compression and asphyxia. The evidence places her murder on the night she disappeared, September 8, 2016.
The Covert Court House
By the summer of 2016, Grate had entered a vacant house at 363 Covert Court in Ashland and effectively made it his residence. The building had electricity but no running water. Inside, investigators later discovered makeshift restraints attached to furniture and other evidence showing that the property had been used to imprison victims. Elizabeth Griffith was hidden in an upstairs closet, while Stacey Stanley was concealed in the basement.
The Surviving Victim and Grate's Arrest
Grate's crimes were exposed because one of his victims survived. Court records identify the woman by the initials L.S. She had known Grate socially in Ashland. On September 11, 2016, he persuaded her to accompany him to the Covert Court house by telling her he had clothing to give her. Once inside, Grate attacked her, prevented her from leaving, restrained her, and repeatedly sexually assaulted her during approximately two days of captivity.
During the early morning of September 13, Grate fell asleep beside her. L.S. managed to loosen her restraints and quietly call 911 at approximately 6:00 a.m. She remained on the telephone with a dispatcher while officers located the house. Police entered the property, rescued her, and arrested Grate. During the resulting search they discovered Stanley's and Griffith's bodies. The arrest quickly expanded from a kidnapping and sexual-assault investigation into a serial-murder investigation spanning multiple Ohio counties.
Confessions and Additional Murders
After his arrest, Grate participated in extensive police interviews and admitted responsibility for several killings. Information he supplied helped investigators connect him to Candice Cunningham's death, reopen the Rebekah Leicy investigation, and eventually solve the long-unidentified Marion County homicide of Dana Lowrey. Lowrey's remains were particularly difficult to identify because she had been far from her Louisiana home and no identifying belongings were recovered with the body. Advances in DNA analysis and genetic genealogy finally gave investigators her name in 2019.
Grate attempted to justify or explain his violence by blaming his victims for behavior that angered him, including perceived dishonesty, taking money, or receiving public assistance. These statements did not lessen his legal responsibility and frequently revealed how minor grievances could become excuses for extreme violence. His own descriptions of the murders, combined with physical evidence and forensic findings, became important evidence in the cases against him.
Trials and Sentences
Grate's Ashland County trial focused primarily on the murders of Elizabeth Griffith and Stacey Stanley and on the kidnapping and sexual assaults of the surviving victim. During the proceedings he pleaded guilty to numerous charges, while a jury decided the remaining major counts. On May 7, 2018, the jury found him guilty of the aggravated murders of Griffith and Stanley. On June 1, 2018, the court imposed two death sentences, together with lengthy prison sentences for his other crimes.
The prosecutions continued in other counties. On March 1, 2019, Grate pleaded guilty in Richland County to aggravated murder in the death of Rebekah Leicy and murder in the death of Candice Cunningham, along with charges involving the treatment of their bodies. He received life imprisonment without parole for Leicy's murder and an additional term for Cunningham's murder. On September 11, 2019, after Dana Lowrey had finally been identified, Grate pleaded guilty in Marion County to aggravated murder, kidnapping, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. He was sentenced to another term of life imprisonment without parole plus additional years.
Legacy of the Case
The Shawn Grate investigation ultimately established five confirmed murder victims across Marion, Richland, and Ashland counties. The case demonstrated how crimes occurring years apart and under different circumstances can remain unconnected until a major investigative break occurs. In this case, that break came from the surviving woman's ability to free herself enough to call 911. Her actions led directly to Grate's arrest, the discovery of two bodies, his confessions, the reopening of older cases, and eventually the identification of a woman whose name had been unknown to investigators for more than a decade.
Grate's convictions cover murders committed over roughly ten years. The Ohio Supreme Court upheld his Ashland County aggravated-murder convictions and death sentences in December 2020. In addition to those death sentences, his separate life sentences ensure that he remains imprisoned for the murders committed in Richland and Marion counties. The cases of Dana Lowrey, Rebekah Leicy, Candice Cunningham, Elizabeth Griffith, and Stacey Stanley are now formally connected through Grate's convictions and guilty pleas, ending years of uncertainty surrounding several of their deaths.
