Suicide jump fails to bring total closure to Seman case

A suspected rapist and triple murderer’s death plunge from a fourth-floor balcony of the Mahoning Couty Courthouse on Monday legally closed the book on a troubling criminal case in Youngstown.

But Robert Seman’s sudden fall onto that hard and unkind marble floor of the courthouse rotunda brought neither full closure nor justice for all in our community in this highly publicized and emotionally charged case.

The intense scrutiny and notoriety surrounding this case began shortly after the March 30, 2015, arson that destroyed the home of William and Judith Schmidt on Powers Way on Youngstown’s South Side. They and their 10-year-old granddaughter Corinne Gump all perished in the inferno.

Fingers of blame throughout the city almost instantly pointed to Seman as the firebug in that crime as the conflagration erupted on the very day that he was to face trial on charges brought in 2014 of rape involving young Corinne.

Sure enough, in June 2015, a grand jury indicted Seman on multiple charges of aggravated murder, aggravated assault and aggravated robbery on top of the rape charges he already faced.

The long, winding and obstacle-ridden path toward justice then began in earnest. Through every step of the way, community outrage sizzled as many residents appeared convinced of Seman’s guilt long before his legitimate day of due process in court.

That made finding an impartial jury a yeoman’s effort and ultimately led to two mistrials and a change of venue out of Youngstown for the gruesome and heart-wrenching case.

Finally this week, just as it seemed the capital-murder case was finally ready to move forward in the Portage County Courthouse, that quest came to a sudden and screeching halt with Seman’s 50-foot leap into death.

To be sure, many might argue that the trial that was scheduled to begin this week would have been little more than a mere formality. After all, mountains and mountains of evidence collected by assiduous prosecutors appeared to clearly implicate the 48-year-old Green Township man as the mastermind and sole player in the grisly crimes who had a clear motive.

On Tuesday, prosecutors handling the case attempted to strengthen their side by releasing additional evidence in the case. Among the evidence released were gas cans found at the scene of the fire, gloves with Seman’s DNA found at the home, pictures of burns on Seman’s face that surfaced two days after the fire and makeup that he bought at a local drugstore purportedly to cover his facial burns.

That display clearly indicated that prosecutors, Youngstown police and others building the case did a solid, professional and comprehensive job.

But Thomas Zena, a defense attorney for Seman, intimated it was far from a slam-dunk conviction worthy of the death penalty for his client. “I think the general feeling in the community is that the defense had absolutely nothing [to present in the trial], and that was not true,” Zena said.

QUESTIONS REMAIN

In the aftermath of Seman’s death and the concomitant suspension of legal proceedings against him, many questions linger. Would testimony and all evidence at the trial prove Seman’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt? Would new revelations from witnesses change the complexion of the case? If Seman were convicted, would jurors find the crimes suitable enough to mete out capital punishment?

In many ways, answers to those and other questions remain conjecture and will help to make the case a memorable one in the annals of Mahoning Valley crime for years and decades to come.

To be sure, the many touching and emotional aspects of this case, coupled with its raw brutality, added to the massive interest it generated and the legacy it will carry.

The elements of sexual assault against a young innocent child and the harrowing deaths of Corinne and her grandparents, both of whom were deaf and well loved in the community, will long keep the case embedded in the psyches of many Mahoning Valley residents.

For the loved ones of the victims, Seman’s suicide jump may bring at least temporary relief, knowing that the prime suspect in the heartlless crime is now dead. Nonetheless, as long as questions linger, justice for all will forever remain elusive.