John M. Stidham, 46, Walhonding, will serve four years in a state prison for involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 death of Raymond Staats, a Canton man who was reported missing on Jan. 9, 2009.
Friends and family of Raymond Staats are “outraged” over John Stidham’s plea deal to involuntary manslaughter that was accepted in the Knox County Common Pleas Court on Thursday.
Although no details of the altercation between Stidham and Staats were revealed in court this morning, Stidham’s attorney, Knox County Public Defender Bruce Malek described what led to Staats’ death.
In a court appearance that didn’t show up on the court schedule until late Wednesday, John M. Stidham, 46, Thursday entered a guilty plea to a bill of information charging him with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Raymond Staats of Canton.
The body found July 13, in a septic tank on Newcastle Road has been positively identified as Raymond Staats of Canton.
The body found six days ago in a septic tank on Newcastle Road has been positively identified as Raymond Staats.
Dental records are being used to positively identify the body of a man found in a septic tank on Newcastle Road on Wednesday.
Debbie Kopatz, a bail bondsman, has a court date July 26 in Stark County to get out from under the bail she put up for Raymond Staats back in 2008.
The expected identification of a male body pulled from a septic tank on Newcastle Road on Wednesday was delayed on Friday.
A nephew of a Canton man who has been missing since Jan. 9, 2009, tried to have Raymond Staats declared dead so that he, and other family members, can have their share of Raymond’s estate.
There is a strong possibility the remains of a man found in a Butler Township septic tank Wednesday are those of Raymond Staats of Canton, missing since January 2009. Knox County Coroner Jennifer Ogle said there were “clear signs of foul play” on the remains.
A body found in a septic tank behind an abandoned mobile home Wednesday afternoon may have been there as long as two years.
A body found in a septic tank behind an abandoned mobile home this afternoon may have been there as long as two years.
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