John Wade McGrath Jr., 48, 7818 Saddler Krohler Road, Gustavus, died Dec. 22 of a gunshot wound to the chest after a bullet from Diehl’s weapon entered near the armpit, Watkins said. McGrath was pronounced dead just before 3 a.m. at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown.
McGrath Jr. was shot after pulling a gun on the deputy while intoxicated. An autopsy showed McGrath’s blood-alcohol content was 0.23. The legal limit in Ohio to be considered driving under the influence is 0.08.
The autopsy also showed the presence of cocaethylene, which is formed in the body when cocaine and alcohol are taken at the same time — according to the report — as well as cocaine, the sedatives diazepam and nordiazepam, and the opiates hydrocodone and oxycodone.
Watkins formally cleared Diehl through what was described as an ‘‘exhaustive’’ report by agents of Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.
Three BCI agents turned over a 600-page report compiled by BCI Supervisor Gerald Mroczkowski and special agents Edward Lulla and Al Bansky, a former Warren detective.
Watkins also credited Sheriff’s Office detectives Sgt. Pete Pizullo and Michael Yannucci and Howland detective Nick Roberts with initial crime scene work at the Mecca home.
McGrath was shot as he was helping a family friend remove items from her former home at 6868 Hoagland Blackstub Road in Mecca. According to BCI reports, McGrath and the woman met hours before the fatal confrontation. She had been at the house removing some of her things while her estranged husband was gone.
Bansky supplied Watkins with a detailed timeline.
The BCI agents also accounted for 14 shots from McGrath’s gun, including the two shells found near his body and fired at Diehl, and 12 others fired into a door lock and appliances inside the house.
Before the shooting, McGrath and the woman were at a house party in Warren where they were drinking, investigators said. They then went to a friend’s home in Warren, where they continued to drink, according to reports.
The two then went to his business, Mosquito Four Wheel Drive on state Route 88, for a time before going to the Hoagland Blackstub home.
Although the woman had a key to the house, investigators theorized the pair could not get the door open. McGrath tried to push down the locked garage door with his truck but was stopped by a boat on a trailer, the sheriff said. The door was bent by the effort.
Instead of trying further with the house key, the Gustavus man pulled his 9 mm Smith & Wesson pistol and began firing at the doorknob of the home. Three shots left it so mangled the woman later cut her hand on the knob, deputies said at the time.
A neighbor heard the shooting and called 911. He also approached the house, scaring off the two before a cruiser could arrive.
The pair went back about 1 a.m. and walked in because the knob was shattered. Once inside the home, the Mecca man began wildly firing his pistol, according to reports.
Hearing more shots, the neighbor again called 911. McGrath was loading a cabinet from the home into the bed of his truck when Diehl began walking up the driveway from the road where he had parked his cruiser.
Diehl was in uniform and had a flashlight. He identified himself and ordered McGrath to stop.
The neighbor said that in the illumination of the flashlight, he saw McGrath turn quickly toward the deputy with his gun leveled. There was a shot, followed quickly by three others, a witness said. Diehl told investigators that McGrath had fired first.
