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Career criminal Martin guilty of aggravated murder, could face death
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David Martin stands with one of his attorneys, Matt Pentz of the Ohio Public Defender’s office, as Trumbull County Judge Andrew Logan reads guilty verdicts to all charges in Martin’s murder trial Thursday.
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
For a man guilty of so much brutality, David Martin stood perfectly still Thursday afternoon as Judge Andrew Logan read guilty after guilty verdict.
He is guilty of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, kidnapping, aggravated robbery and all of the aggravating circumstances — killing or attempting to kill two or more people, killing accompanied by kidnapping, and killing accompanied by aggravated robbery.
But Martin, called an “armed career criminal” by federal prosecutors when he was sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison last year for a gun crime, knew Thursday that the more-important decision of the jury will come next week.
That’s when the jury of seven women and five men will decide whether he should be put to death for killing Jeremy Cole, 21, and attempting to kill Melissa Putnam, 30, last Sept. 27 at Putnam’s home on Oak Street Southwest.
Thursday’s string of guilty verdicts — he was guilty on all counts and all specifications — wasn’t a surprise. One of his attorneys told jurors during closing arguments earlier Thursday that Martin was guilty.
The jury in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court deliberated for four hours — seemingly a long time under the circumstances.
The same jury will reconvene Wednesday morning in the courtroom of Judge Logan to hear mitigating evidence presented by Martin’s defense team and expert witnesses hired to discuss Martin’s childhood and other matters.
The jury’s role will be to decide whether the aggravating circumstances outweigh mitigating factors that the experts will present. If they do, the jury is instructed to choose death. It also could choose life in prison with no parole, or lesser life sentences.
One of Martin’s attorneys, Matt Pentz, told jurors during closing arguments Thursday that Martin killed Cole and attempted to kill Putnam.
And Martin did tell officers when they arrested him, “I can accept the needle,” referring to the death penalty, Pentz said.
But he reminded jurors, “That’s not [Martin’s] decision to make. That’s your decision. Please keep your mind open about punishment in this case.”
Martin, 29, of Cleveland, whose trial wrapped up after less than three full days of testimony, killed Cole by shooting him between the eyes from between 3 and 8 inches away, according to testimony from Trumbull County Coroner Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk.
In another room, Martin also shot Putnam in the back of the head, but she partially blocked the shot with the reflexive movement of her hand and survived.
Chris Becker, assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, reminded jurors that Martin told Putnam out loud in court several weeks after the shootings that he regretted failing to kill her.
“He said, ‘Bitch, I should have shot you in the face,’” Becker said.
In fact, since Becker knew that jurors had little choice but to convict Martin on all charges, he spent part of his closing argument focused on the central issues in the next phase of the trial — whether Martin deserves to live and the fact that Martin stated himself that he “can accept the needle.”
Becker and Gabe Wildman, another assistant prosecutor, said Martin showed no remorse for what he did to Cole and Putnam, going to Cleveland to party the night of Cole’s death.
“Jeremy Cole was flat-out executed between the eyes,” Becker said.
“He talks about these murders in the way I would talk about ordering a cup of coffee. It’s just another day in the life of David Martin,” Wildman said.