Tuesday, April 21st, 2015
Third suspect charged in 1981 murder case
By Shelley Grieshop
ST. MARYS - A third man has been charged in the decades-old murder of a retired area farmer.
Brian S. Guggenbiller, 51, of Lima, was arrested Monday at his home and charged with aggravated murder in the brutal death of Marcellus Reineke, 71, in St. Marys in 1981, according to a press release from the police department.
Guggenbiller's bond on Monday was set at $2 million cash or surety. No other hearings have been scheduled and he remains incarcerated at the Auglaize County jail.
He appeared without counsel Monday but told the Auglaize County Common Pleas Court judge he intends to hire attorney John Fisher.
Guggenbiller was the youngest of the trio charged with the murder; he was 18 years old when the crime occurred Oct. 13, 1981.
Paul Leroy Hoover, 53, of Florida, and formerly of St. Marys, in May was sentenced to seven to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to an amended charge of involuntary manslaughter. Tracy Wayne Mabry, 52, of Celina in February was given the same sentence after pleading guilty to an identical amended charge.
Auglaize County Assistant Prosecutor Ben Elder, following the hearing in February, told the newspaper a third person would be charged with the crime within six months.
According to a statement of facts read during the February hearing, Hoover and Guggenbiller were driven to Reineke's home on South West Street by Mabry. Hoover went upstairs to search for a briefcase he believed contained $50,000 in cash, Elder stated in court.
Reineke, who lived alone, reportedly was confronted by Mabry and Guggenbiller. According to authorities, Guggenbiller stabbed the elderly man 39 times. Reineke also suffered slash-cut wounds and multiple blunt-force injuries while the suspects tried to get him to reveal the location of the briefcase, Elder said in court.
According to the statement of facts, Hoover then poured lighter fluid on a bedroom mattress and ignited it before the suspects fled. Missing from the home were a small amount of cash, old coins and a watch, Elder said.
Mabry and Hoover also had been indicted for aggravated murder but agreed to plea deals. Both initially faced a maximum sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years, per the indictment and the law at the time of the crime.
A death penalty specification was not included in the indictments.
