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Reann Murphy, 9, Murdered in Ohio, Body Found Dumped in Trash Bin UPDATE: ‘Diminished Mental Capacity’

Posted on | December 16, 2013 | 63 Comments

Dan Riehl blogged about this case Sunday, and my immediate suspicion was that this wasn’t Jarrod Metsger’s first crime.

Criminals do not usually begin their careers with murder.

My hunch is that this suspect probably had a record of petty crimes — burglary, theft, drug possession, etc. — but maybe my usually inerrant hunches are wrong this time. At any rate, it’s a horrible crime:

An Ohio man who authorities believe killed a 9-year-old neighbor and dumped her body in a trash bin was ordered held on $1 million bond Monday pending another hearing next week.
Jerrod Metsker, 24, appeared for an arraignment before a Wayne County municipal court judge via video from jail. The county public defender was appointed to represent him on charges that he killed Reann Murphy, whose family lives across from him in a trailer park in Smithville, about 30 miles southwest of Akron.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Dec. 23. County prosecutor Daniel Lutz said the case could go to a grand jury on Friday if the evidence is processed in time.
Metsker was arrested Sunday, about 12 hours after deputies found Reann’s body in a trash bin near her home.
The girl was last seen Saturday night playing outdoors at the park. Her body was found about five hours after she was reported missing. . . .
Authorities have not offered a possible motive for her killing. Lutz said a coroner will determine the cause of death but that the girl was not shot or stabbed.

By process of elimination, if she was neither stabbed nor shot, the cause of death will be strangulation, suffocation or blunt force trauma. As for the motive, we shall see if Metsker (or Metsger, depending on which report you read) is charged with sexual assault, but that’s what the charge of “aggravated murder” usually means in such a case. This crime shook the whole community:

Friends, family and community members gathered Sunday evening at the pavilion in Apple Creek to remember the life of Reann Murphy, 9, who was found dead earlier in the day.
“There’s nothing I can say,” said Richard Murphy, Reann’s father, visibly shaken after a ceremony and candlelight vigil at the pavilion. . . .
“I hope our justice system does the right thing, regardless of the circumstances,” said Ken Murray, Reann’s uncle. “Our baby was murdered.”
Gary Lambert, a Mansfield pastor, said he made the trip over not because he had any answers.
“I wish I had words to stop the pain,” Lambert said. “Somewhere in the portals of heaven, she’s O.K. … if there’s any comfort tonight it’s that she’s O.K.”
Near the end of the remembrance, Reann’s cousin, Paula Watts, godmother Subrena Daughtery, and friend Sue Lazzaro remembered a girl who was a “daddy’s girl” and enjoyed things that challenged her.
“(Her father, Richard) lost his best friend,” Murray said.

News reports did not explain why Metsker was charged, and it’s quite likely he made incriminating statements to police. The background of the suspect and more facts about the crime are likely to be reported by Ohio media in the next couple of days.

UPDATE: Important details in the latest update:

A man accused of killing a 9-year-old neighbor and hiding her body in a trash bin had been building a snowman with her just hours before she was reported missing, investigators said Monday. . .
Investigators with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office described Metsker as a family friend and neighbor. Capt. Douglas Hunter said Metsker has a “diminished mental capacity,” but he wouldn’t release information about a specific diagnosis.
People who live in the trailer park said Metsker would play outside with the neighborhood children and built a playhouse out of blankets alongside his home, where he’d spend time with youngsters less than half his age.
Reann and her mother had just moved into the trailer park a few months ago around the beginning of the school year, relatives said. . . .
The girl’s mother was at work Saturday afternoon while she was at home with her mother’s live-in boyfriend, Hunter said. She went outside to play in the snow and was with several other children in the trailer park’s courtyard, but the others went home, leaving Metsker alone with her, he said. . . .
Preliminary autopsy results showed the girl likely had been strangled with an unknown object, county coroner Dr. Amy Jolliff said.

So, “diminished mental capacity,” playing with children “less than half his age,” and he apparently strangled the girl.

How could this crime have been prevented?

UPDATE II: Further evidence of Jarrod Metsker’s “diminished mental capacity” can be seen on his Facebook page, where he is a fan of Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift and such child-oriented shows as “iCarly” and “Spongebob Squarepants.”

UPDATE III: More from Dan Riehl:

I’m still not entirely willing to believe that this murder was (allegedly) this guy’s first crime. Surely, there were warning signs.

 

Category: Crime

Comments

63 Responses to “Reann Murphy, 9, Murdered in Ohio, Body Found Dumped in Trash Bin UPDATE: ‘Diminished Mental Capacity’”

  1. rsmccain
    December 16th, 2013 @ 4:14 pm

    Reann Murphy, 9, Murdered in Ohio, Body Found Dumped in Trash Bin http://t.co/cAudOtaGHV Hat-tip @DanRiehl

  2. DanRiehl
    December 16th, 2013 @ 4:16 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Reann Murphy, 9, Murdered in Ohio, Body Found Dumped in Trash Bin http://t.co/cAudOtaGHV Hat-tip @DanRiehl

  3. OhioBot
    December 16th, 2013 @ 4:17 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Reann Murphy, 9, Murdered in Ohio, Body Found Dumped in Trash Bin http://t.co/cAudOtaGHV Hat-tip @DanRiehl

  4. coastx
    December 16th, 2013 @ 4:18 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Reann Murphy, 9, Murdered in Ohio, Body Found Dumped in Trash Bin http://t.co/cAudOtaGHV Hat-tip @DanRiehl

  5. Matthew W
    December 16th, 2013 @ 5:40 pm

    I hate to be the one to say it, but the suspect looks like an “idiot boy.”

    He don’t look quite right.

  6. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    December 16th, 2013 @ 5:40 pm

    This is a horrible story. It just fills you with rage.

  7. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    December 16th, 2013 @ 5:42 pm

    We are speculating, but the photograph does lend you to that conclusion.

  8. Dianna Deeley
    December 16th, 2013 @ 5:43 pm

    Is he wearing lipstick in his booking photo?

    This is going to be truly awful, isn’t it?

  9. Dianna Deeley
    December 16th, 2013 @ 5:45 pm

    I can’t imagine anyone (however decent, sane, and unjustly accused) looks anything but wild-eyed and bizarre in his or her booking photo.

    However, you have a point. I think it’s the impression that he’s wearing lipstick that does it.

  10. Zohydro
    December 16th, 2013 @ 6:00 pm

    I’ll be damned… He is wearing lipstick!

  11. Unix-Jedi
    December 16th, 2013 @ 6:01 pm

    His (presumable) Facebook shows him to be not very well educated, but hardly an “idiot” in the actual definition.

    https://www.facebook.com/jerrod.metsker.1

    Jerrod Emerson Metsker
    February 23
    i feel like that people need to be nice to people even know if thay are rich or pore if you are mean were dose that get you know were if you are nice you get a lot moor in life1

    Jerrod Emerson Metsker
    April 2
    to all people who hate lining if you don’t like it post on my facebook page what you think

    Eric Peterson likes this.
    Cheyanne Pope If you hate lieing so much, then why do you do it??? April 3 at 11:45pm · Like

    One of his friends posted “call me” – 19 hours ago on a picture. Said friend also posted a long public screed…

  12. Unix-Jedi
    December 16th, 2013 @ 6:02 pm

    https://www.facebook.com/austin.crooms.92/posts/186451044882278?comment_id=298718&offset=0&total_comments=1

    “and there is more about the little girl that jerrod have kill that little girl that was only 9 years old and there little girl that jerrod have
    kill and that is the little girl dad anf that is her dad that her dad have Los is Daughter that jerrod have kill and jerrod can not give her dad life back for kill a little girl that was only 9 years old and that jerrod have Hurt a family that he Didn’t no that family and that family and friend that is Hurt about what jerrod have Did to that little girl”

    … So, friend of his, doesn’t seem too sharp, but that’s not “idiot” status.

  13. Zohydro
    December 16th, 2013 @ 6:06 pm

    His head is also recently shaved. I wonder if ze is “transgender”?

  14. G Joubert
    December 16th, 2013 @ 6:15 pm

    I’m fundamentally opposed to the death penalty, but cases such as this give me pause.

  15. ChandlersGhost
    December 16th, 2013 @ 6:26 pm

    That reads like a really bad Faulkner parody.

  16. sf
    December 16th, 2013 @ 6:31 pm

    Actually it sounds a LOT like Faulkner. Who had a knack for writing creepy thoughts of wackos.

  17. sf
    December 16th, 2013 @ 6:33 pm

    Agree with several commenters here: One strives to be fair but one look says the guy is totally wacko.

  18. Matthew W
    December 16th, 2013 @ 6:35 pm

    Tom Delay:

    http://media.salon.com/2011/06/tom_delay_mugshot.jpg

    That’s how you do a mugshot

  19. ChandlersGhost
    December 16th, 2013 @ 6:38 pm

    “Diminished mental capacity.”

    http://www.wistv.com/story/24227390/sheriff-ohio-suspect-last-person-seen-with-girl

  20. Matthew W
    December 16th, 2013 @ 6:51 pm

    And as Stacy alluded to, there will probably have been plenty of clues to this guys behavior

  21. ThomasD
    December 16th, 2013 @ 7:35 pm

    Dollars to donuts there is a history, or strong allegations of animal abuse in his past.

  22. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    December 16th, 2013 @ 7:43 pm

    Tom is a real pro on mug shots (facepalm).

    I think Delay got rail-roaded on that charge. But Tom was pushing the envelope in getting special favors and kick back going back years. Sometimes you can be too smart for your own good.

  23. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    December 16th, 2013 @ 7:52 pm

    Or Steinbeck.

  24. Art Deco
    December 16th, 2013 @ 8:05 pm

    I am not sure what he reminds me of. There is this:

  25. Matthew W
    December 16th, 2013 @ 8:18 pm

    Delay knew the Demoturds would use the mugshot as campaign fodder, so he wisely did a nice photo. Yes, Delay was hosed. I forget how many grand juries the worthless Democrat DA had to go to before he found one full of even dumber, more partisan dolts than himself. Also, the conviction was overturned.

  26. Matthew W
    December 16th, 2013 @ 8:19 pm

    I concur.

  27. Bob Belvedere
    December 16th, 2013 @ 8:54 pm

    There’s a Michael Jackson Vibe about this guy, if that report about his habits is correct.

  28. robertstacymccain
    December 16th, 2013 @ 9:20 pm

    Thanks, EC. Added an update.

  29. robertstacymccain
    December 16th, 2013 @ 9:23 pm

    Or Steinbeck, “Of Mice and Men.”

  30. rsmccain
    December 16th, 2013 @ 9:37 pm

    UPDATE: Suspect in Ohio girl’s murder has ‘diminished mental capacity’ and is a Miley Cyrus fan. http://t.co/cAudOtaGHV

  31. ChandlersGhost
    December 16th, 2013 @ 9:46 pm

    Happy to be of service.

  32. Matthew W
    December 16th, 2013 @ 9:51 pm

    The nine year old was in second grade?
    My 10 year old is in fifth grade.
    ????

  33. gmardre
    December 16th, 2013 @ 9:54 pm

    “Reann Murphy, 9, Murdered in Ohio, Body Found Dumped in Trash Bin” http://t.co/E3XIsc45YK

  34. BobBelvedere
    December 16th, 2013 @ 9:55 pm

    RT @rsmccain: UPDATE: Suspect in Ohio girl’s murder has ‘diminished mental capacity’ and is a Miley Cyrus fan. http://t.co/cAudOtaGHV

  35. rsmccain
    December 16th, 2013 @ 9:55 pm

    @stranahan @wjjhoge @Kimberlinunmask Know anyone with “diminished mental capacity” who lives in a trailer park? http://t.co/cAudOtaGHV

  36. wjjhoge
    December 16th, 2013 @ 9:56 pm

    RT @rsmccain: @stranahan @wjjhoge @Kimberlinunmask Know anyone with “diminished mental capacity” who lives in a trailer park? http://t.co/c…

  37. Steve Skubinna
    December 16th, 2013 @ 10:06 pm

    Some people need to be kept out of the gene pool.

    However, if that can safely be done without capital punishment, then I favor lifelong confinement. Clever bastards, Ted Bundy for example, are a clear and present danger as long as they live, for they will attempt to escape and having done so, kill again (as Bundy in fact did).

    So the Ted Bundys need to be removed, not just from the population, but from the planet.

    My biggest concern about the death penalty is that is must be carried out by the government. Do you want Obama’s IRS or DoJ or EPA deciding whether you live or die? Do you want Obama reviewing your case and pondering a reprieve?

  38. Steve Skubinna
    December 16th, 2013 @ 10:07 pm

    What do you mean, voting Democrat or something worse, such as GOTV work for ACORN or maybe an NPR subscription?

  39. Steve Skubinna
    December 16th, 2013 @ 10:10 pm

    Trailer park. Mother with a live in boyfriend.

    Deck was stacked against her.

  40. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    December 16th, 2013 @ 10:24 pm

    No doubt. I am not saying Tom was criminally liable (he obviously was not, since the conviction was over turned), but he was too smart for his own good.

    That said, the mug shot was a very smart move on his part.

  41. robcrawford2
    December 16th, 2013 @ 10:43 pm

    HOW DARE HE COMMIT LEGAL ACTS!!!

  42. We have an obligation to deal with mental health issues… | Batshit Crazy News
    December 16th, 2013 @ 10:47 pm

    […] As noted at TOM, this story is heart breaking.  This is more a general comment, because I do not know enough of the facts of this case.  It is also time that we start realizing that mental health is an issue we need to grapple with as a society.   While mass murders and killings by the mentally ill are rare, they do happen and are often (in hindsight) preventable.  Being mentally ill, in itself, is not an indication of character.  Mentally ill people are capable, like any other person, of good or evil.  The mentally ill are often victims of crime.  Mental health issues account for a significant percentage of homelessness. […]

  43. AmPowerBlog
    December 16th, 2013 @ 11:41 pm

    RT @rsmccain UPDATE: Suspect in Ohio girl’s murder has ‘diminished mental capacity’ and is a Miley Cyrus fan. http://t.co/NUdSGGGUIp …

  44. NASCARNAC
    December 16th, 2013 @ 11:44 pm

    RT @AmPowerBlog: RT @rsmccain UPDATE: Suspect in Ohio girl’s murder has ‘diminished mental capacity’ and is a Miley Cyrus fan. http://t.co/…

  45. ChandlersGhost
    December 17th, 2013 @ 12:36 am

    It’s like Quentin Compson’s inner monologue, except that Faulkner did that on purpose.

  46. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    December 17th, 2013 @ 12:38 am

    Rob, Tom Delay took money from sweatshops in Saipan (using Mainland Chinese workers) that would then sell the goods “made in the USA” The girls also did prostitution on the side in hotels there (and were forced to have abortions when they got pregnant).

    Was Delay in on all of it? Maybe, maybe not. I will give him the benefit of doubt and assume he was not aware of most of that, but he sure had to realize the whole “made in the USA” scam was exactly that. I know that not all so called conservative leaders are the type of persons we should be putting our trust in.

  47. Julie Pascal
    December 17th, 2013 @ 12:53 am

    Maybe, maybe not on the “signs” or previous crimes. It’s likely enough that the police wouldn’t do anything, much, or that his parents (parents can easily be like frogs in hot water) would think that he’d never be violent when it counted… but neighborhood parents? If the “retarded” guy played with the neighborhood kids, well, who else is he supposed to play with? OTOH, he obviously knew that he’d done something wrong if he hid the girl’s body.

    I don’t know that we *should* treat everyone who is “not quite right” as a presumptive murderer and every person who is “not quite right” as needing to be medicated… because, really, most people never do stuff like this.

    I think that it’s really really tempting with this (and with the latest Colorado school shooter) to want an explanation so that we can imagine that our own children are safe. That it’s possible to *make* our children safe if only we figure it out well enough, if we blame parents who “didn’t see the signs” or anyone else who should have done something.

    Now maybe, sure, *maybe* this is a case like those we see where everyone knew he killed small animals, or had been violent in the past, and no one should have let their children play with him.

    I’m just saying that we should be careful and recognize that it’s not always the case. And I also think it’s important, not because of *this* story, but in a meta sort of way, to recognize the human desire for safety and absolute control of our environment.

  48. Happy Monday: Barack’s Back From Africa Edition | Regular Right Guy
    December 17th, 2013 @ 2:05 am

    […] Reann Murphy, 9, Murdered in Ohio, Body Found Dumped in Trash Bin […]

  49. Dana
    December 17th, 2013 @ 6:49 am

    Our esteemed host asked:

    So, “diminished mental capacity,” playing with children “less than half his age,” and he apparently strangled the girl.

    How could this crime have been prevented?

    The question you are asking: should parents not allow their children to play with the neighborhood drooling idiot?

  50. Matthew W
    December 17th, 2013 @ 7:54 am

    ” should parents not allow their children to play with the neighborhood drooling idiot?”

    BINGO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!