×

Wed. 8:40 pm: Heltzel’s dad said son asked him to kill him

WARREN – The father of murder defendant Patrick Heltzel testified Wednesday his son came up to him and “uncharacteristically started hitting him” just a few months before the April 2013 slaying of 71-year-old Milton A. Grumbling III.

Lawrence J. Heltzel, who was using an oxygen tank during his testimony for the defense, said he could not recall the exact time of the incident at his northeast Warren home, but it could have been at the end of 2012 or beginning of 2013.

“I think (the defendant) said he wanted me to kill him, but when a son says that to you, you almost don’t take him seriously,” the elder Heltzel said during the third day of the bench trial held in the Trumbull County Common Pleas courtroom of Judge Andrew D. Logan.

Logan is expected to get the case as soon as Thursday afternoon, but the judge said he won’t have a verdict until June 1.

Read more in Thursday’s Tribune Chronicle.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
     

Starting at $4.85/week.

Subscribe Today