Sweeney resets Seman triple murder trial to Feb. 3

YOUNGSTOWN

Jury orientation for a new trial for Robert Seman will be Feb. 3.

The date was picked Wednesday by Judge Maureen Sweeney in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court during a brief hearing.

Judge Sweeney also outlined some of the security restrictions she wants in place to ward off some of the problems that cropped up in September among the last group of jurors to report for the case. Those problems caused a mistrial.

Seman, 47, of Green, is eligible for the death penalty if convicted of aggravated murder because prosecutors charged he killed the witness to a crime; killed a person younger than 13; killed two or more people; killed to escape prosecution from a crime; and killed someone in the commission of another felony, which in this case means aggravated arson or aggravated burglary.

Seman is accused of setting a fire March 30, 2015, at the Powers Way home of William and Judith Schmidt that killed the couple and their 10-year-old granddaughter, Corinne Gump, the day Seman was to go on trial for raping the girl. Seman was free on bond at the time of the fire.

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