Ohioan gets prison in case of body in septic tank

Associated Press

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio

A man who led investigators to another man’s body in a central Ohio septic tank has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

John M. Stidham, 46, of Walhonding, confessed to causing the Jan. 9, 2009, death of Raymond Staats and to putting him in the tank, Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher said in a statement released Thursday.

Stidham was facing charges in an unrelated case when he told authorities where to find the body of Staats, who was free on bond in a case in Stark County when he disappeared, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

County Coroner Jennifer Failor Ogle said the cause of death was multiple gunshot times in the neck and torso. Staats, 41, of Stark County in northeast Ohio, also was suffocated with a plastic bag over his head, which contributed to his death, the coroner said.

Stidham said he feared for his life and that of his wife the night of the shooting at their home in Knox County, Stidham’s attorney, Bruce Malek, told The Associated Press on Friday. Stidham said Staats had threatened to kill everybody in the house and Stidham was trying to calm Staats.

when Staats pulled a gun out and shot at Stidham and they got into a fight, Malek said.

Malek said his client says he acted alone but “has no recollection of actually pulling the trigger and aiming the gun at Staats.” Stidham said he was sure Staats was dead from the gunshots when he used the plastic bag to contain the blood while he was transporting Staats to the septic tank, Malek said.

An assistant prosecutor said allowing Stidham to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter was the best option in order to return Staats’ body to his family, the newspaper reported.

Stidham also entered guilty pleas in an unrelated criminal case to multiple counts that included insurance fraud and complicity in the commission of aggravated theft, Thatcher said. Stidham was sentenced to eight years on those counts, for a total prison sentence of 12 years.