Cuyahoga prosecutor to appeal ruling to vacate sentence of former Poland wife-killer

CLEVELAND

The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s office plans to appeal a decision to vacate the involuntary manslaughter plea and sentence of a former Poland embalmer.

In January 2014, Robert G. Girts, formerly of Poland, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and insurance fraud in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in the 1992 death of his third wife, Diane Jones Girts in Parma. He admitted in court to putting cyanide in a salt shaker before he went out of town, knowing that she would use it. He had been charged with aggravated murder.

Girts, who formerly worked as an embalmer at a funeral home, was sentenced to an indefinite prison term if six to 30 years, giving him credit for time served. Last August, the Ohio Parole Board denied his parole, saying he wouldn’t again be eligible for 10 years. He’s housed at the Richland Correctional Institution in Mansfield.

Last month, however, the 8th District Court of Appeals vacated both the plea and sentence and remanded the case to the lower court for trial on the original aggravated murder charge.

Read more about the case in Tuesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.