Fla. man sought in Portage Co. shooting death

By Phil Trexler

Beacon Journal staff writer

RAVENNA

A Florida man is wanted on a murder charge in the shooting death of a Portage County real-estate agent.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Robert Grigelaitis, 59, a Fort Lauderdale native who has been living in the Ravenna area for seven months.

Authorities would not discuss a motive, but property and foreclosure records link Grigelaitis to at least one land deal with real-estate agent Andrew VonStein, whose body was found early Tuesday inside a vacant Twin Lakes-area home listed for sale.

Portage County sheriff’s detectives are still searching for Grigelaitis, who is accused in the slaying of VonStein, 51, who died from a single gunshot wound to the right side of his chest.

Grigelaitis was last seen driving a champagne- colored 2007 Ford F-350 Super Duty crew cab pickup truck with Florida plates, 661XYL. Police say he should be considered armed and dangerous.

VonStein’s body was found in the basement of the house on Woodway Drive in Franklin Township, which his company, Cutler Realty, was marketing. His wallet and cell phone were missing from the scene.

Sheriff David Doak on Thursday declined to comment on the case or provide a motive for the slaying. The arrest warrant was filed Wednesday.

Doak also would not comment on the relationship between VonStein and Grigelaitis. However, county property and court records show a connection between them in the listing of a home in Ravenna.

VonStein was the agent selling the house in December 2002 for owner Richard L. Doak Jr., a distant cousin of the sheriff’s. Listed for $129,900, it went off the market in May 2003.

Title to the home never formally changed hands until 2007, when Grigelaitis’ wife, Shirley, and another woman took ownership from Richard Doak, according to county records. No money was exchanged in the transfer, indicating a potential land contract deal.

In 2008, a bank filed a foreclosure action when the owners defaulted on the mortgage. Robert and Shirley Grigelaitis, along with Richard Doak and a Ravenna couple were listed as defendants in the case. The property eventually went to public auction and the house sold in 2009 for $84,800.

The defendants in the foreclosure case either did not respond to messages or could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Richard Doak filed bankruptcy months before the foreclosure. His attorney did not return a call Thursday.

Sheriff Doak would not comment on the property transactions or their possible relationship to the homicide.

VonStein was a former president of the Ravenna Area Chamber of Commerce, and a married father of two.

Sheriff’s deputies found his body about 5:15 a.m. Tuesday after family members called to say he failed to return home Monday. Records indicate VonStein was scheduled to show the home between 4 and 5 p.m. Monday and return to his Ravenna Township home immediately afterward.

According to investigatory reports, VonStein’s vehicle was parked outside the home. Detectives initially were unsure whether the agent was “set up by a potential home buyer or if [he] may have surprised a possible burglar at the home,’’ according to reports.