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WARREN -- The Eleventh District Court of Appeals on Monday denied the appeals of two murderers previously convicted in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
Currently residing at Heartland Behavioral Healthcare in Massillon, Patrick L. Heltzel, 31, had his appeal against a ruling by Judge Andrew Logan rejected. His defense counsel sought a conditional release for Heltzel, who has resided in the facility since a 2016 ruling by Logan found him to be suffering from schizophrenia.
The case of Heltzel, subject to periodic review, keeps him housed in the facility for the rest of his life unless a judge allows for his release for the 2013 killing of 71-year-old Milton Grumbling III in Grumbling's Kincaid East Road home in Warren Township.
During an Aug. 23, 2023, hearing, a psychologist testified in favor of Heltzel's conditional release, citing him as a "model patient." Another psychiatrist also recommended conditional release, and a representative of the victim's family advocated for Heltzel to remain incarcerated.
In his ruling on Oct. 19, 2023, Judge Logan deemed a full conditional release inappropriate, citing the gravity of the crime.
Heltzel's attorney, John Juhasz, argued that the defendant's 14th Amendment rights were infringed upon, but the appellate court, composed of Judges Matt J. Lynch, Eugene A. Lucci and Mary Jane Trapp, found the defendant's appeal lacking merit.
The appeal of murder defendant Alan M. Francis, who is serving a 40-years-to-life sentence at Lake Erie Correctional Institution for the killing of 76-year-old John P. Crocker during a robbery of Crocker's Weathersfield home, also was denied by the appeals court.
Francis took a plea deal that saw him plead no contest to felonies including aggravated murder, robbery, and burglary and filed a motion in October 2023 to vacate his plea and sentence.
Succeeding Judge John M. Stuard, the motion was denied by Judge Ronald Rice in a decision Francis appealed the next month arguing that court failed to inform him about the consequences associated with a no contest plea.
The 61-year-old will remain incarcerated after the court denied his appeal thus upholding his conviction. He will next be eligible for parole in November 2045, according to prison records.
Both cases were argued on behalf of the state by Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Ryan J. Sanders.