A Hancock County man charged with killing his cellmate didn't get the change of plea he wanted. A Warren County Common Pleas Court judge wouldn't allow 38-year-old Joel Drain to change his plea to no contest. Instead, the judge ordered Drain to get a psychological exam, before his case will move forward. Drain is facing a possible death penalty sentence if convicted of aggravated murder.
From
To
A Hancock County man, who is already in prison for murder, could get the death penalty for killing his cellmate last year. According to the Dayton Daily News, 38 year old Joel Drain wrote a letter to a Warren County judge asking if he could plead "No Contest" to Aggravated Murder, which was against the advice of his lawyers.
The prison inmate from Hancock County, who sent a letter to a Columbus newspaper confessing to killing a fellow inmate, has been charged in the slaying. A Warren County Grand Jury indicted 37-year-old Joel Drain on aggravated murder and other charges in the April slaying of 29-year-old Christopher Richardson. Both were then inmates at a state prison near Lebanon. The Columbus Dispatch reported in July that they received a letter from Drain confessing to Richardson's slaying.
A Findlay man who was found guilty of murder in 2016, sent a letter to a Columbus newspaper admitting to killing a man in prison this past spring. According to the Columbus Dispatch, 37-year-old Joel Drain sent them a letter and said he attacked 29-year-old Christopher Richardson in the Warren Correctional Institution in April. Richardson died two days later in the hospital. The investigation is on-going into Richardson's death. The Ohio State Highway Patrol says that Drain is connected to the investigation, but will not say that he is a suspect.
After two mental evaluations, 34-year-old Joel Drain has been found competent to stand trial for the murder 56-year-old Randy Grose.
A Findlay man accused of strangling another man to death last month pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on Wednesday.