Thursday, January 13th, 2011

Suspect in St. Marys beating death denies guilt

By Shelley Grieshop
Photo by Shelley Grieshop/The Daily Standard

Gordon Diggle, 30, of St. Marys, sits between his attorney, John Poppe, at left, and an Auglaize County Sheriff's deputy during an arraignment hearing Wednesday morning in Wapakoneta. Diggle pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of robbing and beating to death Steven Casad, St. Marys, in September.

ST. MARYS - A St. Marys man accused in the beating death of another man in September has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Gordon W. Diggle, 30, appeared for an arraignment hearing Tuesday morning at the Central Services Building in Wapakoneta - the temporary location of Auglaize County Common Pleas Court while the courthouse undergoes renovations.
Dressed in red jail garb and flanked by a sheriff's deputy and an attorney, Diggle appeared calm and without emotion during the proceedings. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted for the murder of Steven Casad, 64, of St. Marys, who died from head injuries four days after Diggle allegedly assaulted him outside a bar in St. Marys on Sept. 8.
In December, a grand jury indicted Diggle on two counts of murder, no felony degree stipulated, and one count each of felonious assault and aggravated burglary, second- and first-degree felonies. Each murder charge is linked to the assault and burglary charges, accusing Diggle of causing the death of another while committing a felony.
Diggle could be found guilty of all four counts, including both murder charges, but can only be sentenced to one of the murder charges. He faces 15 years to life in prison for murder, up to 10 years in prison for aggravated robbery and up to eight years for felony assault.
Diggle fled the state after allegedly beating and robbing Casad outside Friendly Tavern, police say. Casad reportedly made it to his residence a few blocks away before an ambulance and police were summoned.
St. Marys police officers immediately issued a warrant for Diggle's arrest, and he was apprehended Sept. 13 by New York State Police in Tarrytown. Diggle fought extradition to Ohio but in mid-December was ordered to return to Auglaize County via police escort.
Diggle was ordered held on a $5 million bond during an initial court appearance in December. Judge Frederick Pepple continued that bond on Wednesday.
Auglaize County Prosecutor Ed Pierce and Diggle's attorney, John Poppe, agreed in court Wednesday to share discovery, which is evidence such as files and CDs that each party possesses. Pierce noted the copied file he was turning over to the defense contained 670 consecutively-numbered pages.
Pierce also promised to give Poppe copies of recorded radio transmissions from police and rescue units called to the scene of the September assault. He requested all discovery held by Poppe and asked the judge for a time extension to provide the court with a bill of particulars - a detailed summary of the alleged offenses.
Pepple agreed and extended the filing date from Jan. 20 to Jan. 27.
Additional online stories on this date
GRAND LAKE - A third sediment collector was installed Wednesday afternoon in Barnes Creek behind the St. Marys Township house, another piece of the puzzle toward restoring water quality in Grand Lake. [More]
Wabash River
FORT RECOVERY - Safety work on the spillway at the State Line Road dam southwest of Fort Recovery is on the agenda for the Wabash River Conservancy District this year. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
CELINA - The city is expected to start the 2011 budget year with a $1.124 million carryover in its general fund.
Council members met Thursday afternoon for a personnel and finance committee meeting to begin hashing out the 2011 budget.
Two people were injured when their vehicles collided Wednesday morning along U.S. 127, north of Monroe Road. The weather-related crash occurred at 10 a.m., according to Mercer County Sheriff's Office reports.
St. Marys
ST. MARYS - Preliminary budget numbers show St. Marys City Schools will have a $1.2 million deficit for fiscal year 2011.
Therefore, school treasurer Tom Sommer is recommending board members place a new levy on the ballot.
NEW BREMEN - Fifty-one employees or roughly half the New Bremen Local Schools staff have embarked on a wellness program, according to reports given to board of education members Wednesday night.
CELINA - City council members may apply for an Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) grant that would finance much of a $1 million Market Street reconstruction project in 2013.
MENDON - A mother and her two young sons escaped a Wednesday afternoon fire that heavily damaged their home.
Amanda Houser, 412 S. Wayne St., called 911 by cell phone at 1:08 p.m. to report the house was on fire and she and the children were trapped in a back bedroom.
Grand Lake area residents now can receive AMBER Alerts for missing Ohio children through the popular social-networking service Facebook.
The announ
A 26-year-old Mercer County man is being sought by local authorities and the U.S. Marshal's Service.
Mailek Hason Sharpe, classified as a Tier III
Author Tami Boehmer of Cincinnati was 46 years old in 2008 when she heard her second cancer diagnosis. It was a recurrence, but this time it was stage 4 and terminal.
The area's most heated rivalry hits the hardwood on Friday night when the Celina Bulldogs host the St. Marys Roughriders at the Fieldhouse for a Western Buckeye League contest.
Last Curtain Call
Thirty years ago, Gary Jones glanced around during summer open gyms and the Marion Local senior-to-be admits now that his expectations were pretty uncertain.
A look at this weekend's top games and stats from area teams
The Four Corners: Four area games of interest this weekend

Tonight
Girls Basketball
Celina at St. Marys
The annual "Ladies Night" edition of the Winter Battle of Grand Lake pits two teams that are in a bit of contrast.