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Man found guilty in kidnapping
Austin will be sentenced Monday.
YOUNGSTOWN — A city man faces up to 40 years in prison after his conviction for breaking into a woman’s home and holding her against her will.
A jury of four men and eight women found Daniel Austin, 51, guilty of kidnapping and aggravated burglary Tuesday afternoon in the courtroom of Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Both charges also carry repeat violent- offender specifications.
The repeat violent offender specifications stem from a murder conviction Austin received in 1980.
Austin, of Forestview Drive, had been charged with felonious assault and attempted aggravated murder, also with repeat violent offender specifications, in addition to the kidnapping and aggravated burglary charges. The jury did not convict Austin on the felonious assault or attempted aggravated murder charges.
Austin was facing up to 78 years in prison on the initial charges. He now faces up to 40 years in prison on the kidnapping and aggravated-burglary charges and repeat violent- offender specifications.
Judge Krichbaum will sentence Austin on Monday. Austin has been in the Mahoning County jail since May 27.
Prosecutors previously offered Austin a plea deal in which the charge of attempted aggravated murder and specifications of repeat violent offender would be dropped.
Prosecutors would have recommended Austin be given a 20-year prison sentence.
Austin conferred with his legal counsel, Atty. Paul Conn, for less than 10 minutes before deciding to reject the offer.
Gabriel Wildman, assistant county prosecutor, told the jury Austin took a spare key from a 50-year-old East Side woman, entered her home and waited for her to return. He said Austin beat the woman unconscious, then locked her in a storage closet.
Wildman said Austin told the woman he was going to kill her and leave her in a field where she would not be found. Wildman said the woman told Austin she had to use the restroom and managed to run to a neighbor’s house for help.
Conn focused on what he called inconsistencies in the woman’s story in defending Austin against the charges.
Conn said there were the varying times given for when the woman arrived home the day of the attack and her being placed in a storage box.
Wildman said he could not comment on the verdict until after Monday’s sentencing.
Conn said he plans to appeal the jury’s decision, but a different attorney will likely be handling the appeals process.
“I will file the paperwork, and then I will be off the case. There will be a new attorney involved so that there are a fresh set of eyes on it,” he added.
jgoodwin@vindy.com