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Farmdale man gets emotional before being sentenced to life in prison for killing wife
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Ricky Green, 60, the Farmdale man who calmly told a dispatcher Jan. 17 that he had just shot his wife, Janell, because she was having an affair, lost his composure Tueday as he pleaded guilty to murder.
Green expanded upon the story he told the dispatcher before Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, saying he loved his wife until he learned she had a boyfriend. That’s when she started to tell him, “Why don’t you die?” and later told him she and the boyfriend were going to kill him.
But before Judge Kontos sentenced Green to 18 years to life in prison, Janell’s brother, Craig Borsi, stood before the judge, telling Ricky Green, “Nice story, Rick. Nobody’s going to believe that. You were a stray dog when you entered our family. You’re leaving a stray dog.”
He then described Green as having Janell trade in her life-insurance policy, her 401-K investments, her cash and a $10,000 credit-card advance so he could put it into his cellphone tower company about a year ago.
Green left nothing for Craig Molnar, Janell’s son, and provided nothing for Janell’s funeral, Borsi said. Green “funneled” tens of thousands to Green’s estranged son, he said, adding: “She took care of you for 17 years.”
Near the beginning of the hearing, Green pleaded guilty to the charges he’d been accused of – murder and a specification that he used a gun. Judge Kontos had only one option for Green’s sentencing, 18 years to life, and that’s what he gave him.
The couple lived on a large, rural property on Wakefield Creek Road in northern Trumbull County.
Janell Green’s obituary said she was born in Chardon and had been a longtime Newbury resident before moving to Farmdale with Green.
The obituary said she loved to garden, bake, cook, and tend to her chickens, rabbits and honey bees. She enjoyed fishing, but her true love was spending time with her family.
Green’s demeanor has been stoic throughout his earlier court appearances, but on Tuesday, Green spoke with emotion for five minutes.
“For 18 years, I was in love with my wife,” he said, but when he found out she had a boyfriend, “My heart broke, and I cried for three or four days.”
He told Janell he would fast-track their divorce, but her taunting continued, he said. “I went insane. I’m still insane,” he said.
The day he killed Janell, she told him, “Since you refuse to die, me and John are going to drag you out of your bed and hold you to the ground until you die. No one will know the difference or care,” Green said.
Then he shot her.
“She got what she wanted because I died right then,” he said, crying.