Main suspect in freezer case pleads guilty

Not having trial is bittersweet for victim’s sister

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Debbie DePaul was, in her own words, “amped up” for the trial of one of the three people accused of murdering her sister, dismembering her and stuffing her into a freezer in 2017.

So when she found out Thursday that Arturo Novoa, the main suspect in the death of her sister, Shannon Elizabeth Graves, was set to plead guilty instead in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, thus heading off a trial set for Monday, she felt relief instead.

She added the day was “a little bittersweet for me. ... It’s a weight off my shoulders.”

Novoa, 33, pleaded guilty to murder in the February 2017 death of Graves in her Mahoning Avenue apartment, as well as six counts of abuse of a corpse, 24 counts of tampering with evidence, three counts of possession of criminal tools, three counts of illegal use of food stamps, grand theft of a motor vehicle, four counts of trafficking in drugs and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.

“Murder most foul – this is the stuff of nightmares,” said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. “This plea shows the defendant’s callousness not only to kill, but to butcher his victim in an attempt to escape the justice he now faces.”

Judge Anthony Donofrio took the pleas and set sentencing for 11 a.m. June 14.

Prosecutors with the state attorney general’s office dropped a charge of aggravated murder in exchange for Novoa’s pleas. They said in court papers filed this week asking to vacate a guilty plea for another defendant, Katrina Layton, that they believe Novoa killed Graves by hitting her in the head. He then hid her body, dismembered it, dissolved parts of it in acid and stuffed it in a freezer, where it was found July 29, 2017, in a Campbell home by a friend of Novoa’s who went to the freezer to get some beef for dinner.

The attorney general’s office took over the case after DePaul and her family filed a grievance with the Mahoning County Bar Association over how they felt the prosecutor’s office was handling the case. The grievance was filed shortly after Layton entered guilty pleas to abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence in exchange for probation.

After the attorney general’s office took over, two other people – Andrew Herrmann and his wife, Michele Ihlenfeld, both 28 – were indicted for engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and other charges for hiding evidence of the death.

Assistant Attorney General Dan Kasaris said he wants Layton’s plea vacated because she lied and also kept in contact with Novoa. A hearing has yet to be scheduled for that motion.

DePaul and her family were vehemently against allowing Layton to receive a plea and sentence that called for her to be released from jail and to receive probation, so she said Thursday outside of court that she was very happy with the request for Layton’s plea to be vacated.

“That was an amazing day,” DePaul said of the motion to have the plea vacated. “She should have never been released.”

DePaul said Thursday was bittersweet for her because despite the gory details, she wants the public to know what Novoa did to her sister.

“I was a little blown back, sort of defeated, because I wanted the public to know what they did to her,” DePaul said.