43
Trial date set for suspect in arson, murders of girl, grandparents
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
As a new trial date was set Wednesday for the man accused of setting a fire that killed a girl he was accused of raping and her grandparents the day he was to go on trial, new details about the case emerged.
In a bill of particulars filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court against Robert Seman, 46, prosecutors said besides finding gasoline cans at the scene of the Powers Way fire, they also found latex gloves that had Seman’s DNA in them.
The bill of particulars also said that the March 30 fire was started by Seman spreading gasoline on the landing and stairwell of the home’s basement and then lighting the gasoline on fire.
Seman faces 10 counts of aggravated murder, all with death-penalty specifications, as well as additional charges of aggravated burglary and aggravated arson, in the deaths of Corinne Gump, 10, and her grandparents, William and Judith Schmidt, inside their Powers Way home.
He is accused of raping the girl and was on house arrest after posting $200,000 bond. The fire was started the day jury selection in his case was to begin. His bond was immediately revoked that day because prosecutors told Judge Sweeney that Seman’s ex-wife told police Seman had offered her money if she would tell prosecutors during the trial that the girl made up the allegations.
Judge Maureen Sweeney set a Sept. 12, 2016, trial date with orientation for jurors set to begin Sept. 9, 2016.
About 140 items of discovery were requested by defense attorneys. Among the items defense attorneys are requesting are three interviews with Seman, two in April and the last on June 6, just five days before a grand jury issued indictments in the murder case.
Also requested are after-care reports from St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital for treatment of major burns on April 1, as well as typed notes of a doctor who treated Seman and a copy of a refusal of treatment by Seman from Akron Children’s Hospital.
Defense attorneys also requested from prosecutors receipts from Walgreens dated March 30 that they have for makeup.
Reports that authorities have refused to deny said that Seman was treated for burns at a local hospital a couple of days after his bond was revoked in the rape case March 30, just hours after the fire. The reports said the burns were discovered while Seman was at the jail, and when he went to court on March 30 he used makeup to cover them.
Seman would face life in prison if he is convicted of only the rapes. Those charges are still pending.
An additional two counts of bribery were added as well, and the aggravated murder and other charges were issued June 11, after lab reports from the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation found the fire at the Schmidts’ home was an arson.
If he is convicted of aggravated murder with death penalty specifications, a second phase of the trial, or mitigation phase, will take place at which defense attorneys will present evidence to jurors showing them why they must spare Seman’s life.
Seman is eligible for the death penalty because, among other factors, he is charged with killing the witness to a crime, and with killing someone in the commission of another felony, in this case the aggravated burglary or aggravated arson.
Judge Sweeney also upheld a defense motion asking that the Powers Way home be kept from demolition until defense attorneys can have their own expert examine it.